Physicists detect the sound of heat in superfluids, theorized since 1938

Temperatures colder than Pluto can allow electricity to flow resistance-free

Since its discovery in 1911, applications of superconductivity have made MRI machines and maglev trains possible due to quantum effects at extreme temperatures. These effects are modeled as electrons cooperating in pairs and flowing more efficiently.

Why trying to freeze helium creates a fluid that can travel through solids and climb walls

Once cooled to temperatures just above 2 Kelvin, helium-4 atoms begin to exhibit superfluidity, a quantum property in which all atoms collectively inhabit the same low-energy state and behave in perfect unison. This coordination removes the internal friction that causes liquids to cling to surfaces, allowing them to slide through microscopic pores and scale container walls.

Listen to the pair of colliding black holes detected by LIGO

As ripples in spacetime, gravitational waves do not produce sound, which is the perception of specific vibrations in matter (e.g., vocal cords vibrating air molecules). The "chirp" of gravitational waves comes instead from converting the spacetime ripples into sound waves that the human ear can hear.

Concentrated sound waves can collapse microscopic bubbles, creating light

The phenomenon, known as sonoluminescence, can generate extremely short, high-intensity flashes from the sudden focusing of sound energy, which can drive the temperature within the bubbles to values over twice that of the sun's surface.

Listen to the sounds of pulsars, which emit radio pulses up to hundreds of times a second

Just as figure skaters spin faster by tucking in their arms, these celestial objects acquire high rates of spin from the collapse of the cores of massive stars. The star's rotation spins its magnetic field, generating beams of radio waves from its magnetic poles. If either of these poles faces a detector, the signals can be picked up and converted to audio signals.

Quantum tunneling allows particles to pass through classically impenetrable barriers

First described in 1928, the phenomenon is the result of probability waves, which represent the location of particles in space as extended objects. Just as sound waves can reflect off of and pass through barriers, these probability waves dictate that solid matter has a chance at passing through obstacles.

Neutron star collisions may be the universe's gold factories

In his last broadcast interview, Stephen Hawking comments on detecting gravitational waves from the collision of neutron stars. The event may serve as a new means of measuring cosmological distances and help identify revisions to general relativity.

Oscillating matter in the early universe left behind patterns detailing cosmic expansion

As gravity tried to bring matter closer together in the early universe, its high temperature produced an outward pressure that caused it to expand. These competing forces caused matter to vibrate and produce the equivalent of sound waves, which spread outward as the universe expanded and cooled, serving as relics of dark energy's history.

Particle accelerators detect subatomic particles using millions of sensors

Calorimeters measure the energy of particles. Tracking devices can measure momentum and charge from the trajectory of particles, which is determined by recording tiny electrical signals. Time-of-flight detectors provide particle velocities directly and particle mass indirectly, giving physicists a suite of properties to compare with those of known matter.

The greenhouse effect was discovered by analyzing Earth's temperature

Using mathematical techniques developed to analyze heat transfer, Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier showed that Earth should be significantly cooler if solar radiation were the only contributor to its surface temperature. By considering that the atmosphere could amplify the sun's warming effect, he formulated what became known as the greenhouse effect.

Metallic hydrogen exists in Jupiter and Saturn due to high pressure and temperature

This state of hydrogen has metallic properties, including conductivity, which powers these planets' magnetic fields. First theorized in the 1930s, its existence was confirmed through indirect evidence before being created in a Harvard lab in 2017.

Scientists investigate Earth's interior by studying seismic waves

Scientists investigate Earth's interior by studying seismic wavesBelow Earth's atmosphere lies the crust, which extends to the Mohorovičić discontinuity between five and 20 miles below Earth's surface. Below the crust lies the mantle, the liquid-metal outer core, and the solid inner core, which surpasses 5,200 degrees Celsius (9,392 degrees Fahrenheit).

The world's longest-running science experiment aims to prove if pitch is a liquid

Having run continuously since 1927, the pitch drop experiment is designed to show that the seemingly solid derivative of tar is a liquid by watching to see it drip through a tunnel. From 1930 to 2025, the substance has only produced nine drops, such that its viscosity—resistance to flow—is about two million times more than honey.

