Mean temperature of the universe is rising over billions of years

Earth isn’t the only place that’s heating up of late – the universe seems to be too. Astronomers at Ohio State University have taken the mean temperature of cosmic gas at different distances and ages, and found that it’s roughly 10 times hotter today t… Continue reading Mean temperature of the universe is rising over billions of years→

“Fifth state of matter” used to make new type of superconductor

Superconductors – materials in which electricity flows without any resistance whatsoever – could be extremely useful for future electronics. Now, engineers at the University of Tokyo have managed to create a superconductor out of a state of matter call… Continue reading “Fifth state of matter” used to make new type of superconductor→

CERN scientists design trap to transport antimatter between facilities

Antimatter is a tricky substance to store and transport, mostly because of its habit of annihilating any container you try to put it in. Now, researchers at the BASE collaboration at CERN have outlined a new antimatter trap designed to safely carry the… Continue reading CERN scientists design trap to transport antimatter between facilities→

Scientists calculate how much matter there is in the universe

Scientists have now estimated the total amount of matter in the universe, using a new, more precise method. By calculating the mass of hundreds of galaxy clusters, the team found that matter makes up less than a third of the contents of the universe.Co… Continue reading Scientists calculate how much matter there is in the universe→

Strange metals: New state of matter shares properties with black holes

“Strange metals” have that name for a reason – these materials exhibit some unusual conductive properties and surprisingly, even have things in common with black holes. Now, a new study has characterized them in more detail, and found that strange meta… Continue reading Strange metals: New state of matter shares properties with black holes→

Dark matter: What is it, how do we know it’s there and will we find it?

It sounds like science fiction to say there’s invisible, undetectable stuff all around us, and it doesn’t help that it has the spooky name of dark matter. But there’s plenty of evidence that this material is very real. So what exactly is dark matter? H… Continue reading Dark matter: What is it, how do we know it’s there and will we find it?→

Evidence of universe’s oldest state of matter lurking inside neutron stars

Astrophysicists have found evidence of a strange substance called quark matter at the heart of compact stars. Combining recent theoretical calculations with measurements of gravitational waves from neutron star collisions, the researchers found that th… Continue reading Evidence of universe’s oldest state of matter lurking inside neutron stars→

Whirling, glassy magnets found to be new state of matter

Most of us are familiar with the four classical states of matter – solid, liquid, gas and plasma – but there’s a whole world of exotic states out there. Now, physicists at Radboud and Uppsala Universities have identified a new one named “self-induced s… Continue reading Whirling, glassy magnets found to be new state of matter→

One mystery solves another: Fast radio bursts detect missing matter

Only about five percent of the content of the universe is made up of regular (or baryonic) matter – and we still don’t know where most of that is. Now, an international team of astronomers has developed a creative new method to detect this missing matt… Continue reading One mystery solves another: Fast radio bursts detect missing matter→

Higgs boson examined as source of dark matter at the LHC

It’s been calculated that dark matter is around five times more common than regular matter – and yet, we still haven’t directly detected it. Many different types of experiments are trying to find it, and now CERN has joined the hunt, testing whether th… Continue reading Higgs boson examined as source of dark matter at the LHC→