The universe is believed to be expanding at an accelerating rate, thanks to a mysterious force dubbed dark energy. But how exactly does this force work? UK researchers have conducted an experiment to test a hypothesis that this fifth fundamental force works on single atoms and found no trace of it.
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Few things are as mysterious as dark matter. Now, a physicist from Johns Hopkins University has outlined a new theory that helps to explain the stuff but at the same time makes it seem even more bizarre. According to the study, dark matter may have originated before the Big Bang.
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Scientists have a list of possible suspects for dark matter, and now that list is a little shorter. Experiments at CERN have ruled out some types of dark photons, inching us closer to finding the elusive dark matter.
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The LIGO detector uses 4-km-long (2.5-mi) arms. But now, a Northwestern University team is aiming to build a gravitational wave detector small enough to fit on a tabletop, which could detect signals the larger facilities miss.
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Physicists at Stanford and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have narrowed down the search for dark matter. Using observations of galaxies orbiting the Milky Way, the team found that dark matter is likely lighter than previously thought – and interacts even less with normal matter.
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Hypothetical “chameleon” particles could be behind dark energy, and physicists at CERN have been searching for these particles streaming from the Sun. Now, the team has reported the first results of their search.
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Researchers have produced what may very well be the first pieces of art made using non-classical matter. The team has reproduced classic artworks like the Mona Lisa and Starry Night on a “quantum canvas” as small as a human hair, by projecting light onto Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs).
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We’re now getting new gravitational wave detections so often it almost doesn’t seem special anymore. Barely a month into a new observation run, the LIGO/Virgo collaboration has now reported five new events, including what may be the first ever detection of a black hole swallowing a neutron star.
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It might be hard to believed that a phenomenon as eye-catching as aurora could go undocumented, but in 2016 a new type of sky light was discovered, and given the strange name of STEVE. Exactly how the phenomenon worked was unknown, but a new study has now found some answers.
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Although the many experiments searching for evidence of dark matter have yet to turn up any solid proof yet, they are making other amazing discoveries. The XENON1T experiment has now revealed the longest half-life ever seen in an element, which is far, far longer than the age of the universe.
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