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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
To find features like groundwater under Earth‘s surface — or under the surface of another world — scientists can sense the subtle marks those features leave in the planet’s gravitational field. But those measurements aren’t easy to get; you need very sensitive instruments, and even the slightest vibrations can throw off the measurements. Now, a … Read more
Scientists would be able to discover much more about what lies underground if our planet could be sliced open and viewed as a cross-section – but as that’s not really possible, they have to rely on a variety of other methods instead. One new approach has just been proven in the field: A recently … Read more
China has had a bumper few years in space exploration, and its ambitions are about to get bolder. The China National Space Administration has released an overview of its plans for the next five years, which include launching a robotic craft to an asteroid, building a space telescope to rival the Hubble and laying the … Read more
Unifying quantum mechanics with general relativity is the ultimate dream — or nightmare — of physics. It would be a way to finally describe the force of gravity with the tools of quantum mechanics, unlocking how gravity works when it’s really strong and at really small scales. Einstein’s theory of general relativity tells us that … Read more
As meltwater trickles down through the Greenland ice sheet, it heats up – which means that some areas at the base of the ice sheet are melting 100 times faster than we thought Environment 21 February 2022 By Alex Wilkins Water flowing down to the bed of Store glacier, Greenland Poul Christoffersen A new source … Read more
In his theory of general relativity, Einstein predicted something called time dilation: the notion that two clocks under two different gravitational pulls will always tick at different speeds. The effect has been observed in many experiments since, but now scientists have recorded it at the smallest scale seen so far. The result was achieved using … Read more
Ever wonder if it’d be possible to play football on Mars? The short answer is yes! In a new video from NBCLX, United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno and NBC sports producer Brad Fosler explain what Super Bowl LVI would look like on Mars as Los Angeles Rams face off against the Cincinnati Bengals at … Read more
Astronomers across Africa and Europe have reacted with delight to news that Africa’s first millimetre-range radio telescope is to be built. The Africa Millimetre Telescope will fill a gap in the coverage of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a global network of telescopes that can receive and analyse radio waves of around 1 millimetre in … Read more
New images recorded by NASA’s Parker Solar Probe have revealed the red-hot glow of Venus‘s surface radiating through its shroud of toxic clouds – a finding that could help us better understand the minerals making up this rocky and mysterious planet. Using data from the Wide-field Imager for Parker Solar Probe (WISPR) instrument, scientists … Read more