Scientists at the University of Sussex have measured a property of the neutron -- a fundamental particle in the universe -- more precisely than ever before. Their research is part of an investigation into why there is matter left over... Continue Reading →
While turbulence is everywhere – from planes to white water rafting and whirlpools in the bathtub – it’s one of the least understood phenomena in physics. The image above is of vortex cannons firing in a 75-gallon aquarium to produce... Continue Reading →
That banana peel, turned into graphene, can help facilitate a massive reduction of the environmental impact of concrete and other building materials. While you're at it, toss in those plastic empties. A new process introduced by the Rice University lab... Continue Reading →
In a new study, U.S. and Austrian physicists have observed quantum entanglement among "billions of billions" of flowing electrons in a quantum critical material. The research, which appears this week in Science, examined the electronic and magnetic behavior of a "strange... Continue Reading →
On a hillside above Stanford University, the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory operates a scientific instrument nearly 2 miles long. In this giant accelerator, a stream of electrons flows through a vacuum pipe, as bursts of microwave radiation nudge the particles... Continue Reading →
Born on 5 December 1868 in Königsberg, Prussia, theoretical physicist Arnold Sommerfeld was a pioneer of quantum and atomic physics. Sommerfeld started out studying mathematics, earning his PhD from the University of Königsberg in 1891, when he was just 23... Continue Reading →
For decades, scientists have speculated about the origin of the electromagnetic radiation emitted from celestial regions that host black holes and neutron stars -- the most mysterious objects in the universe. Astrophysicists believe that this high-energy radiation -- which makes... Continue Reading →
Using the first new method in half a century for measuring the size of the proton via electron scattering, the PRad collaboration has produced a new value for the proton's radius in an experiment conducted at the Department of Energy's... Continue Reading →
New measurements of the rate of expansion of the universe, led by astronomers at the University of California, Davis, add to a growing mystery: Estimates of a fundamental constant made with different methods keep giving different results. "There's a lot... Continue Reading →