Physics & mathematics
Explore Physics & Mathematics
Editor's Picks
Latest about Physics & Mathematics
![An artist's impression of the atom being launched between the two pairs of optical tweezers.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3qTsid4crM2wJTU9kJHfMR-320-80.png 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3qTsid4crM2wJTU9kJHfMR-450-80.png 450w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3qTsid4crM2wJTU9kJHfMR-500-80.png 500w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3qTsid4crM2wJTU9kJHfMR-650-80.png 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3qTsid4crM2wJTU9kJHfMR-840-80.png 840w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3qTsid4crM2wJTU9kJHfMR-970-80.png 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3qTsid4crM2wJTU9kJHfMR-1024-80.png 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3qTsid4crM2wJTU9kJHfMR-1200-80.png 1200w)
Scientists use optical tweezers to play world's smallest game of catch with individual atoms
By Ben Turner published
Scientists who have thrown a single atom from one pair of optical tweezers to another say that the feat could be used to build better quantum computers.
![The honeycomb pattern in a salt desert landscape.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/c3E8BKofdJiMn3NUicR3ri-320-80.jpg 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/c3E8BKofdJiMn3NUicR3ri-450-80.jpg 450w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/c3E8BKofdJiMn3NUicR3ri-500-80.jpg 500w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/c3E8BKofdJiMn3NUicR3ri-650-80.jpg 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/c3E8BKofdJiMn3NUicR3ri-840-80.jpg 840w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/c3E8BKofdJiMn3NUicR3ri-970-80.jpg 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/c3E8BKofdJiMn3NUicR3ri-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/c3E8BKofdJiMn3NUicR3ri-1200-80.jpg 1200w)
Scientists solve mystery behind strange honeycomb pattern in salt deserts
By Sascha Pare published
Physicists have finally uncovered the mechanism behind the spectacular patchwork of hexagons on salt flats. The answer lies hidden beneath the crust and works like a donut-shaped radiator.
![The seeds in a sunflower exhibit a golden spiral, which is tied to the Fibonacci sequence. Here, a close-up of the seeds at the center of a sunflower.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mE9QH23ZcFkgBxPd27rnGN-320-80.jpg 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mE9QH23ZcFkgBxPd27rnGN-450-80.jpg 450w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mE9QH23ZcFkgBxPd27rnGN-500-80.jpg 500w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mE9QH23ZcFkgBxPd27rnGN-650-80.jpg 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mE9QH23ZcFkgBxPd27rnGN-840-80.jpg 840w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mE9QH23ZcFkgBxPd27rnGN-970-80.jpg 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mE9QH23ZcFkgBxPd27rnGN-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mE9QH23ZcFkgBxPd27rnGN-1200-80.jpg 1200w)
What is the Fibonacci sequence?
By Tia Ghose last updated
Almost everything you know about the famous Fibonacci sequence is wrong.
![A Hubble telescope image showing many bright white stars surrounded by larger orange stars on a canvas of black space](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MkPxrFuT8NyUVS49r9XWdH-320-80.jpg 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MkPxrFuT8NyUVS49r9XWdH-450-80.jpg 450w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MkPxrFuT8NyUVS49r9XWdH-500-80.jpg 500w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MkPxrFuT8NyUVS49r9XWdH-650-80.jpg 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MkPxrFuT8NyUVS49r9XWdH-840-80.jpg 840w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MkPxrFuT8NyUVS49r9XWdH-970-80.jpg 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MkPxrFuT8NyUVS49r9XWdH-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MkPxrFuT8NyUVS49r9XWdH-1200-80.jpg 1200w)
Dark energy could lead to a second (and third, and fourth) Big Bang, new research suggests
By Paul Sutter published
Scientists have proposed a way that the universe could stop expanding, ending in a 'Big Crunch' that resets space and time as we know it.
![Artist depiction of a supernova explosion in space.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xre97vzWfeatQDcbTzNZiA-320-80.jpg 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xre97vzWfeatQDcbTzNZiA-450-80.jpg 450w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xre97vzWfeatQDcbTzNZiA-500-80.jpg 500w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xre97vzWfeatQDcbTzNZiA-650-80.jpg 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xre97vzWfeatQDcbTzNZiA-840-80.jpg 840w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xre97vzWfeatQDcbTzNZiA-970-80.jpg 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xre97vzWfeatQDcbTzNZiA-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xre97vzWfeatQDcbTzNZiA-1200-80.jpg 1200w)
What Is dark energy?
By Adam Mann last updated
Dark energy is the name physicists have given to the mysterious thing driving the universe's accelerated expansion. It may be a force or a form of energy, and one piece of evidence suggests it is hidden inside black holes.
![A statue of Leonardo Da Vinci in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PWhuk3af4piPcTsFXMzhxk-320-80.jpg 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PWhuk3af4piPcTsFXMzhxk-450-80.jpg 450w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PWhuk3af4piPcTsFXMzhxk-500-80.jpg 500w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PWhuk3af4piPcTsFXMzhxk-650-80.jpg 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PWhuk3af4piPcTsFXMzhxk-840-80.jpg 840w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PWhuk3af4piPcTsFXMzhxk-970-80.jpg 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PWhuk3af4piPcTsFXMzhxk-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PWhuk3af4piPcTsFXMzhxk-1200-80.jpg 1200w)
Da Vinci understood key aspect of gravity centuries before Einstein, lost sketches reveal
By Ben Turner published
Sketches found inside Leonardo da Vinci's sketchbooks, show that he had already grasped the essence of Einstein’s 1907 ‘Equivalence Principle’ centuries before the physicist.
![A radio telescope image of the 'invisible' galaxy from the early universe being gravitationally lensed by another object](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ujBDddbLMYDVSG6EBqWM3i-320-80.jpg 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ujBDddbLMYDVSG6EBqWM3i-450-80.jpg 450w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ujBDddbLMYDVSG6EBqWM3i-500-80.jpg 500w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ujBDddbLMYDVSG6EBqWM3i-650-80.jpg 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ujBDddbLMYDVSG6EBqWM3i-840-80.jpg 840w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ujBDddbLMYDVSG6EBqWM3i-970-80.jpg 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ujBDddbLMYDVSG6EBqWM3i-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ujBDddbLMYDVSG6EBqWM3i-1200-80.jpg 1200w)
Scientists reveal 'invisible' galaxy from the early universe, using space-time trick predicted by Einstein
By JoAnna Wendel published
Using the ALMA telescope in Chile and Einstein's theory of relativity, scientists observed a young galaxy in the early universe that is invisible in nearly every wavelength.
![An illustration showing neutron stars merging into a black hole, as electromagnetic waves ripple outward](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vr7weCx49mN4AgRzFSDdn8-320-80.jpg 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vr7weCx49mN4AgRzFSDdn8-450-80.jpg 450w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vr7weCx49mN4AgRzFSDdn8-500-80.jpg 500w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vr7weCx49mN4AgRzFSDdn8-650-80.jpg 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vr7weCx49mN4AgRzFSDdn8-840-80.jpg 840w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vr7weCx49mN4AgRzFSDdn8-970-80.jpg 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vr7weCx49mN4AgRzFSDdn8-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vr7weCx49mN4AgRzFSDdn8-1200-80.jpg 1200w)
Physicists want to use gravitational waves to 'see' the beginning of time
By Andrey Feldman published
Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of space. Waves that originated in the early universe could carry important information about the phenomena that occurred there.
Live Science newsletter
Stay up to date on the latest science news by signing up for our Essentials newsletter.