Physics & Math, features and articles | Educational Science

Aug 27, 2023

Math's 'hairy ball theorem' shows why there's always at least one place on Earth where no wind blows

You might be surprised to learn that you can't comb the hairs flat on a coconut without creating a cowlick. Perhaps even more surprising, this silly claim with an even sillier name, the hairy ball theorem, is a proud discovery from a branch of math called topology. Juvenile humor aside,...

Sep 1, 2023

'Doubly magic' form of oxygen may challenge a fundamental law of physics

For the first time, scientists have created oxygen-28, a rare oxygen isotope that has 12 more neutrons than oxygen-16, the most common form of oxygen on the planet. This newly created heavy oxygen isotope has the highest number of neutrons ever seen in an oxygen atom and was expected to...

Sep 2, 2023

How do mirages work?

Mirages have a reputation for deceit. The classic example is the oasis in the desert. Or there's the obstructed view of the iceberg that may have confused the Titanic's captain. The legendary ghost ship, the Flying Dutchman, is also a mirage. But what is a mirage? And are the images...

Sep 9, 2023

How fast is a bullet?

Superman flies faster than a speeding bullet, and bullet trains zoom between cities at spectacular speed. The comparison is ubiquitous, yet the exact velocity is far less cited. So how fast do bullets actually travel? Many factors influence the speed of a bullet when it's fired from a gun. They...

Sep 15, 2023

Mathematicians find 12,000 new solutions to 'unsolvable' 3-body problem

The three-body problem is a notoriously tricky puzzle in physics and mathematics, and an example of just how complex the natural world is. Two objects orbiting each other, like a lone planet around a star, can be described with just a line or two of mathematical equations. Add a third...

Oct 3, 2023

Nobel Prize in physics awarded to three scientists who glimpsed the inner world of atoms with tiny light pulses

The 2023 Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded to three scientists who created pulses of light so short they can be used to watch the inner workings of atoms. Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L’Huillier will share the 11 million Swedish krona ($1.02 million) prize for devising a...

Oct 3, 2023

Nobel Prize in Physics: 1901-Present

According to Alfred Nobel's will, the Nobel Prize in Physics was to go to the person who shall have made the most important discovery or invention within the field of physics. The prize has been awarded every year except for 1916, 1931, 1934, 1940, 1941 and 1942. Here is the...

Oct 7, 2023

What is an attosecond — and why did this year's Nobel Prize in physics depend upon them?

A group of three researchers earned the 2023 Nobel Prize in physics for work that has revolutionized how scientists study the electron — by illuminating molecules with attosecond-long flashes of light. But how long is an attosecond, and what can these infinitesimally short pulses tell researchers about the nature of...

Oct 17, 2023

China is building the world's largest underwater telescope to hunt for elusive 'ghost particles'

Scientists in China are building the world's largest ghost particle detector 11,500 feet (3,500 meters) beneath the surface of the ocean. The Tropical Deep-sea Neutrino Telescope (TRIDENT) — called Hai ling or Ocean Bell in Chinese — will be anchored to the seabed of the Western Pacific Ocean. Upon completion...

Oct 24, 2023

Distorted crystals use 'pseudogravity' to bend light like black holes do

A new crystal can bend light like a black hole would, causing the light to bow away from its usual straight path. This phenomenon, called pseudogravity, could be used in 6G communication technology, according to the authors of the new study, published Sept. 28 in the journal Physical Review A....

$'Refraction is then all there is to it': How Isaac Newton's experiments revealed the mystery of light$

Nov 11, 2023

'Refraction is then all there is to it': How Isaac Newton's experiments revealed the mystery of light

The beauty and majesty of rainbows have inspired awe in humans for millennia, but it wasn't until Isaac Newton's groundbreaking work unlocking the secrets of light did we truly begin to understand how they form. In this extract from the new book Beautiful Experiments: An Illustrated History of Experimental Science...

Nov 13, 2023

Many physicists think we live in a multiverse. But they're getting a simple math rule wrong.

One of the most startling scientific discoveries of recent decades is that physics appears to be fine-tuned for life. This means that for life to be possible, certain numbers in physics had to fall within a certain, very narrow range. One of the examples of fine-tuning which has most baffled...

Nov 25, 2023

'Vampire' stars that bleed their companions dry may have a hidden accomplice, new study reveals

The universe may be haunted by more triple-star vampire systems than previously thought, new research in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society suggests. The new research looks at the evolution of a mysterious kind of star called type-Be stars. These stars, a subset of the bright and...

Dec 1, 2023

Electricity flows like water in 'strange metals,' and physicists don't know why

Scientists have spotted electricity flowing like a fluid inside a weird group of metals, and it's left them baffled. The experiment, conducted in nano-sized wires made from a weird class of material called strange metals, shows electricity no longer moving in clumps of electrons — contradicting one of physicists' most...

Dec 14, 2023

1st evidence of nuclear fission in stars hints at elements 'never produced on Earth'

The silver and gold in your jewelry may be the result of massive, ancient stars splitting apart elements heavier than anything formed naturally on Earth, a new study suggests. The research offers the first compelling evidence of nuclear fission in the cores of massive stars. Elements heavier than iron are...