Tornadoes produce inaudible signals to humans hours before forming

Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have found that tornado-producing storms generate specific sounds below the range of human hearing, much like the infrasonic signals produced by earthquakes and avalanches. Although difficult to distinguish from wind noise, scientists hope to build systems that use these signals to improve tornado forecasting.

Turbulence has been called the most important unsolved problem in classical physics

Despite being the most common type of fluid flow in our world, scientists have struggled to model turbulent flow accurately. Though behaving unpredictably, understanding inertia and viscosity can help determine whether turbulence will occur.

A look at hydrothermal vents, where barophiles and hyperthermophiles survive boiling water

Discovered in 1977 during an exploration of the Galapagos Rift, these seafloor openings spew hot magma and chemicals that heat seawater to hundreds of degrees. Without the sunlight found at depths of less than 1,000 meters (3,281 feet), extremophiles in these environments convert released chemicals into energy to survive, alongside surviving extreme pressures.

A look inside neutron stars, which are thought to contain nuclear pasta

Simulations show that beneath the outer crust of these objects, the gravitational force is so extreme that atomic nuclei link together into chains of primarily neutrons and some protons called nuclear spaghetti. Deeper in the star, these links combine to form sheets—nuclear lasagna—a quintillion times stronger than steel, making it the strongest material in the universe.

The anechoic chamber at Bell Labs absorbs 99.999% of created sound

The space nearly eliminates sound wave reflection, allowing visitors to become aware of noises created by their own bodies, including their heartbeat and skeletal conduction. Experiments inside have contributed to the development of digital audio and phone touch tones.

50 years of research has focused on unraveling the relationship between music and frisson

One insight reveals that musical passages with surprising volume changes or unexpected harmonies and beauty are more likely to trigger frisson, perhaps because they upend listeners' expectations.

Hawking radiation shows black holes slowly evaporate through quantum effects.

Hawking radiation is Stephen Hawking's theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation and eventually evaporate. Applied to known black holes, their radiation is so weak that it would take vastly longer than the current age of the universe for them to disappear.

The finite speed of light means we can only perceive the world's past

When objects emit or reflect light, it takes time for the light to reach an observer and be detected. During the travel time, the object may have changed, limiting detections to describing the conditions of the object when the light was first emitted or reflected, before it was detected.

Glacial ice loss can be determined by listening to escaping bubbles

Glaciers form from the accumulation of layers of snowfall over hundreds to thousands of years, trapping air bubbles that serve as time capsules of atmospheric conditions at the time. When glaciers melt, these bubbles produce a distinctive sound that can be detected by underwater microphones, allowing assessment of melting from a safe distance.

Water vapor is used to manage heat in high-end smartphones

While smartphones have traditionally been cooled using a highly conductive plate that dissipates heat from the chip, vapor chambers offer a higher heat-removal capacity. This technology has been utilized in laptops for decades to absorb heat by cycling a fluid between liquid and gaseous phases.

Modern physics suggests that many universes with different physical laws could exist

Physicists suggest that quantum fluctuations in the early universe could have given rise to these universes. Ancient Greek philosophers like Chrysippus proposed a version of the multiverse over 2,000 years ago—millennia before its adoption into various theoretical frameworks today.

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin discovered stars are mostly made of hydrogen and helium

At 25, her doctoral thesis challenged the then-common belief that stars were composed similarly to Earth. Several years later, Henry Norris Russell, who had initially dismissed her findings, independently made the same discovery and received credit for it.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

Neutron stars, the remains of some massive stars after they explode in a supernova, are the densest directly observable objects in the universe.

Dirty lightning is a thunderstorm created from friction between rising and falling flows of ash and smoke during volcanic eruptions.

Planeterrellas create artificial auroras that mimic the atmospheric displays of light by setting up an electric field between two metal balls in a jar filled with a small amount of air.

Learn how your body is, scientifically, like a firework with its own slow, controlled burn.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

Track the location of the Voyager probes, currently between 13 and 15 billion miles away from Earth.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

A pickleball's loud 'pop' sound can reach 120 decibels, which is equivalent to a hammer hitting a nail

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

English mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer algorithm a century before computers existed and hypothesized that computing devices would one day be able to compose music—foreseeing the generative AI systems of today.

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

Experimental hantavirus vaccines and therapies, still under development, have long been funded by the US military.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.