Physics

This was a bumper year for breakthroughs in every scientific field, including astronomy and physics.

"This halo around the moon is insane," one Twitter user wrote.

The last ever explosions will be silent fireworks that take place long after everything else in the universe has died, a study has found.

Researchers say the anomalies recorded in Antarctica may be the result of cosmic rays being reflected back after hitting subsurface features.

The technique could have significant implications for researchers investigating the world at the nanosocale.

R5519 is thought to have formed through a collision with a "victim" galaxy about three billion years after the Big Bang.

The weakening of the magnetic field is being observed by the European Space Agency's Swarm satellite constellation.

The idea of multiple universes has yet to be proven.

"We want to deploy our resources and competences to contribute to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic," CERN Director-General Fabiola Gianotti said.

Researchers were looking to see if part of the Standard Model of physics would hold up under extreme conditions.

The work was famously described by Albert Einstein as "perhaps the greatest intellectual stride that it has ever been granted to any man to make."

The star appears to have formed by the merging of two smaller white dwarfs.

Researchers found sand dunes interact and repel one another to move across the landscape.

"It's always exciting to set a world record," Tongcang Li from Purdue University said.

Researchers in China found a star 15,000 light years away orbiting a "dark companion" that defies theories of stellar evolution.

This has not stopped physicists attempting to work out how you would spot one if they did—because while there is no proof they do exist, they are at least theoretically possible.

Mayor's co-laureate, Didier Queloz agreed, telling Newsweek, "It's time to stop dreaming and confront reality, and for our human society to carry our effort and act to ensure that a future exists and that maybe, one day, we will be able to journey among the stars."

"I can't believe we are the only living entity in the universe," Didier Queloz said

"Simulations and movies like these really help us visualize what Einstein meant when he said that gravity warps the fabric of space and time," the creator of the images said.

The development could have implications for a broad range of fields.

Einstein's general theory of relativity beautifully describes the nature of gravity and its effect on large objects in the universe. However, there are alternative explanations.

Around 30 years ago, researchers first detected gamma-ray emissions inside storms that are now associated with lightning. But what is the nature of the relationship between the two phenomena?

There are several ways we could alter Earth's orbit so it is in a spot further away from the Sun.

To an outside observer, the quantum system appears to go from a complex state to a simple one.

This new model does not require any negative mass exotic material and offers a very simple design.

The normal melting point of gold is 1,947 degrees Fahrenheit.

We cannot build a time machine today, but could we in the future?

If this particle really exists, then it is not just outside the standard model but outside it in a way that nobody anticipated.

Ice VII does not occur naturally on the Earth's surface, although scientists have been able to produce it in the lab.

The camera's abilities could have numerous beneficial applications in a host of fields, ranging from biomedicine to materials science.