SciencePhysics & Chemistry

Now We Know How Many Ways We Can Arrange 128 Tennis Balls

Here’s a question worthy of the ball boy at Wimbledon: if you have 128 tennis balls packed into a container, how many different ways can you arrange them? Answer: 10250 — more than the entire number of subatomic particles in the universe. That’s the conclusion of a team of researchers at the University of Cambridge … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

The Next Big Gravitational Waves Experiment Is Now Getting Started in Space  

On December 3rd, the LISA Pathfinder, humanity’s first bold attempt to hunt for gravitational waves from outer space, blasted into orbit. Two months and a million miles later, the first phase of LISA Pathfinder’s scientific operations has begun. In what’s being called a “major milestone,” the LISA pathfinder spacecraft released both of its gold-platinum test … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

A Brand New 2D Semiconductor Could Put Silicon in the Shade

A new kind of semiconductor is the first material with a 2D geometry to provide the electrical properties of silicon—but its shape could mean that it’s actually able to outperform the reliable old material. Like graphene, the new semiconductor is a 2D layer that’s just a single atom thick. Made up of tin and oxygen—or … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

This New Shape-Changing Polymer Can Lift 1,000 Times Its Own Weight

All materials react to heat in some way. But this new shape-changing polymer reacts to temperatures as small as the touch of human skin to contract—in the process lifting as much as 1,000 times its own weight. The polymer, developed by researchers from the University of Rochester, is a new material that reacts to mechanical … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

Why Dark Chocolate Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hand 

We all know what happens when a chocolate bar sits inside of a backpack on a really hot day: it melts, and even if it resolidifies, it will never quite look the same. But what if you could tailor your chocolate to have a higher melting point? You probably can, just by mastering a few … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

Your Questions About Gravitational Waves, Answered

Gizmodo readers asked a lot of great questions about yesterday’s big announcement on the discovery of gravitational waves. And Dr. Amber Stuver of the LIGO Livingston Observatory in Louisiana is here today with some answers. Gizmodo Readers: There has been a huge amount of work put into the detection of a single gravitational wave to … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

Physicists Are Freaking Out About Gravitational Waves and You Should Too

After five months of keeping their stupendous discovery under wraps, physicists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) are finally allowed to freak out publicly about gravitational waves. And they’re enjoying the hell out of it. “Seeing the data that the public just saw hit me like at ton of bricks,” Scott Hughes, an … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

We’ve Found Gravitational Waves. Now What?

David Reitze, executive director of the LIGO Laboratory, took the podium at the National Press Building in Washington, DC, this morning, and said the words we’ve all been waiting on tenterhooks to hear: “We have discovered gravitational waves.” And a packed auditorium in Caltech’s Cahill building in Pasadena—where people had gathered to watch the live … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

EXCLUSIVE: Physicists Have Literally Woven The Fabric of Spacetime

Ripples in the fabric of spacetime, you say? Gabriela González, a professor of physics and astronomy at Louisiana State University and spokesperson for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO), was wearing a very interesting garment at the National Press Center today, where gleeful physicists gathered to announce the first direct detection of gravitational waves. … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

Science Nerd Twitter Reacts to the Discovery of Gravitational Waves

The physics world erupted with joy and wonder on Thursday morning, when scientists from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) confirmed the existence of gravitational waves. This will easily be the science story of the year, so people are naturally freaking out. Even the anticipation was outrageous: This is what a bunch of excited … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

Holy Shit! Scientists Have Confirmed the Existence of Gravitational Waves

Since Albert Einstein first predicted their existence a century ago, physicists have been on the hunt for gravitational waves, ripples in the fabric of spacetime. That hunt is now over. Gravitational waves exist, and we’ve found them. That’s according to researchers at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO), who have been holed up for … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

Watch Live as Physicists Make a Big Announcement About Gravitational Waves

Could the rumors be true? After a month of rampant speculation that physicists have finally discovered gravitational waves, today we learn the truth. Lead scientists from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) have assembled at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and they’re about to make a big announcement. It’s hard to overstate … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

Why Finding Gravitational Waves Would Be Such a Big Deal 

This article was originally published on 1/11/2016. This morning, the Internet erupted with rumors that physicists have finally observed gravitational waves; ripples in the fabric of spacetime predicted by Albert Einstein a century ago. While it isn’t the first time we’ve heard excited whispers about the elusive phenomena, the gossip feels more promising in light … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

Scientists Can Make Aerogel From Waste Paper

Aerogel is usually the preserve of expensive laboratory experiments—but what if you could make it from trash? Now, a team of researchers has developed a technique to turn scrap paper into an incredibly light, highly insulating super material. Most aerogels in the past have been made from silica, though versions made from materials like graphene … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

Chinese Fusion Test Hits 90 Million Degrees for 102 Seconds

Tests at a fusion reactor in China have hit a major milestone. The experiments have created plasma with a temperature of 90 million degrees Fahrenheit —hotter than the core of our Sun—and sustained the state for over a minute and a half. The experiments were carried out in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak—known as EAST. … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

Watch Stephen Hawking’s BBC Lectures on Black Holes with Chalkboard Illustrations

Now you can watch as well as listen as world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking expounds upon his latest ideas about the knotty black hole information paradox, playfully illustrated by chalkboard artist Andrew Park. Hawking recently joined a long line of illustrious figures who have given the annual BBC Reith Lectures, founded in 1948, with the very … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

Rumor Mill Heats Up Again for Discovery of Gravitational Waves [UPDATED]

Hey, remember when we told you about those rumors that physicists may have finally found gravitational waves? It’s been pretty quiet since then, but yesterday fresh rumors surfaced that yes, the discovery is real. And we could have an official announcement by February 11. UPDATE 2/8/16: The LIGO collaboration announced this morning that a press … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

Scientists Explain the Physics of the Perfect Pancakes

Have you ever wondered why your pancakes sometimes have ugly craters, or a weird ring around their edges? A new analysis of pancake recipes could help you exploit physics to make the perfect pancake — and possibly one day save your sight. In the journal Mathematics TODAY, a group of researchers from University College London … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

Scientists Made the Perfect Skipping Stone and Skipped It Across Their Lab

Scientists at Utah State University have figured out how to make the perfect skipping stones. The secret was making sure they were made out of a material that had much more give than stone. Inspired by a toy called the Water Bouncing Ball, the USU team, led by the Splash Lab’s Tadd Truscott, collaborated with … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

Scientists in Germany Take a Major Step Towards Nuclear Fusion

Physicists in Germany have used an experimental nuclear fusion device to produce hydrogen plasma in a process similar to what happens on the Sun. The test marks an important milestone on the road towards this super-futuristic source of cheap and clean nuclear energy. Earlier today in an event attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel (herself … Continued