Supermassive Black Holes en Route to Cataclysmic Collision: Doomed Pair Closer Than Ever Observed
New observations and analysis reveal two Goliath black holes just 750 light-years apart and closing, as they circle each other in the aftermath of a…
Simons Foundation News
“Hell Planet” – How This Super-Earth Got So Scorchingly Hot
New ultra-precise measurements reveal the orbital path of exoplanet 55 Cancri e (55 Cnc e), a scorchingly hot super-Earth closely circling a distant star. New…
Scientists Augment Reality To Crack the Code of Quantum Systems
A new method for simulating quantum entanglement between interacting particles has been developed by physicists. Physicists are (temporarily) augmenting reality in order to crack the…
Uncovering Hidden Patterns: AI Reduces a 100,000-Equation Quantum Physics Problem to Only Four Equations
Scientists trained a machine learning tool to capture the physics of electrons moving on a lattice using far fewer equations than would typically be required,…
Physicists Create Mind-Bending New Phase of Matter That Acts Like It Has Two Time Dimensions
Physicists demonstrated a way of storing quantum information that is less prone to errors by subjecting a quantum computer’s qubits to quasi-rhythmic laser pulses based…
Origin of Supermassive Black Hole Flares Identified: Magnetic “Reconnection” Near the Event Horizon
Largest-ever simulations suggest flickering powered by magnetic ‘reconnection.’ Researchers at the Flatiron Institute and their collaborators found that breaking and reconnecting magnetic field lines near…
“Quantum Friction” Explains Fluid Dynamics Mystery That Has Baffled Scientists for 15 Years
“Quantum friction” slows water flow through carbon nanotubes, resolving long-standing fluid dynamics mystery. For 15 years, scientists have been baffled by the mysterious way water…
Quantum Physicists Find Paradoxical Material a Mashup of Three Different Phases at Once – “This Is Uncharted Territory”
‘Geometric frustration’ can cause the electrons in materials with atoms arranged in a triangular pattern to organize in three competing ways simultaneously, reveals a new…
Breakthrough: Shrinking Planets Could Explain Mystery of Universe’s Missing Worlds
Studying data from the Kepler space telescope, Flatiron Institute researchers found that planetary shrinkage over billions of years likely explains a yearslong mystery: The scarcity…
AI “Magic” Just Removed One of the Biggest Roadblocks in Astrophysics
Using neural networks, Flatiron Institute research fellow Yin Li and his colleagues simulated vast, complex universes in a fraction of the time it takes with…
Quantum Physicists Crack Mystery of “Strange Metals” – A New State of Matter
Strange metals have surprising connections to high-temperature superconductors and black holes. Even by the standards of quantum physicists, strange metals are just plain odd. The…
50-Year-Old Cosmic Mystery Solved: Why Pulsars Shine Bright
Intense radio emissions produced by the fast-spinning stars are caused by newborn particles interacting with powerful electromagnetic fields, new plasma simulations suggest. When Jocelyn Bell…
Artificial Intelligence Cracks Quantum Chemistry Conundrum
Machine learning techniques accurately calculate the energy required to make — or break — simple molecules. A new machine learning tool can calculate the energy…
Einstein’s General Relativity Validated 10 Years Ahead of Schedule by ‘Ringing’ Black Hole
Gravitational wave ‘tones’ detected following the merger of two black holes confirm the decades-old ‘no-hair theory’ of black hole properties. For the first time, astrophysicists…
Astronomers Discover Supermassive Black Holes on a Collision Course
Astronomers have spotted a distant pair of titanic black holes headed for a collision. Each black hole’s mass is more than 800 million times that…
The Major Collision That Changed The Milky Way Galaxy
An international team of astronomers has discovered an ancient and dramatic head-on collision between the Milky Way and a smaller object, dubbed the “Sausage” galaxy….
Gravitational Waves From Merging Supermassive Black Holes Will Be Detected Within 10 years
A New survey of fast-spinning pulsar stars offers a better estimate of when astronomers will first detect gravitational waves from merging supermassive black holes. Astronomers…
