Physics
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Barns Are Painted Red Because of the Physics of Dying Stars
Have you ever noticed that almost every barn you have ever seen is red? Turns out there's a reason for that that has to do with the chemistry of dying stars
May 10, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
Could Lightning Come From Space?
Cosmic rays may cause a "runaway breakdown" of electrons when they collide with highly charged particles in thunderclouds
May 09, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Scientists Just Recorded the Brightest Explosion We’ve Ever Seen
We just saw the longest, brightest, most powerful version of the universe's most massive explosions
May 07, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
IBM Engineers Pushed Individual Atoms Around to Make This Amazing Stop-Motion Movie
IBM was the first to draw with atoms, and now they're making them dance
May 01, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
Physicists to Shoot Extremely Fast-Moving Electrons at Dinosaur Skin Fossil
The actual color of dinosaur skin is still very much up for debate
May 01, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
The ‘FlipperBot’ Is Almost as Cute as the Baby Sea Turtles It Mimics
This bio-inspired robot could help conserve and restore beaches as well as teach us about how our ancient aquatic ancestors evolved to walk on land
April 24, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Should the Higgs Boson Be Renamed to Credit More Scientists?
Peter Higgs didn't discover the elusive speck on his own, and now some are wondering whether it should be renamed to honor some of the other scientists too
April 23, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
Did We Just Find Dark Matter?
The physics world is buzzing over new evidence for dark matter. We break it down for you
April 04, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
Why Geckos Don’t Slip Off Wet Jungle Leaves or Hotel Ceilings
A surface's ability to attract and repel water heavily influences the degree to which a gecko can cling overhead, new research shows
April 01, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Scientists Are Trying to Create a Temperature Below Absolute Zero
If you can’t break the laws of physics, work around them
April 2013 |
By Tom Siegfried
Marshmallows: The Perfect Media for Demonstrating Principles of Physics
The gooey confections turn out to be a must-have for at-home science experiments
March 29, 2013 |
By Mohi Kumar
Astronomers Discover Baby Supernovae
This new type of mini-supernova doesn't destroy the star
March 28, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
Physicists Use Ytterbium Ions to Make March Madness Picks
Even knowledgable fans aren't great at making predictions, so quantum physics may be the surest way to cash in on the madness
March 22, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Women Who Score Well on Both Math And Verbal Tests Still Don’t Choose Science Careers
This may be because women have some many career options these days, researchers write, or maybe it's just sexism
March 21, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Scientists Build a Phaser, a New Kind of Sound-Laser
A laser that shoots sound, a Star Trek fantasy that's nearly within reach
March 19, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
Are We Ready to Have Babies in Space?
As technology progresses, and people start to talk seriously about trips to Mars or other planets, the questions of love and sex in space become more pressing
March 14, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
Eight Months Later, Physicists Double Down on Claim of Higgs Particle Discovery
No longer Higgs-like, now just Higgs
March 14, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
What Mosh Pits Can Teach Us About Disaster Planning
Moshers might have more to offer society than you once thought. It turns out that mosh pits behave a lot like a container of gas, with each individual behaving like an atom
March 12, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
The Northern Lights—From Scientific Phenomenon to Artists’ Muse
The spectacular aurora borealis is inspiring artists to create light installations, musical compositions, food and fashion
March 12, 2013 |
By Megan Gambino
Could Spider Silk Stop a Moving Train?
Spiderman really could have stopped that train from falling, so long as his silk resembled that produced by the Darwin's bark spider
February 28, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
