physics

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Collider May Be Back Online by Late Fall—on Low

Physicists bail for US as troubles crop up at Swiss megaproject

(Newser) - It took 15 years and $9 billion to build, but since its massively hyped debut in September, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland hasn't collided any particles at all. Physicists in Europe are certain the 17-mile machine will eventually produce revolutionary science, on everything from dark matter to...

After 13 Years, New Element Gets Name: Copernicium

Physicists dedicate element 112 to the father of the heliocentric solar system

(Newser) - The scientists who discovered the newest element want to name it “copernicium” to honor Nicolaus Copernicus, the astronomer who proposed the heliocentric theory of the solar system, the BBC reports. Element 112 was discovered in fusion experiments 13 years ago and added to the periodic table a few weeks...

Going Up? 9.4M Balloons Should Do It

But different sources give widely varied estimates

(Newser) - Pixar stuck 20,622 balloons on a house to achieve liftoff in its animated Up, which wouldn't come close to doing the trick in real life, writes Nina Shen Rastogi on Slate's Explainer blog. If the old Carl character were using typical party balloons, he'd need somewhere around 9.4...

Discovery Revives Hopes for Cold Fusion

Researcher believes limitless energy source may be on horizon

(Newser) - A new lab discovery holds promise that cold fusion could become a reality, according to a US Navy researcher. The chemist—whose report was greeted with skepticism in the scientific world—says her new process created highly energized neutrons in a reaction that could someday provide almost limitless amounts of...

'Big Bang' Machine Won't Start Until Fall

Repairs to giant collider taking longer than expected

(Newser) - Scientists won’t restart the Large Hadron Collider until late September—a 6-week delay for the machine designed to replicate the Big Bang, Reuters reports. Repairs of last fall's electrical glitch are taking longer than expected. Particle collisions in the world’s biggest, most complex machine are now scheduled to...

Scientists Teleport Data on Tiny Scale

Send information between atoms a meter apart

(Newser) - It’s not quite worthy of the Starship Enterprise, but Maryland scientists have managed to teleport data on an atomic scale, LiveScience reports. The researchers transmitted information between atoms a meter apart without the data actually crossing that space—a development that could help create speedy quantum computers and highly...

Physics Fuels Santa's Magic
 Physics Fuels Santa's Magic 
Dec 15, 2008 4:15 PM CST

Physics Fuels Santa's Magic

Nanotechnology, space-time distortions enable Christmas miracles

(Newser) - New research has shed light on the amazing ability of Santa Claus to deliver presents to children around the world in a single night, Reuters reports. Santa is able to distort the space-time continuum, says a North Carolina State expert: "He understands that you can stretch time, compress space...

How Nerds Can Save Network TV
How Nerds
Can Save Network TV
Dec 12, 2008 11:44 AM CST

How Nerds Can Save Network TV

Big Bang Theory succeeds where less brainy sitcoms fail

(Newser) - Why is a physics-quoting comedy one of network TV's only successful sitcoms? And with so many Americans turning to cable, the Internet, and reality programming, what does that mean for the future of prime time? The Wall Street Journal looks at The Big Bang Theory, an unlikely hit that actually...

Secret to Dark Matter May Be Underground

Scientists mine earth for substance that makes up 95% of universe

(Newser) - Minerals aren’t the only prize in a mine—scientists travel underground to search for elusive dark matter, the invisible substance that may make up 95% of the universe’s mass, the Wall Street Journal reports. Delicate equipment seeks to detect the stuff in the form of particles known as...

Physics Nobel to 3 Who Studied World's Origin

Work on 'broken symmetry' paved way for hadron collider

(Newser) - The Nobel Prize for physics was awarded today to three researchers whose work on "broken symmetry" has clarified the origins of the universe. Their theories—a cornerstone of the so-called Standard Model of physics—explain how the world came into being after the Big Bang; although huge amounts...

'Big Bang' Machine Switched On, We're Still Here

Feared planet-devouring black hole fortunately fails to materialize

(Newser) - The Large Hadron Collider was switched on today and the world did not end, as some doomsayers predicted, Reuters reports. Scientists at CERN in Switzerland now plan to use the giant particle-smashing machine to recreate the conditions of the Big Bang and shed light on the origins of the universe....

Mysteries of Glass Still Unbreakable

Scientists 'disagree violently' in debate over molecular makeup

(Newser) - Although it’s all around us, scientists have fairly little idea why, exactly, glass behaves the way it does, the New York Times reports in an examination of the ongoing debate over the curious properties of the commonplace substance. The mystery hinges on why the molecular arrangement of glass is...

Particle Collider Prompts Doomsday Suit

Device could spark fatal black hole, claimants say

(Newser) - A particle smasher in Switzerland could suck up Earth and possibly the whole universe, a US lawsuit claims. The suit warns that the $8 billion Large Hadron Collider near Geneva could spark a matter-sucking black hole or a "strangelet" that turns our planet into "strange matter." But...

Über-Precise Atomic Clocks Are Half-Past a Revolution

Smaller, cheaper, and mysterious

(Newser) - Forget the Swiss—the world's best clocks sit in a Colorado lab where a team of scientists is shaping them into über-precise gadgets with broad-reaching implications on medicine, navigation, and surveillance. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has built a clock the size of a grain of rice...

Black Hole Smashes Record
Black Hole Smashes Record
Oct 31, 2007 6:38 AM CDT

Black Hole Smashes Record

Astronomers puzzled by all-time heaviest 'small' black hole

(Newser) - A newly discovered stellar-mass black hole shatters the weight record for holes formed from dying stars—and defies explanation by current theories. Faced with its mysterious heft,  astrophysicists can only conclude that stellar-mass black holes "can be much larger than we had realized," Space.com reports.

Hard Drive Guys Win Nobel Prize
Hard Drive Guys Win Nobel Prize
Oct 9, 2007 9:44 AM CDT

Hard Drive Guys Win Nobel Prize

Physics award goes to discoverers of 'giant magnetoresistance,' key to shrinking computers

(Newser) - Proving physics isn’t just theoretical black-hole gazing, this year’s Nobel Prize went to a discovery that paved the way for radically shrinking the size of computers. Albert Fert and Peter Grunberg won for uncovering “giant magnetoresistance,” the phenomenon that big electrical resistance variances can be produced...

Scientists Breach Einstein's Theory
Scientists Breach Einstein's Theory
Aug 16, 2007 11:40 PM CDT

Scientists Breach Einstein's Theory

Photons traveled faster than light, say Germans

(Newser) - Two German physicists claim to have sent microwave photons zooming past the speed of light , a feat Albert Einstein said would require an infinite—and impossible—amount of energy, reports the Daily Telegraph. "For the time being, this is the only violation of special relativity that I know of,...

Physicists Float a New Theory of Levitation

Frictionless parts could fly through the air with the greatest of ease

(Newser) - Two Scottish physics professors have published a report on forces of attraction that could be used to make objects levitate, writes the Telegraph. They've engineered a way to reverse the Casimir force, which normally causes elements to stick together. The discovery may lead to frictionless levitating parts in small mechanical...

King of Supernovas Sheds Light on Early Stars

(Newser) - Researchers are reporting the biggest stellar explosion ever recorded—a discovery which could shed light on how the universe was shaped. The star, 150 times more massive than the sun, went out with a bang 100 times more powerful than typical supernovas. Astronomers think the first stars after the Big...

Stories 81 - 99 | << Prev