Physics

There’s invisible, undetectable stuff all around us, and we call it dark matter. There’s plenty of evidence that this stuff is very real, but what exactly is dark matter? How do we know it’s there? And how are scientists looking for it?

Supernovae are some of the most energetic events in the universe, and the resulting nebulas are a favorite for stargazers. To better understand the physics behind them, researchers at Georgia Tech have created a “supernova machine” in the lab.

An experiment designed to hunt for ever elusive dark matter has returned some strange and exciting signals. Out of the three possible explanations, one is unwanted interference – while the other two would herald new physics.

Astrophysicists have found evidence of quark matter at the heart of compact stars. Combining recent theoretical calculations with astrophysical observations, the researchers found that the most massive neutron stars most likely have “quark cores.”

Most of us know the four classical states of matter – solid, liquid, gas and plasma – but there’s a whole world of exotic states out there. Now, physicists have identified a new one named “self-induced spin glass,” which could be used in AI platforms.

In quantum entanglement, particle links are thought to be fragile. But now, physicists have managed to produce hot clouds of trillions of entangled atoms, breaking quantity records and showing that entanglement isn’t as fragile as previously thought.

For the first time, scientists have managed to pick up higher harmonics in gravitational waves. After a round of upgrades The LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave detectors have extended their range, revealing new details about the events behind them.

Almost 30 years of observations has revealed that a star in the center of the galaxy orbits the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* in a rosette, or spirograph shape. The find once again confirms a prediction made by Einstein’s General Relativity.

Unifying conflicting models into a “Theory of Everything” is the Holy Grail of physics. Now a NASA observatory has conducted an experimental test, scouring the sky for evidence of a hypothetical particle that could tie the universe together.

The Standard Model of particle physics still has some holes in it. Now, a new study outlines how one hypothetical particle, the axion, may be the answer to three separate, massive mysteries of the universe – including why we’re here at all.

Dark matter is believed to outnumber regular matter by a ratio of five-to-one, but so far it’s never been directly detected. Now, nuclear physicists have proposed a new candidate particle that might make up the stuff – and we’ve already found it.

Equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have been created in the Big Bang, but this would just have annihilated itself. Now, physicists have proposed a new theory that explains the mystery – and outlined how we can find direct evidence of it.