24 May 2023
Researchers are building models of everything from black holes to the big bang in tanks of liquid. Now some claim these surprisingly simple models are showing us where our theories of space-time are wrong
10 May 2023
In the search for a theory that unites general relativity and quantum physics, many have tried to rethink space-time. But what if space-time emerges naturally, like a hologram?
3 May 2023
The holographic universe theory still grips physicists 25 years since it was first published. Here’s what it is all about
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
15 June 2022
Physicists have long sought to marry general relativity and quantum mechanics – now some reckon experiments that probe the way each theory treats time could finally make it happen
28 May 2020
Black holes exert a powerful pull on our imagination, but their weirdness starts way before you cross the event horizon, says astrophysicist Chris Impey
13 May 2020
Multiple indications seem to be showing that something is manipulating the universe beyond the four basic forces we know – and we are starting to work out what it is
15 January 2020
In everyday life, causes always precede effects. But new experiments suggests that no such restriction applies in the quantum world
30 October 2019
The luminiferous aether has become a byword for failed ideas. Now it is being revived to explain dark matter and dark energy, and potentially unify physics
21 August 2019
A radical new idea erases quantum theory's weird uncertainties – by ripping up all we thought we knew about how the universe works, says physicist Lee Smolin
