25 January 2023
To explain the cosmos without invoking cosmic inflation, physicist Neil Turok has proposed the existence of a mirror-image universe going backwards in time from the big bang. He tells us why the idea is so compelling
10 January 2023
If we can’t measure something, we can’t know its true nature. This fundamental limitation hampers our understanding of the quantum world – but it doesn't preclude scientific thinking
21 November 2022
Algorithms can pore over astrophysical data to identify underlying equations. Now, physicists are trying to figure out how to imbue these “machine theorists” with the ability to find deeper laws of nature
19 October 2022
We have been trying to harness the reaction that powers the stars for decades, and now private firms are promising commercial fusion within a decade. Is there any reason to believe them this time?
18 April 2022
Experiments on how anaesthetics alter the behaviour of tiny structures found in brain cells bolster the controversial idea that quantum effects in the brain might explain consciousness
30 March 2022
To make sense of mysteries like quantum mechanics and the passage of time, theorists are trying to reformulate physics to include subjective experience as a physical constituent of the world
30 March 2022
To make sense of mysteries like quantum mechanics and the passage of time, theorists are trying to reformulate physics to include subjective experience as a physical constituent of the world
3 November 2021
We like to think that things are there even when we aren't looking at them. But that belief might soon be overturned thanks to a new test designed to tell us if quantum weirdness persists in macroscopic objects
8 September 2021
To solve the big mysteries in physics, we need to embrace fresh perspectives, says cosmologist Stephon Alexander. Here he explains why intuition is so important – and outlines one of his own wild ideas
25 August 2021
There is tantalising evidence to suggest that photosynthesis in some bacteria depends on quantum coherence and birds’ amazing feats of navigation rely on entanglement
