Scientists at CERN have found a way to learn more about the interior of neutron stars using the Large Hadron Collider. Researchers on the ALICE experiment are uncovering the properties of elusive hyperon particles hypothesized to be found inside neutron stars.
The year 2019 was a banner one for Albert Einstein: It included the first image of a black hole and the 100th anniversary of the 1919 solar eclipse expeditions that validated his theory of general relativity. Learn more about both, plus topics such as quantum theory, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the science (and fiction) of “Game of Thrones” in Symmetry writer Mike Perricone’s annual list of new popular physics books.
Enormous scientific collaborations are made up of hundreds upon thousands of individuals, each with their own story. Online collections of profiles, such as Faces of DUNE, the Dark Energy Survey’s Scientist of the Week blog and Humans of LIGO, reveal the sometimes-ignored human sides of scientists.
Growing up, scientist Giordon Stark loved his math and physics classes — worlds of equations and problems he could draw out to consider and solve. These came so easily to him. It made sense; growing up, he had become an expert in interpreting the visual. He started practicing so early in life that it wasn’t until he was 3 years old that his parents realized he was deaf. Now he works to ensure the field of physics research is accessible to all.
It started with a cough that wouldn’t go away. After years of medical treatment and a successful heart transplant, physicist Avi Yagil partnered with the doctors who gave him a new heart to bring techniques from particle physics into the evaluation of heart-failure patients.
Junior faculty in experimental particle physics and astrophysics talk about how they got into physics, their favorite parts of the experimental process and how they spend their time outside the lab.
Since 2010, the African School of Fundamental Physics and Applications has provided education to hundreds of students. The ASP is a three-week summer program for university-level students from across the continent of Africa. Participants learn about nuclear and particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology, accelerator physics, high-performance computing, quantum information and more. For some students, it’s the first time they hear about some of these topics.
For the last three decades, physicists have patiently waited for the next nearby supernova. Luckily, waiting is no longer the only option.
With an upgrade to the Super-Kamiokande detector, neutrino physicists will gain access to the supernovae of the past.
A series of joint NASA and ESA spacewalks four years in the making aims to extend the life of the AMS particle detector. On Nov. 15, astronauts took on a series of tasks ranging in difficulty from zip-tie-cutting to safely launching a piece of equipment into space, all while orbiting the planet at around 5 miles per second. The goal was to fix a component of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, an international particle physics experiment, and to extend its study of cosmic rays, dark matter and antimatter for another decade.
Scientists who moved from particle physics or astrophysics to medical physics sit down with Symmetry to talk about life, science and career changes.