Archive
Latest Articles
New Life Found That Lives Off Electricity
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
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?
Three puzzles test whether the concept of infinity has purchase in the physical world.
LIGO Reports Second Black-Hole Merger
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
How interbreeding among early hominins harmed humans but may have slowed the Neanderthals’ decline.
A Glimpse Through a Cosmic Keyhole
What could cause galaxies millions of light years apart to all spew material in the same direction?
Have Physicists Discovered a New Boson?
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.
An Explorer of Quantum Borderlands
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
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.