The physics desk
Physics from the quantum to the cosmos: particle physics, quantum computing, astrophysics, cosmology and the discoveries that change what is possible.
Johns Hopkins astronomers used JWST to detect 150 Earth masses of heavy elements in the 15-Jupiter-mass exoplanet's atmosphere — a chemical signature of disk accretion that definitively separates it from brown dwarfs formed by stellar collapse.
Indian Institute of Science researchers found that at graphene's 'Dirac point,' electrons stop behaving as individual particles and instead flow collectively like a near-perfect fluid — decoupling electrical and thermal conductivity in a way classical physics says is impossible.
A Monash University team published breakthrough research in Nature Communications showing that deliberately disordered nanostructured metasurfaces outperform orderly ones, achieving broadband achromatic lensing, polarization imaging, and 9 other optical functions simultaneously in a single flat device.
International astronomers led by Stockholm University's Oskar Klein Centre discovered SN 2025mkn, a Type II supernova 9 billion light-years away whose light is bent and amplified by an entire foreground galaxy, creating a natural telescope of unprecedented power.
Researchers found that the spinning motion of plasma inside a tokamak — not just cross-field particle drift — drives the stubborn exhaust asymmetry that has defied simulation for decades, clearing a key path for commercial fusion.
Breakthrough experiment directly measures key nuclear process that creates selenium-74 in supernova explosions, cutting uncertainty in stellar models by half.
Researchers suggest a bold new theory to explain why gamma ray signals appear in the Milky Way but not in smaller galaxies, potentially requiring multiple dark matter components.
Researchers suggest gravitational waves may subtly alter the frequency of light emitted by atoms, potentially enabling ultra-compact detectors using cold-atom systems.
Metallic sodium nanoparticles 10 times larger than any previously tested produced clear quantum interference patterns in experiments published in Nature, pushing the boundary of where quantum mechanics visibly applies.
Drexel University researchers found that ordinary liquids fracture at a 'critical stress' of about 2 megaPascals, breaking at speeds of up to 1,500 meters per second in a phenomenon governed by viscosity rather than elasticity.
A 45-scientist team at Michigan State's FRIB measured the arsenic-73 + proton reaction that occurs inside supernovae, cutting uncertainty in p-nuclei abundance predictions by 50% and advancing a 60-year-old astrophysics mystery.
Stockholm University researchers suggest that gravitational waves subtly alter light emitted by atoms, offering a path to ultra-compact detectors using cold-atom systems.
Breakthrough design from Swedish researchers enables quantum information to be protected and controlled in new ways, potentially bringing large-scale quantum computers closer to reality.
Researchers at Chalmers University develop breakthrough quantum system that protects information from decoherence while enabling large-scale quantum computers.
New theory suggests gravitational waves create detectable frequency shifts in photons emitted by atoms, potentially enabling ultra-compact detectors.
Scientists tracking galaxy Markarian 501 for 23 years found two black holes orbiting each other every 121 days at a separation of just 250–540 AU — a system unprecedented in astronomical history.
A team from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences achieved five-sigma confirmation of the Migdal effect, published in Nature, enabling detectors to hunt for far lighter dark matter particles.
Using LOFAR and India's uGMRT, astronomers captured galaxy J1007+3540's supermassive black hole reawakening with jets stretching nearly a million light-years — evidence of episodic black hole activity across cosmic time.
The clearest black hole merger ever recorded — with a signal-to-noise ratio nearly three times higher than LIGO's first detection — verified multiple tones predicted by Einstein's general relativity.
New theory explains mysterious gamma-ray signals from Milky Way center while accounting for absence of similar signals in dwarf galaxies.
Revolutionary breakthrough could enable ultra-compact detectors using cold-atom systems, offering new way to observe cosmic events.
Revolutionary discovery shows gravitational waves subtly alter photon frequencies, opening path to ultra-compact detectors using cold-atom systems.
New theory explains why Milky Way shows gamma ray excess while dwarf galaxies remain silent, suggesting complex dark matter interactions.
Scientists propose that dark matter's complexity could explain why gamma ray signals appear in some cosmic locations but not others, challenging single-particle theories.
Researchers propose detecting spacetime ripples by observing how they subtly shift photon frequencies, potentially enabling ultra-compact detectors using cold-atom systems.
A Monash University team defied decades of engineering convention by demonstrating that deliberate disorder in ultra-thin metasurfaces dramatically multiplies what they can do, publishing in Nature Communications.
A University of Pittsburgh-led team published in Science found that celebrated experimental signatures for Majorana zero modes — the basis of topological quantum computing — may have simpler explanations.
Scientists using China's EAST tokamak achieved stable plasma at 1.65 times the density barrier that fusion researchers had treated as a hard ceiling for four decades.
A startling accidental discovery in a Pennsylvania lab has upended centuries of assumptions about the boundary between liquid and solid behavior.
A technical issue on the European launch vehicle has postponed the joint heliophysics mission that would transform space weather forecasting by giving scientists a global view of the magnetopause.