A physicist explains what the Kardashev scale gets wrong
In the mid-20th century, while Carl Sagan pioneered the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) in the U.S., eminent…
Diamonds Get a Little Squishy at the Nanoscale. Here’s Why
Familiar materials will act differently at the smallest scales. Notably, diamonds—typically hard and brittle—grow strangely soft at the…
Efficiency-optimized relativistic plasma harmonics for extreme fields
Experimental details The experimental results presented in this paper were obtained using the Gemini laser system. A DPM…
COLIBRE: The Simulation So Accurate It’s Making Astronomers Do Double-Takes
For decades, computer models of galaxy formation have relied on a significant shortcut: preventing the simulated gas inside…
Physicists think they’ve solved the muon mystery
A new approach Supercomputer simulations reveal the effect of the strong nuclear force on the muon’s magnetism. Credit:…
Scientists believe they’ve found a way to travel at the speed of light, but there’s one detail dampening the excitement: humanity would have to wait 1,000 years to test it
A new scientific paper is adding fresh fuel to one of space science’s most stubborn daydreams, a “warp…
New study bridges the worlds of classical and quantum physics | MIT News
When you throw a ball in the air, the equations of classical physics will tell you exactly what…
Gravity measured in 300,000 galaxies follows Newton’s law
A new analysis has found that gravity follows Newton’s inverse-square law across hundreds of millions of light-years, even…
Laser-induced nucleation of magnetic hopfions
Specimen preparation FeGe TEM specimens were prepared from a single crystal of B20-type FeGe using a standard lift-out…
The quantum arrow of time can be reversed, physicists show
The arrow of time marches forward. Eggs don’t uncrack; milk doesn’t unspill. But now new research has found…