Physics

X-Rays Reveal Details of Portrait Once Hidden Under Vesuvius' Ash

Using X-ray fluorescence, researchers have mapped the pigments used on a crumbling painting in Herculaneum

The Small Magellanic Cloud, where some of your atoms likely originate

Half of Our Atoms May Come From Other Galaxies

According to computer simulations, large galaxies may grow by sucking in matter smaller star clusters expel

The Aurora Australis as seen from the International Space Station in 2011

Astronaut Captures 'Awesome Sauce' of Aurora From Space

Humans have been amazed for millennia by these atmospheric events

An artist's rendering of a star colliding with the surface of a supermassive sphere. In recent years some scientists have surmised that black holes may be hard objects rather than a region of intense gravity and compressed matter.

Could You Crash Into a Black Hole?

Probably not, but it’s fun to think about

What Is the Key to Predict Animal Speed?

The biggest animals aren't always the fastest

Astronomers Find the Smallest Star Yet

The faint orb is just a smidgen bigger than Saturn and around 2,000 to 3,000 times dimmer than our own sun

Auroras on Uranus caused by changes in its magnetosphere

Magnetic Field Around Uranus Are a Chaotic Mess

Using data from the Voyager 2 mission, researchers have modeled Uranus's off-kilter magnetosphere

This coprolite specimen, dubbed "Precious," is the largest fossilized feces found to date. Found in South Carolina, it weighs just over four pounds.

Researchers Use Particle Accelerator to Peek Inside Fossilized Poop

This new method could reveal just what dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures ate

Artist’s conception of two merging black holes, spinning in a nonaligned fashion.

Scientists Hear Two Even More Ancient Black Holes Collide

At this point, detecting ripples in the fabric of space-time is practically commonplace

Magnetic field strength throughout the Milky Way in present day

Supercomputers Create Breathtaking Simulations of Spiral Galaxies

The simulations took months of modeling to complete—and the results can help scientists learn about the formation of galaxies

Prince Rupert's Drops

The 400-Year-Old Mystery of These Bullet-Shattering Glass Drops May Finally Be Solved

The tadpole-shaped glass structures can survive a hammer blow but explode if their tail is squeezed

From the tiniest to the most massive of poos, physics predicts we should all spend the same amount of time on the john.

A Grand Unified Theory of Pooping

Why you and an elephant spend the same amount of time on the john

Developed by Komal Dadlani, Lab4U apps take advantage of a smartphone's built-in sensors.

This App Puts a Science Lab in Your Pocket

Lab4U turns smartphones and tablets into scientific tools

Emmy Noether, mathematical genius

Mathematician Emmy Noether Should Be Your Hero

She revolutionized mathematics, and then was forgotten because she was a woman

Watch Declassified Nuclear Bomb Tests Online

Weapons physicist Greg Sprigg has spent five years declassifying, digitizing and reanalyzing film of the U.S.'s 210 open air nuclear detonations

Brr.

Why (Part of) the International Space Station Will Soon Be the Coldest Place in the Universe

An icebox-like lab will help scientists get a grip on a phenomenon that’s hard to spot on Earth

The innards of the Large Hadron Collider's CMS module

Large Hadron Collider Gets "Open Heart Surgery"

The massive physics experiment in Switzerland is receiving an upgrade

Einstein enjoyed a 20-year friendship with African-American civil rights leader and actor Paul Robeson (far right). Also shown are former vice president Henry Wallace (left) and Lewis L. Wallace of Princeton University (second from right).

How Albert Einstein Used His Fame to Denounce American Racism

The world-renowned physicist was never one to just stick to the science

This photo shows the Berkeley 60-inch cyclotron, build in 1939. The year before, technetium-99 was discovered by Emilio Segrè and Glenn Seaborg using the facility's 37-inch cyclotron. Ernest Lawrence, the cyclotron's inventor, is standing, third from left.

Old Particle Accelerator Tech Might Be Just What the Doctor Ordered

Shortages of important supplies for nuclear medicine has researchers looking for answers on how to produce technetium-99

Babe Ruth's first major-league team was the Boston Red Sox, where he was a star player. When he was sold to the New York Yankees in 1919, the "Curse of the Bambino" began and the Red Sox didn't win another World Series until 2004.

Why Was Babe Ruth So Good At Hitting Home Runs?

People have been using science on the Great Bambino since the 1920s

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