Using sheets of light to corral waves of ultracold atoms, researchers have created an experimental platform for studying the event horizons of black holes. Making waves. Researchers have created a ...

Researchers have used radio observations of rapidly spinning neutron stars to search for signals from supermassive black hole pairs at the dawn of galaxy formation. In our lifetimes, an amazing thing ...

Alain Aspect is an alumnus of the École Normal Supériere (ENS) in Cachan and the Université d'Orsay. He has held positions at the Institut d'Optique, the ENS in Yaoundé (Cameroon), ENS in Cachan, ...

Gravitational waves emitted by the merger of two black holes have been detected, setting the course for a new era of observational astrophysics. Figure 1: Numerical simulations of the gravitational ...

The creation of modern quantum mechanics was a messy business in which many of the participants did not grasp the significance of their own discoveries. The wave nature of electrons is revealed in ...

A Bose-Einstein condensate of radioactive atoms could turn into a source of intense, coherent, and directional neutrino beams, according to a theoretical proposal. Figure 1: Top: At high temperature, ...

A theoretical approach called naturalness has helped physicists understand several particle physics puzzles—but the Higgs boson’s unsuitably small mass is currently foiling this strategy. Particle ...

A detailed experimental analysis explains the forces by which a spinning magnet can cause another magnet to levitate in midair. An experiment with off-the-shelf components uses a magnet glued to the ...

A new set of equations captures the dynamical interplay of electrons and vibrations in crystals and forms a basis for computational studies. Figure 1: To a first approximation, the vibrations of a ...

Natural engineering. The bird’s nest achieves cohesion and flexibility by the interweaving of bendy rods in frictional contact. × A bird’s nest is a marvel of natural engineering: a disordered bundle ...

Before determining the correct quantum theory of gravity, researchers need to know if gravity is actually quantized. Experiments testing that assumption are now being developed. Quantum fluctuations ...

The discovery of an isotope, rutherfordium-252, whose ground state forestalls fission for just 60 nanoseconds, could help theorists understand the cosmic synthesis of superheavy elements. In 1991 an ...