Category: Analysis
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Proton. Mass. Higgs. Phantoms of science.
A proton’s mass is more just than the sum of its parts. And now scientists know just what accounts for the subatomic particle’s heft. Protons are made up of even smaller particles called quarks, so you might expect that simply adding up the quarks’ masses should give you the proton’s mass. However, that sum is…
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Measuring the cosmos… Ghosts and numbers…
A groundbreaking experiment in physics has for the first time provided a precise measurement of a force between electrons and protons called the weak nuclear force. The value 0.0719 (give or take 0.0045) won't mean much to most of us, but the way they did it makes way for some exciting possibilities for pushing physics…
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New states of matter. Fake reality. Real silence.
Researchers have recently produced a "human scale" demonstration of a new phase of matter called quadrupole topological insulators (QTI) that was recently predicted using theoretical physics. These were the first experimental findings to validate this theory. The researchers reported their findings in the journal Nature. The team's work with QTIs was born out of the…
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Mapping the genome. The illusion of “dimensions”…
Cells face a daunting task. They have to neatly pack a several meter-long thread of genetic material into a nucleus that measures only five micrometers across. This origami creates spatial interactions between genes and their switches, which can affect human health and disease. Now, an international team of scientists has devised a powerful new technique…
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Small parts. Smaller parts. Even smaller parts. Everything!
As we research smaller and smaller units of matter, it has became clear to some that there is perhaps no final unit waiting to be discovered but a fundamental unity to everything. Physicist David Bohm, whose work is described in Michael Talbot’s the Holographic Universe, calls the fundamental unity at the end of all matter…
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