Recent Articles
An Elusive Black Hole Comes into View
Observations of seven fast-moving stars at the center of a dense star cluster in the Milky Way reveal the presence of an intermediate-mass black hole, perhaps the most puzzling class of these dark objects. Read More »
Predictions for Small-Scale Turbulence
A statistical tool tests the long-held assumption that small-scale turbulence is isotropic. Read More »
Dark Matter Could Bring Black Holes Together
Dark matter that interacts with itself could extract significant momentum from a binary supermassive black hole system, causing the black holes to merge. Read More »
Nuclear Decay Detected in the Recoil of a Levitating Bead
A levitating microparticle is observed to recoil when a nucleus embedded in the particle decays—opening the door to future searches of invisible decay products. Read More »
Sensing a Nuclear Kick on a Speck of Dust
Scientists have detected the decay of radioactive nuclei by tracking the recoil of dust-sized spheres on which the nuclei were embedded. Read More »
Gravity Alters the Dynamics of a Phase Transition
An experiment uncovers the role played by gravity in Ostwald ripening, a spontaneous thermodynamic process responsible for many effects such as the recrystallization of ice cream. Read More »
Crystallizing the Path Toward a Nuclear Clock
Researchers have made the most precise measurement to date of the excited nuclear state of thorium-229, a candidate isotope for an ultraprecise nuclear clock. Read More »
Exploring Quantum Mpemba Effects
In the Mpemba effect, a warm liquid freezes faster than a cold one. Three studies investigate quantum versions of this effect, challenging our understanding of quantum thermodynamics. Read More »
Giant Clams Are Models of Solar-Energy Efficiency
A theoretical model for the illumination of photosynthesizing algae in giant clams suggests principles for high efficiency collection of sunlight. Read More »
