Physics

Without more data, a black hole's origins can be "rotated" in any direction

Without more data, a black hole’s origins can be “rotated” in any direction

An MIT study reveals that, for now, the catalog of known black hole binaries does not reveal anything fundamental about how black holes form. Pictured is a simulation of light emitted by a supermassive black hole binary system where the surrounding gas is optically thin (transparent). Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Clues to a …

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Photo of Nobel Prize winner John F. Clauser, Oct. 4, 2022

No one took John F. Clauser’s quantum experiments seriously. 50 years later, he collects a Nobel Prize.

On October 4, 80-year-old John F. Clauser woke up in his California home to find he had received the Nobel Prize in Physics. He will receive the award at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, on December 10 with Anton Zeilinger and Alain Aspect for their work on quantum entanglement. It was a moment of celebration …

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In new studies, researchers explore new ways to hunt dark matter

In new studies, researchers explore new ways to hunt dark matter

Schematic of a generic superconducting nanowire single photon detector. The leads in this study were made entirely of tungsten silicide, with no gold contacts. Credit: S. Kelley/NIST For decades, astronomers and physicists have tried to solve one of the deepest mysteries of the cosmos: around 85% of its mass is missing. Many astronomical observations indicate …

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Ocean study shows most deep-sea microbes are nearly inactive

Ocean study shows most deep-sea microbes are nearly inactive

In situ mass leucine incorporation rates normalized to rates obtained under atmospheric pressure conditions. The symbols correspond to the different research expeditions. The regression equation is a power law function: Pin situ = 494z−0.321 (not= 56, number of samples incubated in situ), where Pin situis the percentage of leucine incorporation rate in situ normalized to …

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The Multiverse Is Real - But Not How You Think

The Multiverse Is Real – But Not How You Think

SEAN CARROLL: There’s no doubt that the multiverse is having something of a moment in popular culture. You know, the Marvel movies leaned into that. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”, various Spider-Man films, but also “Rick and Morty” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once”. You might think it’s physics’ fault because physicists have …

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Read the 1983 CIA report on space-time transcendence with your mind

Read the 1983 CIA report on space-time transcendence with your mind

In 1983, the CIA wrote an obscure report on the “Gateway Experiment”, claiming that an altered state of human consciousness might be able to transcend space and time. Decades later, the document has since been declassified and is now experiencing a resurgence on social media. However, despite what you’ve seen on TikTok and YouTube, the …

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Tidal Disruptor Event J150052 Was Caused by Rapidly Rotating Intermediate-Mass Black Hole, Study Finds

Tidal Disruptor Event J150052 Was Caused by Rapidly Rotating Intermediate-Mass Black Hole, Study Finds

Long-term light curve of J150052 from 2008. Credit: Cao et al, 2022 Using NASA’s Chandra and ESA’s XMM-Newton space telescopes, astronomers from Radboud University in the Netherlands and elsewhere made X-ray observations of a tidal disturbance event designated 3XMM J150052.0+015452, or J150052 for short. The results show that J150052 was triggered by a rapidly rotating …

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We gave ChatGPT a college-level microbiology quiz.  He blew the quiz.

We gave ChatGPT a college-level microbiology quiz. He blew the quiz.

You wouldn’t know it by interacting with Siri or those tech support call center bots, but artificial intelligence has made incredible progress in a short time. Earlier this year, the tech world was abuzz with various generative AI programs that could, on command, create entirely new and never-before-seen images or works of art. Today, the …

We gave ChatGPT a college-level microbiology quiz. He blew the quiz. Read More »