Scientists Discover the First Room-Temperature Superconductor
Physicists finally achieved the long-sought goal, but there’s a catch: Their compound requires crushing pressures to keep from falling apart.
What Even Is Friction, Anyway?
You might think of it as the force that slows things down, but you literally couldn't get anywhere without it.
Is Dark Matter Just Black Holes Made During the Big Bang?
Stephen Hawking once proposed that unseen “primordial” black holes might be the hidden dark matter. A series of new studies shows how it can work.
The Cool Physics of a Supersonic Baseball
For one thing, let's build a model of air drag and how it affects the ball differently when it's traveling faster and slower than the speed of sound.
To Make Fairer AI, Physicists Peer Inside Its Black Box
After repurposing facial recognition and deepfake tech to study galaxies and the Higgs boson, physicists think they can help shape the responsible use of AI.
In Lockdown, Mathematicians Crack a Stubborn Geometry Riddle
The rectangular peg problem asks a seemingly simple question: Does a closed loop include the corners of every kind of rectangle?
A Super Sensitive Dark-Matter Search Yields Strange Results
Researchers say there are three possible explanations for the anomalous data: One is mundane. Two would revolutionize physics.
The Basic Physics of the Kilogram’s Fancy New Definition
The kilogram is now based on energy changes in the quantum world rather than a physical object. Here's how that works.
The Physics of Mississippi Flood Control
Louisiana's Bonnet Carré Spillway diverts some of the Mississippi's floodwaters. But it also offers up a wealth of good physics questions.
Why a Golf Ball Compresses Like a Spring—Until It Shatters
An experiment with a paper clip reveals both its elastic and plastic properties, a distinction that's key to how any material compresses or deforms.