Dark energy: The eerie force accelerating the expansion of the universe

The universe is expanding, and that expansion is accelerating. But what is causing that to happen? The leading hypothesis is a repellent force that astrophysicists refer to as “dark energy,” which pushes everything away from everything else. So how doe… Continue reading Dark energy: The eerie force accelerating the expansion of the universe

New technique links lithium distribution in the brain to depression

A new technique is allowing researchers to measure endogenous lithium concentrations in the human brain for the very first time. To test the technique researchers compared lithium levels in post-mortem brain tissue between a suicidal subject and a pair… Continue reading New technique links lithium distribution in the brain to depression

Something’s Up in Switzerland: Explaining the B Meson News from the Large Hadron Collider

Particle physics is a field of extremes. Scales always have 10really big number associated. Some results from the Large Hadron Collider Beauty (LHCb) experiment have recently been reported that are …read more Continue reading Something’s Up in Switzerland: Explaining the B Meson News from the Large Hadron Collider

Stars made of antimatter could be lurking in our galaxy

Antimatter is the strange, evil twin of regular matter, and it’s thought to have been mostly banished from our universe. But could it still be lurking out there in large clumps, even as stars? Astronomers have now identified a few signals that could be… Continue reading Stars made of antimatter could be lurking in our galaxy

Molecules wrangled into single quantum state in breakthrough experiment

Quantum technology is bursting with potential, but controlling atoms and molecules keeps proving tricky. In a breakthrough new study, physicists have successfully wrangled thousands of molecules into a single unified quantum state for the first time.Co… Continue reading Molecules wrangled into single quantum state in breakthrough experiment

Quantum bits recruited to detect dark matter turning into light

Dark matter may make up the vast majority of the matter in the universe, but it’s strangely shy about making its presence known. Now, physicists have designed a new test to search for signs of two candidate particles, using the quirky world of quantum … Continue reading Quantum bits recruited to detect dark matter turning into light

“Magnetic” dark matter may be accelerating the universe’s expansion

The expansion of the universe is accelerating, but we’re not really sure why. The current best models give the driving force the placeholder name of “dark energy” – but that might not even exist. A new study has found that if dark matter had some unusu… Continue reading “Magnetic” dark matter may be accelerating the universe’s expansion