All Stories by Emily Conover
- Physics
A short history of black holes
From dreaming up black holes to snapping the first picture of one, the history of black holes has had many twists and turns.
- Animals
This spider slingshots itself at extreme speeds to catch prey
By winding up its web like a slingshot, this spider achieves an acceleration rate far faster than a cheetah’s.
- Physics
Scientists now know why microwaved grapes make plasma fireballs
Grapes trap microwave energy that bounces back and forth within the fruit. Until boom — a plasma!
- Physics
Thunderstorms hold stunningly high voltage
By studying particles called muons, scientists found that the electric potential inside a thunderstorm may be 10 times higher than previously thought.
- Physics
High-speed video reveals the best way to shoot a rubber band
What’s the best way to shoot a rubber band? High-speed video reveals how to avoid hitting your thumb.
- Animals
How some insects fling their pee
Insects called sharpshooters use a tiny barb on their rear ends to hurl their pee at 20 times the acceleration of Earth’s gravity.
- Physics
Much of a proton’s mass comes from the energy of the particles inside it
Thanks, Einstein! Your famous E=mc2 formula now explains much of a proton’s ‘mass.’ Its building-block quarks make up just a small part of its left, calculations now show.
- Physics
Dazzling laser advances bring physicists a Nobel Prize
The winners of 2018 Nobel Prize in physics helped usher in new laser feats, such as making optical “tweezers” and creating amazingly bright beams of light.
- Physics
Scientists traced an incoming neutrino back to its galactic birthplace
The high-energy particle was born in a blazar 4 billion light-years away, scientists now report.
- Space
An active sun is a somewhat smaller sun
The sun grows and contracts a little over cycles lasting around 11 years, new data show. Changes in the strength of its magnetic fields may help explain this.
- Physics
To witness maximum pressure, peek inside a proton
Scientists used experimental data to estimate the pressures inside a proton. And surprise: Its mega-big — the greatest known!
- Chemistry
Diamonds and more suggest unusual origins for asteroids
Inside a meteorite, scientists found sulfur and iron wrapped in tiny diamonds. Those gems hint the rock formed inside a long-lost planet.
