All Stories by Emily Conover
- Physics
Famous physics cat now alive, dead and in two boxes at once
Splitting Erwin Schrödinger’s famous — and fictitious — cat between two boxes brings scientists one step closer to building quantum computers from microwaves.
- Climate
Zapping clouds with lasers could alter Earth’s climate
Scientists zapped ice crystals in a lab. They were exploring whether this approach might be used to break those crystals in clouds — potentially as a way to cool Earth’s fever.
- Chemistry
The newest elements finally have names
Nihonium? Tennessine? These aren’t body parts or medicines. They’re among the names just given to the four newest superheavy elements.
- Physics
Spinning black holes may ‘sing’ during a collision
The massive black hole in the movie Interstellar would create a unique gravity-wave signal when gobbling a smaller partner.
- Physics
Possibility of strange new particle surprises physicists
Last winter, physicists at the Large Hadron Collider detected hints of a particle beyond their wildest dreams. Soon they may learn if it’s real.
- Chemistry
Dwarf galaxy spawned heavy elements
A study of nine stars in the dwarf galaxy Reticulum II found heavy elements. They had been produced after a violent stellar event sparked a chemical chain reaction.
- Physics
Sunlight + gold = steaming water (no boiling needed)
Nano-gold is the new black, at least when it comes to absorbing heat. When tiny gold particles get together, they become energy super-absorbers — turning them black.
