Physics
Theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg said, "not only is the Universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think." That doesn't mean some very smart men and women will stop seeking answers as to how the Universe behaves. Here is where we try to make sense of their discoveries.
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The antimatter enigma: What is it and why didn't it destroy the universe?
Normal matter has an “evil twin” that annihilates on contact, and despite decades of study antimatter remains very mysterious. So what actually is it? Where is it? Why is it important to understand? And why hasn’t it already destroyed the universe? -
How a really cold bath can help unravel the mysteries of the cosmos
Physicists have measured the lifetime of a free neutron more precisely than ever before. This breakthrough "bathtub" experiment helps probe the fringes of the Standard Model of particle physics, and mysteries like dark matter and the early universe. -
2021 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to scientists bringing order to chaos
The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to three scientists for "groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of complex physical systems." One half went jointly to Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann, and the other to Giorgio Parisi. -
Dark matter detector may have accidentally detected dark energy instead
Last year, physicists reported that an experimental dark matter detector picked up a strange signal. A new Cambridge study suggests it could be the first direct detection of dark energy, the mysterious force accelerating the expansion of the universe. -
Triple entanglement in silicon marks major quantum computer breakthrough
Quantum computers could one day outperform traditional machines, but hurdles remain. Now physicists have successfully entangled three silicon quantum dots for the first time, in a breakthrough that could help make quantum computers more practical. -
Quantum gas free fall experiment creates coldest temperature ever recorded
German physicists have recorded the coldest temperature ever – 38 trillionths of a degree above absolute zero. The experiment involved dropping quantum gas and switching a magnetic field on and off to bring its atoms to an almost complete standstill. -
New antimatter trap could help explain why cosmos didn't self-destruct
Antimatter is hard to study, not least because it annihilates any container you try to put it in. Now CERN physicists have developed a new antimatter trap that can cool samples in seconds, which could help unlock a fundamental mystery of the universe. -
Never-before-detected gravitational waves hint at dark matter
A new type of gravitational wave detector has recorded two rare events that may be signals of dark matter or primordial black holes. These high-frequency gravitational waves are beyond the range of most detectors and have never been recorded before. -
Strange supersolid state of matter created in new dimension
There are many exotic states of matter besides the basics of solid, liquid, gas and plasma. One of these, known as a supersolid, was confirmed a few years ago, and now University of Innsbruck scientists have created it in a new two-dimensional form. -
2D quantum crystal sensor could hunt for dark matter particles
Dark matter should be all around us, but the stuff is frustratingly elusive. Now physicists at NIST have developed a new sensor that could help us detect certain hypothetical dark matter particles, using a two-dimensional quantum crystal. -
New particle discovered at CERN is a long-lived double charmer
Physicists at CERN have discovered an exotic new particle that’s quite charming. Known as Tcc+, the particle belongs to a rare class called tetraquarks, and its unusual composition makes it the longest-lived exotic hadron found so far. -
Laser pincers generate antimatter by recreating neutron star conditions
Physicists have outlined a relatively simple new way to create antimatter, by firing two lasers at each other to reproduce the conditions near a neutron star, converting light into matter and antimatter. Doing so could unlock cosmological mysteries.
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