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Off-the-Shelf Lens Assists Dark Matter Find
A camera lens often used by wildlife and sports photographers has helped astronomers learn about dark matter and galaxy formation.
Strange Dark Galaxy Puzzles Astrophysicists
The surprising discovery of a massive, Milky Way–size galaxy that is made of 99.99 percent dark matter has astronomers dreaming up new ideas about how galaxies form.
The Strange Second Life of String Theory
String theory has so far failed to live up to its promise as a way to unite gravity and quantum mechanics. At the same time, it has blossomed into one of the most useful sets of tools in science.
From Gaia, a Twinkling Treasure Trove
The first star map from the ESA’s Gaia space telescope is poised to revolutionize our understanding of the Milky Way galaxy.
Responding Rapidly to Big Discoveries
How do scientists react to major breaking science news? For astrophysicists after the big gravitational waves announcement, it was meeting for two weeks in Santa Barbara, California.
Colliding Black Holes Tell New Story of Stars
Just months after their discovery, gravitational waves coming from the mergers of black holes are shaking up astrophysics.
A Seeker of Dark Matter’s Hidden Light
The astrophysicist Tracy Slatyer is searching for faint wisps of dark matter annihilating in the early universe — and perhaps in hiding places closer to home.
Supersymmetry Bet Settled With Cognac
The absence of supersymmetry particles at the Large Hadron Collider has settled a 16-year-old bet among physicists.
New Measurement Deepens Proton Puzzle
A discrepancy in the measured size of the “deuteron” increases the chance that something is amiss in our understanding of atoms.