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So, why in the name of the cosmos am I LARP-ing Albert Einstein as a 1950s-stye doo-wop group?! Well, I wanted to make you smile in these very tense times. The spark: It began as a COVID-19 fever hallucination. I had the bug for seven weeks, back in the pre-vaccine days. Lying medicated on the … Read more
Albert Einstein was allergic to authoritarians. His dislike of dogma, playful nature, and ability to constructively concentrate let him visualize unorthodox ways the universe might operate. Some of these proved to be true. Daydreaming his way to deeper understandings was his superpower. It can be ours, too. Through internal journeys of pure thought, Einstein looked … Read more
In the last decades of his life, Albert Einstein hoped to unite his description of gravity with existing models of electromagnetism under a single master theory. It’s a quest that continues to vex theoretical physicists to this day. Two of our best models of reality – Einstein’s general theory of relativity and the laws of … Read more
As in history, revolutions are the lifeblood of science. Bubbling undercurrents of disquiet boil over until a new regime emerges to seize power. Then everyone’s attention turns to toppling their new ruler. The king is dead, long live the king. This has happened many times in the history of physics and astronomy. First, we thought … Read more
Physicists have measured time dilation on the smallest scale ever using an atomic clock made of thousands of ultracold atoms formed into a stack of pancake-shaped blobs Physics 16 February 2022 By Alex Wilkins Time dilation has been measured inside a tiny atomic clock Jacobson/NIST The world’s most precise atomic clock has confirmed that the … Read more
Albert Einstein is often cited as one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century. His work continues to help astronomers study everything from gravitational waves to Mercury‘s orbit. The scientist’s equation that helped explain special relativity – E = mc^2 – is famous even among those who don’t understand its underlying physics. Einstein is … Read more
Astronomers have observed Sagittarius A* – the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy – closer than ever before, and Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity still holds up Space 14 December 2021 By Leah Crane Stars orbiting very close to Sagittarius A* (centre), the supermassive black hole at the heart of the … Read more
After monitoring a pair of pulsars in tight orbit around one another for 16 years, astronomers conclude that their behaviour is consistent with Einstein’s predictions Space 13 December 2021 By Chen Ly Artistic impression of the double system, where two active pulsars orbit each other in just 147 minutes Michael Kramer/MPIfR Einstein’s famous theory of … Read more
Two pulsars locked in close binary orbit have once again validated predictions made by Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Over 16 years, an international team of astronomers has observed the pulsar pair, named PSR J0737−3039A/B, finding that the relativistic effects can be measured in the timing of their pulses – just as predicted and expected. … Read more