Claims about the discovery of a coveted room-temperature superconductor peppered the news in 2023. We pulled three stories from our archives on what superconductivity is and why scientists study it.
A centuries-old experiment shows the differences between classical and modern physics. Physicists use thought experiments like this to think about how objects move both on Earth and in the stars.
Ever seen the northern lights? You have a magnetic layer in Earth’s atmosphere to thank for those beautiful displays. But the magnetosphere does a lot more than create auroras.
The universe is expanding faster than physicists would expect. To figure out what processes underlie this fast expansion rate, some researchers are first trying to rule out what processes can’t.
Adi Foord, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Scientists are trying to figure out if time travel is even theoretically possible. If it is, it looks like it would take a whole lot more knowledge and resources than humans have now to do it.
Scientists have been searching Earth’s surface for superheavy elements too difficult to make in the lab, but now, many are looking to the skies instead.
Some space rocks you can get for free – if you know how to identify them. Rarer materials cost more, and the asteroid sample NASA just brought back has a high price tag.
Physicists uncovered a new experiment hidden in old data from the Large Hadron Collider. Using this innovative approach, the team has unlocked an entirely new way to study quantum physics.
Some Nobel Prize-winning ideas originate in strange places, but still go on to revolutionize the scientific field. George de Hevesy’s research on radioactive tracers is one such example.
The 2023 Nobel Prize in physics recognized researchers studying electron movement in real time − this work could revolutionize electronics, laser imaging and more.