There is a glaring gap in our knowledge of the physical world: none of our well-established theories describe gravity’s quantum nature. Yet physicists expect that this quantum nature is essential for ...

Scientists have uncovered a hidden quantum limit that prevents an electron's position and timing from ever being known with ...

Whether space-time exists should neither be controversial nor even conceptually challenging, given the definitions of “space-time,” “events” and “instants.” The idea that space-time exists is no more ...

Exploring the BTZ black hole in (2+1)-dimensional gravity took me down a fascinating rabbit hole, connecting ideas I never expected—like black holes and topological phases in quantum matter! When I ...

Fragments of energy may be the fundamental building blocks of the universe. The theory combines the ideas of particles and waves into a concentration of energy that flows throughout space and time.

Whether space-time exists should neither be controversial nor even conceptually challenging, given the definitions of “space-time,” “events” and “instants.” The idea that space-time exists is no more ...

In 1905, a 26-year-old patent clerk named Albert Einstein looked at the universe and discovered that time was not what we thought it was. It was not linear. For centuries, everyone assumed the same ...

This story is part of our Cosmic Perspective special, in which we confront the staggering vastness of the cosmos and our place in it. Read the rest of the series here. We tend to think of space-time ...

Time is the strange dimension: Unlike its spatial siblings, it is a one-way street as the clock only ever ticks forward and never backward. Scientists have long been aware of time's quirks, with the ...

One of the most awkward parts of writing a book is that, eventually, authors have to ask people for “blurbs” – the endorsements that you see on the cover of a book, encouraging you to buy it. I am now ...

The first time you experience weightlessness in space, Tom Marshburn told me, all the noise and pressure of launch suddenly disappear. One moment, the roar of engines shakes every bone in your body; ...