Physics

Xander Bogaerts hits his first home run with his new team, the San Diego Padres, at Petco Park in San Diego on April 1, 2023. 

Climate Change Is Making Home Runs Easier to Hit

A new study attributes more than 500 homers since 2010 to increased global average temperatures, an effect that will only increase the hotter Earth gets

From left to right: actor Stephanie Hsu, director Daniel Kwan, actor Jamie Lee Curtis, director Daniel Scheinert, actor Michelle Yeoh, producer Jonathan Wang and actor Ke Huy Quan at the 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards.

The Science Behind the Multiverse in 'Everything Everywhere All At Once'

The movie that won Best Picture imagines a reality composed of an uncountable number of universes

Magnets can levitate over superconductors, which expel a magnetic field.

This Breakthrough Could Make Longer-Lasting Batteries and Better Power Grids—if It Works

A new superconductor could revolutionize energy, but doubts surround the researchers, who published a similar paper in 2020 that was later retracted

The strategy an animal uses to track a scent depends upon a number of factors, including the animal’s body shape and the amount of turbulence in the odor plume.

Scientists Are Trying to Figure Out How Animals Follow a Scent to Its Source

Uncovering the varied strategies that animals employ could help engineers develop robots that accomplish similar tasks

Researchers used Barbie dolls to test liquid nitrogen's effectiveness at removing Moon dust simulants from a replica spacesuit. (Left: before spraying; center: after spraying; right: after spot cleaning)

NASA's Moon Dust Problem Might Finally Have a Solution

Researchers sprayed liquid nitrogen at spacesuit-clad Barbie dolls to test their novel idea

Sharpshooters use an appendage called an anal stylus to catapult droplets of pee.

These Tiny Bugs Urinate by Flinging Droplets of Pee

Sharpshooters are the first example of “superpropulsion” in a living organism, according to new research

A kindergartner frolics on a jungle gym during a festival in Louisville, Kentucky, in September 2017.

The Surprisingly Scientific Roots of Monkey Bars

A century ago, a Princeton mathematician created what would become a mainstay of the American playground

For 25 years, skeptics have been insisting that Jack and Rose could have both survived on their makeshift raft.

Did Jack Really Need to Sacrifice Himself for Rose?

James Cameron commissioned a study to prove that his characters' tragic ending was inevitable

J. Robert Oppenheimer led the Manhattan Project, a mission to develop nuclear weapons during World War II.

U.S. Reverses 1954 Removal of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s Security Clearance

The “father of the atomic bomb” was accused of being a communist

When flushed, commercial toilets can spew airborne particles at speeds of up to 6.6 feet per second.

Here's What Really Happens When You Flush a Toilet

Using lasers and cameras, scientists visualized the plume of tiny, aerosolized particles ejected from commercial toilets during flushing

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Kimberly Budil and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Arati Prabhakar at a Tuesday press conference announcing the finding

Fusion Breakthrough Raises Hopes for Clean Energy

This process that powers stars is still decades away from widespread use on Earth

This year’s picks include Fresh Banana Leaves, Origin and Starry Messenger.

The Best Books of 2022

The Ten Best Science Books of 2022

From a detective story on the origins of Covid-19 to a narrative that imagines a fateful day for dinosaurs, these works affected us the most this year

HAARP's antennas

Alaska

Why Scientists Are Sending Radio Signals to the Moon and Jupiter

Researchers conducted wide-ranging experiments at Alaska's HAARP facility, known for atmospheric research and conspiracy theories

Shark skin is made of tiny, stiff segments of overlapping, textured dentin and enamel. Shark skin’s distinctive texture gives sharks greater efficiency moving through the water.

Shark Skin-Inspired Materials Have a Long Way to Go Before They Work Like the Real Thing

The predator's distinctive texture is the envy of engineers trying to maximize hydrodynamics

Members of the Nobel Committee for Physics announce the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics winners. From left to right on the display: Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger. 

Breaking Down the Quantum Research That Earned Three Physicists the Nobel Prize

What they revealed could enable ultra-secure computing and new telescope technology

A rendering of the MICROSCOPE satellite in space. 

Scientists Test How Objects Fall in Space

In the most precise experiment to date, researchers confirm a principle of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity

The forged manuscript in the university’s collection

Historian Discovers a Prized Galileo Manuscript Was Forged

The fake document at the University of Michigan was likely created by a famous 20th-century forger

There's more than meets the eye going on when someone pops a bottle of bubbly.

What Really Happens When You Pop Champagne, According to Science

Researchers now have a clearer picture of the supersonic shock waves that form when carbon dioxide escapes from a bottle of bubbly

Taste testers involved in a recent study preferred chocolate that shattered in their mouth.

Innovation for Good

Have Scientists Designed the Perfect Chocolate?

Part of a burgeoning field of 'edible metamaterials,' Dutch physicists found that 3-D printed spiral-shaped candies give the ideal eating experience

It’s shocking how many everyday inventions we use without acknowledging the inventors that helped bring them to us.

Innovation for Good

Five Women Inventors You Didn't Learn About in History Class

These innovators pioneered word processing, launched Americans into space and more

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