https://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/physics/RSS feed for PhysicsenThu, 12 Nov 2026 16:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-seeded-life-on-earth-new-research-challenges-the-longstanding-theory-that-comets-brought-the-ingredients-to-our-planet-180989852/Computer simulations suggest comets carrying a key precursor to many of life's building blocks would have rarely—if ever—successfully reached Earth's surface. And even if they did, only specific landing conditions would have allowed the precursor molecule to drive biologically relevant reactionsThu, 12 Nov 2026 16:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-seeded-life-on-earth-new-research-challenges-the-longstanding-theory-that-comets-brought-the-ingredients-to-our-planet-180989852/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-great-pacific-garbage-patch-has-accumulated-so-many-microplastics-they-might-be-changing-the-color-of-the-ocean-180989828/Satellite data suggests water in and around the huge area filled with human-made debris has become more blue-green over the past two decades. Computer simulations suggest microplastics are to blame, but researchers need samples to confirm their hypothesisMon, 09 Nov 2026 16:36:58 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-great-pacific-garbage-patch-has-accumulated-so-many-microplastics-they-might-be-changing-the-color-of-the-ocean-180989828/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-a-stunning-simulation-of-the-early-universe-which-will-help-astronomers-shed-light-on-the-cosmic-dark-ages-180989791/The model, created by researchers at the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, and other institutions, captures how the first stars and black holes gradually illuminated the universe after millions of years of darknessTue, 03 Nov 2026 19:08:47 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-a-stunning-simulation-of-the-early-universe-which-will-help-astronomers-shed-light-on-the-cosmic-dark-ages-180989791/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/after-observing-the-sky-for-22-years-a-beloved-nasa-space-telescope-is-expected-to-meet-a-fiery-death-this-week-180989796/The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory launched in 2004 and detected thousands of astrophysical phenomena, leading to some huge discoveries. Earlier this year, experts attempted a first-of-its-kind rescue mission to save the falling telescope, but it failedTue, 03 Nov 2026 15:46:18 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/after-observing-the-sky-for-22-years-a-beloved-nasa-space-telescope-is-expected-to-meet-a-fiery-death-this-week-180989796/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/for-the-first-time-scientists-trapped-an-elusive-antimatter-particle-and-contained-it-for-months-it-could-allow-them-to-test-an-enduring-physics-theory-180989738/The standard model of particle physics works really well, but it can't explain why the universe exists. Something is missing, and this trapped particle might hold a clue to the answerFri, 23 Oct 2026 18:59:01 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/for-the-first-time-scientists-trapped-an-elusive-antimatter-particle-and-contained-it-for-months-it-could-allow-them-to-test-an-enduring-physics-theory-180989738/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-a-first-astronomers-identify-a-star-that-might-glow-green-new-research-highlights-the-strange-hues-white-dwarfs-can-take-on-180989719/White dwarf stars are too far from Earth to be observed directly. So, scientists reconstructed how they'd look to human eyes based on the wavelengths of light they emit and found a colorful array of objects that might appear yellow, purple or pinkWed, 21 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-a-first-astronomers-identify-a-star-that-might-glow-green-new-research-highlights-the-strange-hues-white-dwarfs-can-take-on-180989719/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/its-official-timekeepers-have-gotten-rid-of-the-leap-second-and-introduced-the-leap-hour-instead-180989685/Since 1972, experts have added 27 seconds to Coordinated Universal Time to keep it aligned with Earth's rotation, but it has been an imperfect fixThu, 15 Oct 2026 20:43:52 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/its-official-timekeepers-have-gotten-rid-of-the-leap-second-and-introduced-the-leap-hour-instead-180989685/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/physicist-wins-nobel-prize-for-developing-a-massive-ice-embedded-observatory-that-detects-ghostly-cosmic-particles-180989627/Francis Halzen of the University of Wisconsin-Madison led the effort to build the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica. His work birthed the field of neutrino astronomyTue, 06 Oct 2026 19:51:28 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/physicist-wins-nobel-prize-for-developing-a-massive-ice-embedded-observatory-that-detects-ghostly-cosmic-particles-180989627/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mercury-has-wrinkles-that-show-its-shrinking-now-scientists-say-the-planet-has-shriveled-far-more-than-we-previously-thought-180989532/A new study suggests that our solar system’s smallest planet has shrunk by up to 30 percent since its birth roughly 4.5 billion years agoTue, 22 Sep 2026 19:12:34 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mercury-has-wrinkles-that-show-its-shrinking-now-scientists-say-the-planet-has-shriveled-far-more-than-we-previously-thought-180989532/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/active-supermassive-black-holes-may-be-engines-of-star-formation-not-just-destruction-study-suggests-180989517/Scientists mapped out the structure of nine bright cores of galaxies located near the Milky Way and revealed common patterns that could shed light on how the universe evolvedMon, 21 Sep 2026 17:26:26 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/active-supermassive-black-holes-may-be-engines-of-star-formation-not-just-destruction-study-suggests-180989517/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/billions-of-years-ago-venus-may-have-had-a-moon-which-the-planet-promptly-gobbled-up-study-suggests-180989510/Scientists have puzzled over why the planet dubbed "Earth's twin" doesn't have a moon. Computer simulations hint that if Venus ever did have one, it probably would've cannibalized its companionThu, 17 Sep 2026 15:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/billions-of-years-ago-venus-may-have-had-a-moon-which-the-planet-promptly-gobbled-up-study-suggests-180989510/