physics
Physicists Created Bubbles That Can Last for Over a Year
If you've ever blown bubbles, you know how quickly they burst. Now French researchers have concocted a type that stays intact for hundreds of days.
What Happens If a Space Elevator Breaks
These structures are a sci-fi solution to the problem of getting objects into orbit without a rocket—but you don’t want to be under one if the cable snaps.
An Injection of Chaos Solves a Decades-Old Fluid Mystery
In the 1960s, drillers noticed that certain fluids would firm up if they flowed too fast. Researchers have finally explained why.
A Staple of Sci-Fi Space Travel Will Likely Remain a Fantasy
Physicists say an interstellar engine popularized in the ’60s is technically feasible, but it would take a more advanced civilization to build one.
Earth’s Oceanography Helps Demystify Jupiter’s Flowing Cyclones
A team of scientists shows where some of the gas giant’s huge storms come from and how the process is similar to the buildup of extreme weather on our planet.
Detailed Footage Finally Reveals What Triggers Lightning
The first detailed observations of lightning's emergence inside a cloud have exposed how electric fields grow strong enough to let bolts fly.
The Physics of the James Webb Space Telescope
Humanity has a new eye in the sky, with infrared sensors that will peer into the farthest reaches of the cosmos. Here’s how it works.
The Physics of Wile E. Coyote’s 10 Billion-Volt Electromagnet
The famous cartoon schemer has an ingenious plan to lure Bugs Bunny out of his hole—and it involves a giant magnet and an iron carrot.
The Algorithm That Lets Particle Physicists Count Higher Than 2
Through his encyclopedic study of the electron, an obscure figure named Stefano Laporta found a handle on the subatomic world’s fearsome complexity.
The World Is Messy. Idealizations Make the Physics Simple
Even ordinary actions, like tossing a tennis ball, can be extraordinarily complex to calculate. The trick is knowing what to leave out.
Cosmologists Close in on Logical Laws for the Big Bang
Physicists are translating commonsense principles into strict mathematical constraints for how our universe must have behaved at the beginning of time.
Can Your Gravitational Pull Affect Your Game of Pool?
It’s hard enough to predict the outcome of ball collisions in a game of billiards. Do you also have to factor in a player’s effect on the cue ball?
Gravitational Waves Should Permanently Distort Spacetime
Physicists have linked the “gravitational memory effect” to fundamental cosmic symmetries and a potential solution to the black hole information paradox.
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To See Proteins Change in Quadrillionths of a Second, Use AI
Researchers have long wanted to capture how protein structures contort in response to light. But getting a clear image was impossible—until now.
The Great Neutrino Mystery Could Point to Missing Particles
Years of conflicting measurements have led physicists to propose a “dark sector” of invisible particles that could explain dark matter and the universe’s expansion.
Why Buzz Lightyear’s Rocket Launch Looks Better Than Reality
We use video analysis to compare an animated liftoff to an actual one, proving that truth is more boring than fiction.
Will Nathan Drake Make This Jump in the Uncharted Trailer?
Leaping into an airborne cargo plane might not be impossible, but the numbers have to work out just right.
A New Theory for Systems That Defy Newton’s Third Law
In nonreciprocal systems, “exceptional points” are helping researchers understand phase transitions and possibly other phenomena.
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Mathematicians Finally Prove That Melting Ice Stays Smooth
They now have a complete understanding of the complicated equations that model the motion of free boundaries, like the one between ice and water.
Want to Lie on a Bed of Nails? Physics Has Your Back
This is the science of why you can recline on an array of very sharp things without getting the pointy end of the stick.
Why Can’t People Teleport?
Set your phasers on stun, because we are going to beam you up on the physics of teleportation.
If Clouds Are Made of Water, How Do They Stay in the Air?
Despite the conventional wisdom, they don’t really float.
‘Impossible’ Particle Adds a Piece to the Strong Force Puzzle
The unexpected discovery of the double-charm tetraquark gives physicists fresh insight into the strongest of nature’s fundamental forces.
Could MJ Really Hang on During Spider-Man’s Swing?
Shooting a web from your hands requires Spidey powers. But does keeping your grip on one of them require Spidey strength?