New Atlas

Physics Audio available

Most powerful gravitational waves event stands out among four new detections

Michael Irving December 3, 2018

Gravitational waves are ripples in the very fabric of spacetime, caused by some of the biggest cataclysms in the cosmos. Now, an international team of scientists has presented the full catalog of these events, gathered over the last few years across two observation runs.

An artist's impression of two neutron stars on a collision course – a cataclysm that produces ...

Physics Audio available

Record-breaking atomic clocks precise enough to measure spacetime distortions

Michael Irving November 28, 2018

In recent tests run by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), experimental atomic clocks have achieved record performance in three metrics, meaning these clocks could help measure the Earth’s gravity more precisely or detect elusive dark matter.

A ytterbium lattice atomic clock, which was used in the new study to make some of ...

Physics

Does antimatter fall upwards? New CERN gravity experiments aim to get to the bottom of the matter

Michael Irving November 4, 2018

Physics tells us that a hammer and a feather, dropped in a vacuum, will fall at the same rate. Now, CERN scientists are preparing to drop antimatter in a vacuum chamber to see if gravity affects it the same way it does matter – or if antimatter falls upwards instead.

The ALPHA-g experiment being set up at CERN, which will drop antimatter to see how gravity ...

Space

Dusty pseudo-satellites spotted orbiting Earth

Michael Irving October 28, 2018

Hungarian astronomers have spotted two new pseudo-satellites – in the form of clouds of dust – caught in the gravitational tug-of-war between the Earth and the Moon.

An artist's rendition of the dusty pseudo-moon spotted in orbit around Earth

Aircraft

Get your own 1,050-horsepower Iron Man jet suit for only US$447,000

Loz Blain July 22, 2018

Gravity.co's Richard Browning has put his extraordinary jet suit on sale and display at British retailer Selfridges. Those without the cash can throw on an HTC Vive headset and learn to fly the thing in virtual reality, where unscheduled landings will be a lot less messy.

Richard Browning flies the Gravity Jet Suit against a starry sky in this clearly photoshopped image

Physics

Triple star system puts Einstein's theory of relativity to the test

Michael Irving July 5, 2018

The theory of relativity predicts that any two objects in a vacuum will fall at the same rate. Whether or not this applied to massive objects like planets and stars has long been debated, but now astronomers have shown that the phenomenon does hold true, meaning Einstein was right yet again.

Astronomers have used a triple star system, made up of a neutron star and two white ...

Space

GRACE-FO to precisely measure Earth’s gravitational field with lasers

David Szondy May 9, 2018

When NASA's GRACE-FO mission launches, it will be able to map the Earth's gravitational field with unprecedented accuracy thanks to a new laser ranging interferometry technique to chart gravitational anomalies with a ten-fold greater precision than the previous GRACE mission.

GRACE-FO will demonstrate the effectiveness of using lasers instead of microwaves to more precisely measure fluctuations ...

Physics

Are there extra dimensions lurking at the quantum scale?

Michael Irving March 28, 2018

Some theories suggest there could be many more dimensions that we’re unaware of, mostly because they’re imperceptibly tiny. Now researchers have taken the search for extra dimensions down to the nanoscale, using a neutron beam to study gravitational forces more precisely than ever before.

Japanese researchers have probed gravity on the subnanometer level, in the search for extra dimensions

Aircraft

Real-life Iron Man Richard Browning flies his Gravity jet suit up Europe's longest zip line

Loz Blain March 21, 2018

Personal Flight pioneer and real-life Iron Man Richard Browning has found an innovative way to speed-test the aerodynamics of his Gravity jet suit. He's been flying up and down Europe's longest and fastest zip line in Wales. Check out the video!

Richard Browning prepares to fly up the longest zip line in Europe

Space

"Pillownauts" go to bed for three days to help astronauts stay healthy

David Szondy February 8, 2018

Ten men at the University of Nottingham are lying down for science by taking to their beds for three days. The "pillownauts" will provide medical data that could one day help astronauts avoid the risk of developing Type-2 diabetes due to a lack of gravity.