Gravity
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.
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.
Astronomers Discover a Strange Galaxy Without Dark Matter
New, high-resolution observations of a faint, fluffy galaxy suggest that dark matter’s not as ubiquitous as scientists thought.
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.
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.
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.
Could the Moon Actually Crash Toward Earth?
The trailer for the film Moonfall shows our satellite getting too close for comfort. Here are the physics of what it would take to push the moon out of orbit
Would the Free Guy Inflatable Bubble Protect a Real Person?
In the movie’s video game world, a whole-body airbag protects Ryan Reynolds as he falls off of a building and onto a car. Would that … work?
How Did People Find the Fundamental Charge With Drops of Oil?
Back in 1909, figuring out the charge of a single electron was a Nobel-worthy pursuit. Today, it’s a good lesson in understanding four key forces.
Fractons, the Weirdest Matter, Could Yield Quantum Clues
Theorists are in a frenzy over these bizarre, but potentially useful, hypothetical particles that can only move in combination with one another.
How Gravity Turns Me Upside Down
My favorite force belittles me—literally—but also inspires new ways to get high.
Mathematicians Prove a 2D Version of Quantum Gravity Works
In three towering papers, a team of mathematicians has worked out the details of Liouville quantum field theory, forging a bridge between math and physics.
A New Math Shortcut Helps Describe Black Hole Collisions
The calculations work even in cases where it shouldn’t, like when the black holes are close in size.
Could You Really Climb the Spinning Ship’s Cable in Stowaway?
Anna Kendrick’s rotating spacecraft cleverly uses cables and a counterweight to make artificial gravity. But scaling them would be harder than it looks.
What If Gravity Is Actually a Double Copy of Other Forces?
An enigmatic connection between the forces of nature is allowing physicists to explore the quantum side of gravity.
When You Jump to Hyperspace, Make Sure You Wear a Seatbelt
May the 4th be with you! If you're hitching a ride on the Millennium Falcon today, you should know a little bit about the bumpy physics of acceleration.
Could Bad Guys Actually Escape Falcon in a Wingsuit for Two?
In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, a villain straps a hostage to his wingsuit and leaps off a plane. Cue the action—and the fun physics.
Physicists Learn to Superfreeze Antimatter (Hint: Pew Pew!)
Antimatter, the mysterious mirror-stuff of the universe, is hard to make and harder to study. A laser that literally chills it out could change all that.
Quantum Mischief Rewrites the Laws of Cause and Effect
Spurred on by experiments that scramble the ordering of causes and their effects, some physicists are figuring out how to abandon causality altogether.
How to Figure Out the Mass of Earth—With Balls and String
It involves calculating some very, very tiny numbers in order to find some super huge big ones.
Don’t Tell Einstein, but Black Holes Might Have ‘Hair’
The general theory of relativity states that black holes have only three observable properties; additional ones, or “hair,” do not exist. Or do they?
Researchers Levitated a Small Tray Using Nothing but Light
One day a “magic carpet” based on this light-induced flow technology could carry climate sensors high in the atmosphere—wind permitting.