What's up in

Cosmology

Latest Articles

What Lights the Universe’s Standard Candles?

February 8, 2023

Type Ia supernovas are astronomers’ best tools for measuring cosmic distances. In a first, researchers have managed to re-create one on a supercomputer, giving a boost to a leading hypothesis for how they form.

Standard Model of Cosmology Survives a Telescope’s Surprising Finds

January 20, 2023

Reports that the James Webb Space Telescope killed the reigning cosmological model turn out to have been exaggerated. But astronomers still have much to learn from distant galaxies glimpsed by Webb.

The Year in Physics

December 22, 2022

In a year filled with sweet new observations in astronomy and tantalizing breakthroughs in condensed matter physics, the brand-new space telescope takes the cake.

Q&A

She Turns Fluids Into ‘Black Holes’ and ‘Inflating Universes’

December 12, 2022

By using fluids to model inaccessible realms of the cosmos, Silke Weinfurtner is “looking for a deeper truth beyond one system.” But what can such experiments teach us?

Asymmetry Detected in the Distribution of Galaxies

December 5, 2022

Two new studies suggest that certain tetrahedral arrangements of galaxies outnumber their mirror images, potentially reflecting details of the universe’s birth. But confirmation is needed.

Why This Universe? A New Calculation Suggests Our Cosmos Is Typical.

November 17, 2022

Two physicists have calculated that the universe has a higher entropy — and is therefore more likely — than alternative possible universes.

Physicists Rewrite a Quantum Rule That Clashes With Our Universe

September 26, 2022

The past and the future are tightly linked in conventional quantum mechanics. Perhaps too tightly. A tweak to the theory could let quantum possibilities increase as space expands.

How the Physics of Nothing Underlies Everything

August 9, 2022

The key to understanding the origin and fate of the universe may be a more complete understanding of the vacuum.

Deep Curiosity Inspires The Joy of Why Podcast

March 17, 2022

The noted mathematician and author Steven Strogatz explains how the conversations with experts in his new Quanta Magazine podcast address his lifelong fascination with timeless mysteries.

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