Physics

Albert and Elsa Einstein in Japan

When Albert Einstein Visited Japan

As he traveled through Asia, including a trip to Palestine, the brilliant scientist discovered much he didn’t understand

If a Cosmic Bubble Destroys the Universe, Scientists Now Know When It'll Happen

Don't panic yet; the end won't be for at least 10 octodecillion years, if it happens at all

The Center of the Milky Way May Be Chock-Full of Black Holes

Researchers spotted about a dozen black holes lurking at our galactic center—and there may be up to 10,000 more

Diffuse galaxy NGC1052-DF2

Scientists Thought All Galaxies Had Dark Matter, but They Just Found One Without It

The find defies the assumption that the mysterious matter is necessary for galaxy formation

Small differences account for a shooter’s consistency.

The Math Behind the Perfect Free Throw

A basketball computer program simulates millions of trajectories in search of the ideal shot

How It All Began: A Colleague Reflects On the Remarkable Life of Stephen Hawking

The physicist probed the mysteries of black holes, expanded our understanding of the universe and captured the world's imagination, says Martin Rees

How a city is arranged can influence whether it heats up in comparison to surrounding areas

Order Makes Cities Easy to Navigate—It May Also Make Them Hotter

Physics and statistics can describe how building patterns relate to cities' tendency to hold heat

This graphene-filled tube is sensitive to the slightest movements.

This Low-Cost, Graphene Device Could Help Monitor a Baby's Health

Physicists have developed a graphene-based liquid that can sense tiny changes in breathing and heart rate

An abstract image because it's hard to see three individual photons.

Scientists Create a New Form of Light by Linking Photons

Photons typically don't interact, but physicists bound three together in the lab

Single Atom in Ion Trap

Breathtaking Bubbles, Butterfly Wings, and a Glowing Atom Take Top Prizes in Science Photo Contest

The images celebrate the depth and beauty of the physical sciences

Every dazzling jump on the ice—like Yuzuru Hanyu's quadruple Lutz at the 2017 Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Moscow, Russia—requires a mastery of balance, rotational speed and angular momentum.

How Physics Keeps Figure Skaters Gracefully Aloft

Every twist, turn and jump relies on a mastery of complex physical forces

A laser delivers a burst of ultraviolet light to compress water ice and create superionic ice

Scientists Make Weird Type of Ice Halfway Between Solid and Liquid

The strange form of ice could help explain the odd magnetic fields seen around Uranus and Neptune

A replica of Foucault's famous experiment at the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e Tecnica in Milan, Italy

How Does Foucault's Pendulum Prove the Earth Rotates?

This elegant scientific demonstration has been delighting everyday people for nearly 200 years

The epicenter of last night's earthquake in Alaska

Why Did Alaska's Big Quake Lead to a Tiny Tsunami?

Geophysics, plate tectonics and the vast ocean all determine how severe a tsunami may be

A male peacock spider, Maratus robinsoni

How Peacock Spiders Make Rainbows on Their Backsides

The adorable arachnids use specialized scales to break light into its component colors to produce some of nature's tiniest rainbows

In the nothingness of space, sound waves have no medium by which to travel.

The Science of Silence in 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'

The soundless lightspeed attack that baffled some fans was actually the film's most scientifically accurate moment

An artist's rendering of the CP-1 nuclear reactor.

How the First Man-Made Nuclear Reactor Reshaped Science and Society

In December 1942, Chicago Pile-1 ushered in an age of frightening possibility

The Physics Behind the Layers in Your Latte

Layered lattes are a cool trick, but the science of why it happens could help in manufacturing and even studying the ocean

The Ten Best Science Books of 2017

These books not only inspired awe and wonder—they helped us better understand the machinations of our world

For the first time, human beings harnessed the power of atomic fission.

The Science Behind the First Nuclear Chain Reaction, Which Ushered in the Atomic Age 75 Years Ago

That fateful discovery helped give us nuclear power reactors and the atomic bomb

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