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Why is mercury a liquid?Mercury is a metal, yet it has some weird physical properties, including being a liquid at room temperature.
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What are the 'magic numbers' in nuclear physics?Why do some elements decay in minutes, while others last billions of years? Certain "magic numbers" of nuclear particles may make all the difference.
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Why can't we walk through walls if atoms are mostly empty space?Most of an atom is empty space, so why does some matter feel solid? Two physics principles explain why.
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Scientists heat gold to 14 times its melting point — without turning it into a liquidScientists have used an ultrafast laser to heat solid gold to 14 times its melting point without turning the metal into liquid.
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Scientists just recreated the universe's first ever molecules — and the results challenge our understanding of the early cosmosIn a first, scientists have recreated the formation of the first ever molecules in the universe to learn more about early star formation.
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Lightning on Earth is sparked by a powerful chain reaction from outer space, simulations showA new model may have finally solved where storm clouds get their missing energy.
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Can other metals be turned into gold?Other metals might be worth their weight in gold, but can they be turned into it?
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Where do atoms come from? A physicist explains.Almost everything on Earth is made up of atoms, but where do these fundamental building blocks come from?
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Physicists force atoms into state of quantum 'hyper-entanglement' using tweezers made of laser lightBy controlling individual atoms, researchers have demonstrated a way to turn previously unwanted atomic motion into an advantage.
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