Physics

Ghostly Neutrinos Created in the Heart of the Sun Are Finally Detected

This is the most direct evidence supporting researchers’ ideas about how the Sun is powered

Geckos Can Control the Movement of Their Toe Hairs

Geckos take advantage of van der Waals forces to run across ceilings, but a simple shift allows them to drop to the ground

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There’s an Easy (And Tasty) Way to Measure the Speed of Light at Home

You can make surprisingly accurate calculations using chocolate and a microwave

The Verrückt, which opened this summer at the Kansas City Schlitterbahn Waterpark, is the tallest waterslide in the world.

How Do You Build the World's Tallest Water Slide?

From conceptualization to the first plunge, building the world's tallest water slide takes more trial-and-error than you might believe

How a Flock of 400 Flying Birds Manages to Turn in Just Half a Second

The birds' patterns of movement are surprisingly similar to that of superfluid helium

Lasers Make a Fiber Optic Cable Out of Thin Air

Just like a fiber optic cable, without the physical cable

"Watermarks" earned first place in the contest. “The way water in this picture found its way back to the ocean reminded me of a peacock's tail spreading under the sun or a woman's hair blowing in the wind,” Sadri writes.

Who Knew Fungi and Fruit Fly Ovaries Could Be So Beautiful?

Princeton University’s annual science art contest shines a light on the research world, adding a video element this year

Spider Silk is a Fine-Tuned Alert System

Web fibers can send a wide range of messages

Delicate Arch in Arches National Park near Moab, Utah.

How Does Nature Carve Sandstone Pillars and Arches?

Researchers say the right mix of erosion and stress creates Earth’s natural sandstone arches and columns

We Know Physics is Largely White and Male, But Exactly How White and Male is Still Striking

Most current physics students will likely never have an African American physics teacher, says a new survey

The North Pole Could Soon Drift Over to Siberia

Earth's magnetic field seems to be weakening and potentially migrating

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There's a Cheap And Easy Way to Turn Things Invisible

Real invisibility cloaks are a long way off, but here's a handy—if somewhat limited—replacement

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What If There's a Way to Explain Quantum Physics Without the Probabilistic Weirdness?

An old idea is back in vogue as physicists find support for "pilot wave theory," a competitor to quantum mechanics

Turning Light Into Matter Might Finally Be Possible

Researchers have a formula for turning colliding photons into electrons and positrons

Atlas V Launches the New Horizons Mission to Pluto.

Take a Peek Into the Future's Present With Our Live Coverage of Smithsonian's Two-Day Festival

The magazine's 2nd annual conference brings together experts, authors and visionaries in the fields of science, science fiction and technology.

One More Way Cities Might Mess With Birds—By Throwing Radio Waves at Them

Radio waves disrupt birds' migratory patterns, but birds may have a natural work-around

The Great Sphinx and the pyramids of Giza (Egypt). Ca. 1845. Lithography by David Roberts.

A Simple Trick May Have Helped the Egyptians Build the Pyramids

No ancient aliens needed: A little bit of water reduces friction when dragging a sled over sand

How to Improve Your Vision Without Glasses, Contacts Or Surgery

Knowing a little about the physics of light can help you focus

Not the world's fastest mite, but a related species from the same Family.

This Obscure Species of Mite Is the Fastest Animal on Earth

The mite just defeated the previous record-holder, the Australian tiger beetle

Supernova remnant Puppis A.

The Big “Gravitational Wave” Finding May Have Actually Just Been Some Dust

A supernova remnant interacting with interstellar dust could have caused the signals interpreted to be gravitational waves

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