Recycled Tennis Balls Could Protect Buildings from Earthquakes

Earthquakes cannot be forecast, but engineers can prepare for them. Seismic-isolation systems built into the bases of certain buildings in high-risk areas, such as San Francisco’s City Hall, use complex structures of concrete, rubber and metal to reduce quake damage by absorbing the ground’s horizontal oscillations, like a car’s suspension does with vertical motion. But … Read more

Weird quantum objects known as Q balls could explain why we exist

One of the biggest cosmological mysteries is why the universe is made up of way more matter than antimatter, essentially why we exist. Now, a team of theoretical physicists says they know how to find the answer. All they need to do is detect the gravitational waves produced by bizarre quantum objects called Q balls.  Every … Read more