The Hunt for Ultralight Dark Matter
If or when SLAC’s planned project, the Light Dark Matter Experiment (LDMX), receives funding—a decision from the Department of Energy is expected in the next year or so—it will scan …
quanta magazine
Does String Theory Actually Describe the World? AI May Be Able to Tell
A group led by string theory veterans Burt Ovrut of the University of Pennsylvania and Andre Lukas of Oxford went further. They too started with Ruehle’s metric-calculating software, which Lukas …
The Complex Social Lives of Viruses
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Ever since viruses came to light in the late 1800s, scientists have set them apart from the rest of life. …
NASA’s Quest to Touch the Sun
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Our sun is the best-observed star in the entire universe. We see its light every day. For centuries, scientists have …
An Old Abstract Field of Math Is Unlocking the Deep Complexity of Spacecraft Orbits
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. In October, a Falcon Heavy rocket is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida, carrying NASA’s Europa Clipper mission. …
The Mysterious ‘Dark’ Energy That Permeates the Universe Is Slowly Eroding
Beyond DESI, a slew of new instruments are coming online in the coming years, including the 8.4-meter Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and the …
Here’s a Clever Way to Uncover America’s Voting Deserts
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. In Georgia’s 2020 gubernatorial election, some voters in Atlanta waited over 10 hours to cast a ballot. One reason for …
The Quest to Map the Inside of the Proton
“How are matter and energy distributed?” asked Peter Schweitzer, a theoretical physicist at the University of Connecticut. “We don’t know.” Schweitzer has spent most of his career thinking about the …
A Popular Alien-Hunting Technique Is Increasingly in Doubt
The third factor is the probability of a lifeless planet producing the observed signal—an equally serious challenge, researchers now realize, that’s tangled up in the problem of unconceived abiotic alternatives. …
The Brain Region That Controls Movement Also Guides Feelings
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. In recent decades, neuroscience has seen some stunning advances, and yet a critical part of the brain remains a mystery. …