9 D Universe

Understanding the origin of heavy elements on the periodic table is one of the most challenging open problems in all of physics. In the search for conditions suitable for these elements via "nucleosynthesis," a Los Alamos National Laboratory-led team is going where no researchers have gone before: the gamma-ray burst [...]

Nonlocal correlations that define quantum entanglement could be reconciled with Einstein’s theory of relativity if space–time had two temporal dimensions. That is the implication of new theoretical work that extends nonlocal hidden variable theories of quantum entanglement and proposes a potential experimental test. Marco Pettini, a theoretical physicist at Aix Marseille [...]

A burst of solar wind triggered a planet-wide heatwave in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere, say astronomers at the University in Reading, UK. The hot region, which had a temperature of over 750 K, propagated at thousands of kilometres per hour and stretched halfway around the planet. “This is the first time we [...]

The world’s smallest pacemaker to date is smaller than a single grain of rice, optically controlled and dissolves after it’s no longer needed. According to researchers involved in the work, the pacemaker could work in human hearts of all sizes that need temporary pacing, including those of newborn babies with [...]

This episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast features the materials scientist Paul Meredith, who is director of the Centre for Integrative Semiconductor Materials (CISM) at the UK’s Swansea University. In a conversation with Physics World’s Matin Durrani, Meredith talks about the importance of semiconductors in a hi-tech economy and why [...]

If you happen to be enjoying a sunny day, thank the bright surface of the sun, known as the photosphere. At a piping hot temperature of about 5,800 K, the photosphere provides nearly all the sunlight Earth receives. But for all its glorious radiance, the photosphere isn't the hottest part [...]

Harvard University is suing the Trump administration over its plan to block up to $9bn of government research grants to the institution. The suit, filed in a federal court on 21 April, claims that the administration’s “attempt to coerce and control” Harvard violates the academic freedom protected by the first [...]

A series of spectacular images of the cosmos has been released to celebrate the Hubble Space Telescope‘s 35 years in space. The images include pictures of Mars, planetary nebulae and a spiral galaxy. Hubble was launched into low-Earth orbit in April 1990, stowed in the payload bay of the space shuttle [...]

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have discovered evidence that suggests the presence of a long-sought supermassive black hole at the heart of the nearby spiral galaxy Messier 83 (M83). This surprising finding, made possible by Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), reveals highly ionized neon gas that could be [...]

Author(s): Marric StephensSimulations show that polymers that include inert and self-propelled components are more likely to form and retain knots, with possible applications in materials engineering.[Physics 18, s55] Published Thu Apr 24, 2025 [...]

Author(s): Ryan WilkinsonFish swimming in vertical diamond formations gain efficiency through hydrodynamic interactions.[Physics 18, s52] Published Thu Apr 24, 2025 [...]

Worms move faster in an environment riddled with randomly-placed obstacles than they do in an empty space. This surprising observation by physicists at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands can be explained by modelling the worms as polymer-like “active matter”, and it could come in handy for developers of [...]

Author(s): Ryan WilkinsonExperiments at the Large Hadron Collider have revealed a previously unseen nucleus known as antihyperhelium-4.[Physics 18, s51] Published Wed Apr 23, 2025 [...]

A new University of Kansas survey of distant galaxies using the James Webb Space Telescope reveals never-before-seen star formation and black hole growth at "cosmic noon"—a mysterious epoch 2–3 billion years after the Big Bang, when galaxies like the Milky Way underwent an intense growth spurt. [...]

MIT astronomers have discovered a planet some 140 light-years from Earth that is rapidly crumbling to pieces.The disintegrating world is about the mass of Mercury, although it circles about 20 times closer to its star than Mercury does to the sun, completing an orbit every 30.5 hours. At such close [...]

The small and rocky lava world sheds an amount of material equivalent to the mass of Mount Everest every 30.5 hours. MIT astronomers have discovered a planet some 140 light-years from Earth that is rapidly crumbling to pieces. The disintegrating world is about the mass of Mercury, although it circles about 20 [...]

Author(s): Michael SchirberThe planned MUonE experiment could—in addition to studying the muon’s magnetic moment—search for dark matter particles.[Physics 18, s50] Published Tue Apr 22, 2025 [...]

Author(s): Charles DayAn external magnetic field can bend and lift thin sheets of self-assembled nanoparticles.[Physics 18, 86] Published Tue Apr 22, 2025 [...]

Author(s): Morteza KayyalhaA device made of multilayer graphene exhibits topologically protected edge currents whose direction can be switched using an electric field.[Physics 18, 85] Published Mon Apr 21, 2025 [...]

Author(s): Ananya PalivelaTwo newly developed computer chips, powered in part by light, have tackled complex computing tasks once considered out of reach for photonic systems.[Physics 18, 84] Published Mon Apr 21, 2025 [...]