Physics & Math, features and articles | Educational Science

Mar 31, 2013

Mysteriously Shrinking Proton Continues to Puzzle Physicists

DENVER — The size of a proton, long thought to be well-understood, may remain a mystery for a while longer, according to physicists. Speaking today (April 13) at the April meeting of the American Physical Society, researchers said they need more data to understand why new measurements of proton size...

Feb 28, 2013

Mind-Controlled Devices Reveal Future Possibilities

This 4-part series, published to coincide with Brain Awareness Week, highlights investments made by the Engineering Directorate of the National Science Foundation to develop cutting edge tools and technologies that will advance our understanding of the brain. A team of scientists and engineers at the University of Minnesota is giving...

Feb 28, 2013

Celebrating Einstein Through 100 Years Of General Relativity

Inside Science Minds presents an ongoing series of guest columnists and personal perspectives presented by scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and others in the science community showcasing some of the most interesting ideas in science today. (ISM) -- Albert Einstein is probably the most well-known scientific genius. His creative ability allowed him...

Oct 31, 2014

New 'Super-Repellent' Material Could Protect Medical Implants

Scientists have created the most non-stick surfaces yet, using microscopic liquid-repellent structures instead of plastic coatings such as Teflon. These new surfaces could help protect medical implants from gunk that can build up on and ruin the devices, endangering patients, researchers say. Natural materials such as insect wings and duck...

Aug 31, 2015

Passing Quantum Secrets: The Next Level Beyond Quantum Computing

This article was originally published on The Conversation. The publication contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. The one thing everyone knows about quantum mechanics is its legendary weirdness, in which the basic tenets of the world it describes seem alien to the world we live...

Jun 30, 2015

Dark Pion Particles May Explain Universe's Invisible Matter

Dark matter is the mysterious stuff that cosmologists think makes up some 85 percent of all the matter in the universe. A new theory says dark matter might resemble a known particle. If true, that would open up a window onto an invisible, dark matter version of physics. The only...

May 31, 2015

After Higgs, Ramped-Up Collider Hunts for Next Puzzle

Don Lincoln is a senior scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermilab, America's largest Large Hadron Collider research institution. He also writes about science for the public, including his recent The Large Hadron Collider: The Extraordinary Story of the Higgs Boson and Other Things That Will Blow Your Mind...

Mar 31, 2015

What's Next for the World's Largest Atom Smasher? How to Watch Live

Physicist Jon Butterworth, who works at the world's largest atom smasher, is intimately familiar with the drama that surrounded the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson. Butterworth will recount the trials and tribulations in the hunt for the most wanted particle, in a lecture tonight (April 1) at the Perimeter...

Mar 31, 2015

The World's Most Powerful Atom Smasher Restarts With a Big Bang

The world's most powerful atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider, which provides a window into the universe just milliseconds after the Big Bang, came back to life this morning, after more than two years of maintenance and upgrade work, and it's stronger than ever. At 10:41 a.m. local time near...

Nov 30, 2016

Isaac Newton's Book Auctioned for Record-Setting $3.7 Million

A bound copy of Sir Isaac Newton's seminal book on mathematics and science was sold for $3.7 million, making it the most expensive printed scientific book ever sold at auction, according to Christie's, the auction house that handled the sale. The book has a Latin title — Philosophiae Naturalis Principia...

Sep 30, 2016

Does Your 'Self' Have a Soul?

Robert Lawrence Kuhn is the creator, writer and host of Closer to Truth, a public television series and online resource that features the world's leading thinkers exploring humanity's deepest questions. This essay, the third of a four-part series on the Self, is based on Closer to Truth episodes and videos,...

Mar 31, 2016

Collider Unleashed! The LHC Will Soon Hit Its Stride

Don Lincoln is a senior scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermilab, the United States' biggest Large Hadron Collider research institution. He also writes about science for the public, including his recent The Large Hadron Collider: The Extraordinary Story of the Higgs Boson and Other Things That Will Blow...

Feb 29, 2016

Isaac Newton Biography

Isaac Netwon is synonymous with apples and gravity. He rose to become the most influential scientist of the 17th century, his ideas becoming the foundation of modern physics, after very humble beginnings. But first, the big question: Did an apple really fall on Newton's head and spur him to figure...

Dec 31, 2015

What 2016 Holds for the Mysterious World of Physics

The New Year may also be a year of discoveries for physicists plumbing the deepest mysteries of matter. Since 2013, when scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) confirmed they had discovered the Higgs boson, the particle that lends others mass, physics has been in a kind of limbo. The...

Dec 31, 2015

Without Basic Knowledge, Innovation Fails (Op-Ed)

Vikram Jandhyala is the vice provost for innovation at the University of Washington. He contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Understanding how innovation actually happens is one of the most intricate, and important, intellectual conversations occurring in technology circles, and it's clear that basic knowledge...