Physics Week in Review: November 11, 2017
Jen-Luc Piquant only has time for a super short and sharp physics roundup this week, but it should still give you all lots of cool stuff to read.
"Crazy" Supernova Looks Like a New Kind of Star Death. Astronomers are mystified by a strange star explosion in a distant galaxy that might be a relic from an earlier cosmological era. Related: Scientists on new supernova: WTF have we been looking at? It's like a regular supernova but not slowing down and glowing for more than 600 days.
Ringing black holes may glow in the dark. Black hole gravitational waves may amplify Hawking radiation.
How Matter Lost Its Mojo. Physics Has Demoted Mass: Modern physics has taught us that mass is not an intrinsic property.
Quantum Dream Time: Defining a 'quantum clock' and a 'quantum ruler' could help those attempting to unify physics-and solve the mystery of vanishing time.
The Subtle Art and Serious Physics of Subway Surfing.
New Fabric Warms or Cools Depending How You Wear It.
Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture: Taking inspiration from insect compound eyes to make tiny digital cameras? Yes, there's research on that.
A 'magic number' of people walking across a bridge makes it sway. "Every bridge has a natural frequency based on its length, width, and the material it is made of, and [Igor] Belykh has created a model that shows just how many people would need to cross any bridge to send it wobbling."
IBM Raises the Bar with a 50-Qubit Quantum Computer. Related: What the Hell Is a Quantum Computer and How Excited Should I Be? Great explainer by Gizmodo's Ryan Mandelbaum.
Could Matter Escape The Event Horizon During A Black Hole Merger?
Dark-Matter Hunt Fails to Find the Elusive Particles. Physicists begin to embrace alternative explanations. Related: Can Sapphire Crystals Capture Exotic Dark Matter?
A Tabletop Experiment For Quantum Gravity. Researchers' experiment could test concepts of quantum gravity and reveal a potential key to a "theory of everything."
Magnets Move Blood Like Magneto, But Not in The Way You Think.
Are face scans resurrecting the false science of physiognomy? Many researchers fear the consequences of training computers to identify a person's sexual orientation and criminality based solely on physical appearance.
The flow behind counter-rotating cylinders reveals a beautiful but momentary symmetry. (Image credit: S. Kumar and B. Gonzalez)
Does game theory accurately reflect a society of winners and losers? Or do we need new math that describes cooperation and win-win outcomes?
Lab-made gamma rays imitate astronomical sources. Big laser forces electrons to emit gamma rays--or else the positron gets it.
Pigeons Sound the Alarm with Whistling Feathers.
The physics keeping Star Wars' Cloud City afloat--and why it has a limited life span in the sky. Related: The Physics of When, Exactly, Star Wars Takes Place.
Physicists shrink plans for next major collider. Large Hadron Collider's failure to detect new particles beyond the Higgs has eroded the case for Japan's proposed linear accelerator.
Is There Beer in Space? How the emptiness of the void got filled.
Observing Curved-Space Quantum Physics in Nano-Sized Metals.
Profiles in Versatility: Physicists Take Their Skills to the Great Outdoors.
How Did The Hulk Get to Space in Thor: Ragnorak?
Professional Disagreement Over Galaxies Escalates Into Bullying And Harassment.
The Women Who Sew for NASA: "From the Apollo spacesuits to the Mars rovers, women behind the scenes have stitched vital spaceflight components. "
Astronomers Use Shadowy Alien Worlds to Peer Inside Stars. New analyses allow scientists to measure stellar densities using orbiting planets.
Which is more fundamental: processes or things? "Assumptions about what exists and what is fundamental exert a powerful influence on our lives. Indeed, the less aware we are of our metaphysical assumptions, the more we are subject to them."
"In an ongoing series of artworks entitled 'Ciclotramas', Brazilian artist Janaina Mello Landini unravels ropes into incredible fractal patterns that evoke tree roots, river basins, lightning strikes and circulatory systems."
Standing by the Water but Only Their Reflections Remain: 5 Photos by Greg Sand explore the struggle to retain a lucid remembrance of lost loved ones. [Image: Greg Sand]
The first evidence of planets orbiting another star was found in 1917.
No, Melting Quarks Will Never Work As An Energy Source.
The Elegant Mathematics of Vitruvian Man, Leonardo da Vinci's Most Famous Drawing: An Animated Introduction.
15 Mathematical Curiosities to Celebrate Marie Curie's 150th Birthday.
Nobel-Winning Physicist Frank Wilczek Worried About 100 Chocolate Coin Wager Over New Particles.
How Thor Summons His Mighty Hammer, Explained by Science.
The Director Behind Colossal Is Bringing Time Travel Thriller Comeback to the Big Screen. Related: The Trailer for Netflix's Dark Feels Like a German Fairytale, With More Time Travel.
High school physics teacher shows his awesome home made marble tracks.
Trump's nominee to lead his environmental council isn't sure if water expands as it warms.
How to Teach Science with Sugar and Cream. High school teachers are bringing ice cream into the lab.
Unraveling an Ancient Code Written In Strings: multicolored khipus were narrative epistles created by local chiefs.
Hypnotizing 'Soniverse' Domino Run Appears to Fall Over Both Forward and Backwards at Once.
A Fascinating Animation Explaining the Muscular Mechanics Behind All Movement of the Human Body.
How a kingfisher, an owl, and a penguin helped redesign Japan's Shinkansen bullet train.
Mathematics of auctions. What's the difference between tulip auction, English auction, sealed bid auction, etc?
Talented Kinetic Artist Eric Dyer Talks About His Love for the Wonderful Lost Art of Zoetropes: "I think that it's no mistake that zoetrope translates into "wheel of life.""I tried to imagine a way that animated sculpture could be experienced as such, and also a completely immersive kind of animated sculpture. And that's where I came up with the idea for the zoetrope tunnel."