Astronomy
Is Our Universe a Hologram? Physicists Debate Famous Idea on Its 25th Anniversary
The Ads/CFT duality conjecture suggests our universe is a hologram, enabling significant discoveries in the 25 years since it was first proposed
Stories by Anil Ananthaswamy
Dark Matter
Astronomers Might See Dark Matter by Staring into the Void
Vast reaches of mostly empty space could offer superior odds for detecting the invisible substance thought to make up more than 80 percent of the material in the universe
Cosmology
Astronomers Gear Up to Grapple with the High-Tension Cosmos
A debate over conflicting measurements of key cosmological properties is set to shape the next decade of astronomy and astrophysics
Quantum Physics
Can We Gauge Quantum Time of Flight?
Measuring the time it takes particles to travel between two points may be the best test yet for Bohmian mechanics
Black Holes
Could Echoes from Colliding Black Holes Prove Stephen Hawking’s Greatest Prediction?
Subtle signals from black hole mergers might confirm the existence of “Hawking radiation”—and gravitational-wave detectors may have already seen them
Dark Matter
Dark Matter May Be Missing from This Newfound Galaxy, Astronomers Say
A growing number of galaxies seem to be bereft of the mysterious substance, posing fresh challenges for some of cosmology’s most cherished theories
Quantum Physics
AI Designs Quantum Physics Experiments beyond What Any Human Has Conceived
Originally built to speed up calculations, a machine-learning system is now making shocking progress at the frontiers of experimental quantum physics
Space & Physics
Quantum Astronomy Could Create Telescopes Hundreds of Kilometers Wide
Astronomers hope to use innovations from the subatomic world to construct breathtakingly large arrays of optical observatories
Space & Physics
Telescopes on Far Side of the Moon Could Illuminate the Cosmic Dark Ages
Instruments deployed on missions to the lunar far side might give us an unprecedented view of the early universe
Space & Physics
Do We Live in a Simulation? Chances Are about 50–50
Gauging whether or not we dwell inside someone else’s computer may come down to advanced AI research—or measurements at the frontiers of cosmology
Quantum Computing
Physicists Create City-Sized Ultrasecure Quantum Network
Capable of connecting eight or more users across distances of 17 kilometers, the demonstration is another milestone toward developing a fully quantum Internet
Space & Physics
Quantum Tunneling Is Not Instantaneous, Physicists Show
A new experiment tracks the transit time of particles burrowing through barriers, revealing previously unknown details of a deeply counterintuitive phenomenon
Space & Physics
How Many Aliens Are in the Milky Way? Astronomers Turn to Statistics for Answers
The tenets of Thomas Bayes, an 18th-century statistician and minister, underpin the latest estimates of the prevalence of extraterrestrial life
Space & Physics
How Heavy is the Universe? Conflicting Answers Hint at New Physics
The discrepancy could be a statistical fluke—or a sign that physicists will need to revise the standard model of cosmology
Space & Physics
Faced with a Data Deluge, Astronomers Turn to Automation
For better or worse, machine learning and big data are poised to transform the study of the heavens
Quantum Computing
The Quantum Internet Is Emerging, One Experiment at a Time
Breakthrough demonstrations using defective diamonds, high-flying drones, laser-bathed crystals and other exotica suggest practical, unhackable quantum networks are within reach
Quantum Physics
Spin-Swapping Particles Could Be “Quantum Cheshire Cats”
A proposed experiment to swap fundamental properties between photons carries profound implications for our understanding of reality itself
Quantum Physics
Found: A Quadrillion Ways for String Theory to Make Our Universe
Stemming from the “F-theory” branch of string theory, each solution replicates key features of the standard model of particle physics
Space & Physics
Best-Yet Measurements Deepen Cosmological Crisis
The latest disagreement over the universe’s expansion rate suggests researchers may be on the threshold of revolutionary discoveries
Space & Physics
Has LIGO Seen Galaxy-Warped Gravitational Waves?
Nobel laureate George Smoot claims LIGO has observed amplified signals of black hole mergers from the very distant universe, but LIGO scientists disagree
