Physics

When two black holes collide and merge, they release gravitational waves. These waves can be detected by sensitive instruments on Earth, allowing scientists to determine the mass and spin of the black holes. The clearest black hole merger signal yet, named GW250114 and recorded by LIGO in January 2025, offers new insights into these mysterious […]

In the initial setup, the particles are evenly distributed. But when the disk is placed on the particle bed and subjected to vibration, it spontaneously begins to spin in one direction, demonstrating self-organization arising from breaking of symmetry. Credit: Ms. Miku Hatatani / Doshisha University, Japan Vibrations are everywhere—from the hum of machinery to the

Credit: CC0 Public Domain A newly discovered set of mathematical equations describes how to turn any sequence of random events into a clock, scientists at King’s College London reveal. The paper is published in the journal Physical Review X. The researchers suggest that these formulas could help to understand how cells in our bodies measure

A circulating fluxon–antifluxon pair in coupled annular Josephson junctions behaves as a detector. The pair decays due to Unruh-induced fluctuations, and the resulting event is observed as a voltage jump. By measuring the distribution of the corresponding switching currents, the Unruh effect can be detected. Credit: Haruna Katayama and Noriyuki Hatakenaka, Hiroshima University Researchers at

Model of the CLAS12 detector highlighting the forward detector used for detection of the scattered electron and the central detector about the target. The beam is incident from the left. The CLAS12 detector extends for 13 m along the beamline. Credit: Physical Review C (2025). DOI: 10.1103/qy4p-dyjt The small but ubiquitous proton serves as a

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Turbulence is everywhere, yet much about the nature of turbulence remains unknown. During the last decade, physicists have discovered how fluids in a pipe or similar geometry transition from a smooth, laminar state to a turbulent state as their speed increases. Surprisingly, in the newly emerging consensus, the process could be

Robert Hovden, an associate professor of materials science and engineering, describes how an upgraded cryo-electron microscope works at the Michigan Center for Materials Characterization. Credit: Eric Shaw, Office of the Vice President for Research A new specimen holder gives scientists more control over ultra-cold temperatures, enabling the study of how materials acquire properties useful in

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Ten years after scientists first detected gravitational waves emerging from two colliding black holes, the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration, a research team that includes Columbia astronomy professor Maximiliano Isi, has recorded a signal from a nearly identical black hole collision. Improvements in the detection technology allowed the researchers to see the black holes

The JUNO Sphere. Credit: JUNO Collaboration Neutrinos are one of the most enigmatic particles in the standard model. The main reason is that they’re so hard to detect. Despite the fact that 400 trillion of them created in the sun are passing through a person’s body every second, they rarely interact with normal matter, making

The Shanghai Outer Ring Tunnel runs across the Huangpu River, with areas covered by mucky soil and silty clay (top). The researchers placed a portable muon detector within the tunnel to monitor muon flux as a way to measure the sediment buildup (bottom). Credit: Khaw et al. Over 200 underwater bridge tunnels exist for vehicular