Browse Physics

Paper pyramids hovering in an oscillating air column enlighten us about the stability of flying insects.

A model explains why, during pregnancy, contractions in the uterus exhibit collective behavior.

Interactions between primordial photons and axions may be why the accepted model of nucleosynthesis overestimates the abundance of the isotope lithium-7.

Theorists suggest that the weeks-long flare measured last year from a distant galaxy was probably beamed by a jet of material aligned with the rotational axis of a mammoth black hole.

Helicoidal magnetic order induces a record high electrical polarization.

Ferromagnetic fluctuations drive superconductivity in UCoGe.

Salt crystallizing on walls or old artifacts forms in discrete bunches, rather than coating the surface, because of an unexpected feedback effect, according to experiments and simulations.

An underground neutrino detector has found the first evidence of a nuclear reaction that produces deuterium in the sun.

Transport measurements suggest that a lithium-based metal may be a candidate material for thermomagnetic cooling.

An NMR technique tracks the diffusion of water molecules to obtain micron-scale structural information about a porous material.

Observation of shallow water motion provides a remarkably good way to simulate the shock wave instabilities that occur in exploding stars.

A sheet of tiny structures, such as nanoscale graphene disks, can absorb all incident light of a specific wavelength coming from any direction, theory suggests.

Quantum interference of pairs of photons emitted by nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond paves the way for entanglement of distant qubits.

Semiconductor quantum dots connected by floating metallic gates point the way to a scalable quantum computer.

The breaking of charge-parity symmetry at lower temperatures than expected in the initial stages of the big bang could explain the abundance of matter over antimatter in the universe.

Cold-atom experiments tread into the land of two-dimensional superconductivity.

Advances in a magneto-optical technique will allow researchers to better understand how to control spins in a metal with short optical pulses.

The Millikan oil drop experiment, published in final form in 1913, demonstrated that charge comes in discrete chunks and was a bridge between classical electromagnetism and modern quantum physics.

Using a simplified airplane seating arrangement, theorists have found that boarding time is less dependent on the number of passengers than one might expect.

A well-known model for studying magnetic phase transitions may provide a path to developing a quantum theory of gravity.