Physics

A new theory proposes that the quantum properties of an object extend into an “atmosphere” that surrounds the material.

Astronomers have known where the universe’s missing matter has been hiding for the past 20 years. So why did it take so long to find it?

Cosmologists have predicted the existence of an oscillating signal that could distinguish between cosmic inflation and alternative theories of the universe’s birth.

For decades, astronomers weren’t able to find all of the atomic matter in the universe. A series of recent papers has revealed where it’s been hiding.

The 19th-century discovery of numbers called “quaternions” gave mathematicians a way to describe rotations in space, forever changing physics and math.

Computer vision researchers have uncovered a world of visual signals hiding in our midst, including subtle motions that betray what’s being said and faint images of what’s around a corner.

Rosaly Lopes has visited dozens of active volcanoes on Earth and discovered even more elsewhere in the solar system. Her work is helping to establish whether volcanoes on distant moons could create conditions friendly to life.

Computer simulations and custom-built quantum analogues are changing what it means to search for the laws of nature.

Quanta’s In Theory video series returns with an exploration of a mysterious mathematical pattern found throughout nature.