Archive

Latest Articles

New Life Found That Lives Off Electricity

June 21, 2016

Scientists have figured out how microbes can suck energy from rocks. Such lifeforms might be more widespread than anyone anticipated.

Interstellar Find Adds Life to Old Debate

June 20, 2016

Figuring out how these molecules form in the deep recesses of interstellar space might illuminate the origins of one of life’s distinguishing features.

Is Infinity Real?

June 16, 2016

Three puzzles test whether the concept of infinity has purchase in the physical world.

LIGO Reports Second Black-Hole Merger

June 15, 2016

The spokesperson for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory called it “a promising start to mapping the populations of black holes in our universe.”

The Downside to Neanderthal DNA

June 14, 2016

How interbreeding among early hominins harmed humans but may have slowed the Neanderthals’ decline.

A Glimpse Through a Cosmic Keyhole

June 14, 2016

What could cause galaxies millions of light years apart to all spew material in the same direction?

Have Physicists Discovered a New Boson?

June 14, 2016

A group of little-known Hungarian physicists claim to have found a new fundamental particle. Now other researchers are raising questions about the team’s past work.

Q&A

An Explorer of Quantum Borderlands

June 9, 2016

Suchitra Sebastian’s searches for quantum anomalies have led to the potential discovery of a new building block of matter.

Evidence of a ‘Fifth Force’ Faces Scrutiny

June 7, 2016

A lab in Hungary has reported an anomaly that could lead to a physics revolution. But even as excitement builds, closer scrutiny has unearthed a troubling backstory.

Get highlights of the most important news delivered to your email inbox