Physics

From the forces that keep athletes twirling and sliding, to the weird laws governing the world of the very small, to the far-out concepts of time travel and alternate universes, physics covers a lot of interesting territory. Here, Live Science keeps you abreast of all the fascinating physics discoveries.Physics

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This image shows SN2014J, one of the closest type Ia supernovas in recent decades.

Rare plutonium from space found in deep-sea crust

By Stephanie Pappas published

A rare type of plutonium has been found in the crust below the deep sea, offering new clues as to how heavy metals form in star explosions and mergers.

An illustration of the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which is traveling through interstellar space.

A mysterious 'hum' vibrates interstellar space. Voyager 1 has a recording of it.

By Stephanie Pappas published

The Voyager 1 spacecraft has captured the gentle 'hum' of interstellar space.

Imaginary numbers have an analog in the real world and in the real world might have meaning at quantum scales.

'Imaginary' numbers are real (sort of)

By Stephanie Pappas last updated

Imaginary numbers have real meaning in the world of quantum mechanics, where they carry information about physical states.

Abstract spheres represent the three-body problem in physics.

Physicists get close to taming the chaos of the 'three-body problem'

By Charlie Wood published

The intractable "three-body problem" gets closer to being solved with breakthrough study.

The map reveals a bright patch, a wake of stars, beneath the Milky Way's halo. In the bottom right, the Large Magellanic Cloud continues its orbit.

Astronomers chart invisible ocean of dark matter swirling outside the Milky Way

By Ben Turner last updated

Astronomers are hoping to use the wake of stars to test the existing theories of dark matter.

Gravitational waves as two black holes merge.

'Exotic compact objects' could soon break physics, new study suggests

By Adam Mann published

Gravitational wave detectors could soon uncover hints of new physics from exotic compact objects.

An illustration of the expansion of the universe after the Big Bang.

Will we ever know exactly how the universe ballooned into existence?

By Paul Sutter published

Physicists have long been unable to describe what happened just after the Big Bang when a teensy blip ballooned into the universe, a process called inflation. We may know why.

An illustration of space junk

Telescope lasers could give humanity an edge in war against space junk

By Rafi Letzter published

Space junk is a growing problem. Scientists want to fight it with lasers that can de-twinkle the stars.

The ATLAS experiment, LHC

After 48-year search, physicists discover ultra-rare 'triple glueball' particle

By Rafi Letzter published

A never-before-seen particle known as the odderon has revealed itself in the hot guts of two particle colliders, confirming a 48-year-old theory.

A figure created by the EUSST shows that the two objects have a 20% chance of colliding.

Two satellites might collide at 32,000 mph over the Arctic today

By Rafi Letzter last updated

There's a 20% chance of a disastrous collision, according to the European Union.

a few of the g2 experiment at Fermilab

A tiny, wobbling muon just shook particle physics to its core

By Ben Turner last updated

But this may not be the end of the story.

The black hole at the center of the galaxy M87, viewed in polarized light. The polarization reveals the direction of the magnetic field around the black hole.

Ultrapowerful magnetic fields revealed in 1st ever image of a black hole

By Stephanie Pappas last updated

The first-ever images of a magnetic field around a black hole may explain the jet of matter and energy emanating from the center of galaxy M87.

Particles colliding inside the Large Hadron Collider

Strange pattern found inside world’s largest atom smasher has physicists excited

By Ben Turner published

The weird behaviour of the beauty quark has led physicists to believe it could be a window to a completely new physics.

An artist's depiction of the first identified interstellar object, 'Oumuamua.

Interstellar visitor 'Oumuamua came from an 'alien Pluto,' new study suggests

By Rafi Letzter published

Back in 2017, a point of strange light flashed through the solar system. Three years later, a new team of scientists claims to have figured out what it was.

Galaxy J0437+2456 is thought to be home to a supermassive, moving black hole.

A supermassive black hole is speeding through space, and astronomers don't know why

By Ben Turner last updated

A supermassive black hole is racing across the universe at 110,000 mph (177,000 km/h), and the astronomers who spotted it don't know why.

Short video clip shows a pair of hydrogen atoms jumping between guanine and cytosine, which are two bases in a DNA strand

Why does DNA spontaneously mutate? Quantum physics might explain.

By Nicoletta Lanese published

A phenomenon called "proton tunneling" may explain some DNA mutations, the study authors suggest.

Artist's illustration of Planet Nine, a world about 10 times more massive than Earth that may lie undiscovered in the far outer solar system.

What if Planet Nine is a baby black hole?

By Paul Sutter last updated

The hypothetical Planet Nine may not be a planet but rather a small black hole that might be detectable from the theoretical radiation emitted from its edge, so-called Hawking radiation.

icecube lab

Monster antimatter particle slams into Antarctica

By Rafi Letzter last updated

The most remote particle detector on Earth has detected the most energetic antimatter neutrino ever, confirming a 51-year-old prediction.

Tiny gold spheres interact gravitationally.

Physicists measure the tiniest gravitational force ever

By Ben Turner last updated

The experiment could be a trial for many more even smaller ones probing the long-kept secrets of quantum scale gravity.

an artist's illustration of the most distant quasar known with radio jets

Universe's oldest known quasar discovered 13 billion light-years away

By Tim Childers published

Astronomers have found the farthest known source of radio emissions in the universe: a galaxy-swallowing supermassive black hole.