Physics news covering particle physics, CERN discoveries, theoretical physics, quantum mechanics, and breakthroughs in fundamental science.
A study published in Physical Review D suggests ultra-heavy dark matter particles could collapse into tiny black holes inside dense stars like millisecond pulsars and white dwarfs. Researchers from Manipal Academy of Higher Education and TIFR used the survival of ancient stars to constrain these theoretical models.
Researchers at the Sanford Underground Research Facility recorded an unexplained energy signature in liquid xenon that may indicate a dark matter interaction. While the anomaly aligns with Weakly Interacting Massive Particle theories, scientists caution that a single event is statistically insufficient to confirm a new particle discovery.
The article reports on a potential breakthrough in the hunt for dark matter, where scientists using a sensitive underground detector in the US observed unexplained signals. It explains the experimental setup and notes that while researchers view this as a possible first step toward identifying dark matter particles, independent verification is required to confirm the findings.
The article argues that human intuition fails to grasp quantum mechanics because subatomic particles behave in alien, counterintuitive ways. It cites Richard Feynman and the double-slit experiment to illustrate how matter exhibits wave-particle duality, suggesting readers must accept this absurdity rather than seek familiar mental models.
Researchers from India and Australia developed a heavily doped scandium nitride semiconductor that generates thermoelectric voltage nearly a thousand times greater than previously thought possible in solids. This breakthrough overturns long-standing assumptions about the Seebeck effect's limits in crystalline materials, potentially enabling new ultrasensitive temperature sensors and quantum sensing devices.
Max Planck Institute researchers discovered that raindrops acquire electrical charges when sliding on surfaces, causing corrosion by breaking down protective layers like Teflon. Published in Nature, the study isolates this triboelectric effect as a primary cause of surface degradation, suggesting future coatings must be thicker to resist charged water impacts.