There is a set of very special numbers, known as the fundamental constants of nature, that cannot be explained. Where do they come from? Finding out if they are, in fact, constant is the key to ...

In a cafe at CERN in 1992, three physicists realized they disagreed about how many constants are needed to describe all of nature. A recent paper suggests only one – time – is necessary.

The figure illustrates three events in Minkowski spacetime. Event 𝐵 is neither in the past nor in the future of 𝐴, 𝐴 ∼ 𝐵, and event 𝐶 is neither in the past nor in the future of 𝐵, 𝐵 ∼ 𝐶.

James is a published author with multiple pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, space, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.View full profile James is a ...

Raising the energy state of an atom’s nucleus using a laser, or exciting it, would enable development of the most accurate atomic clocks ever to exist. This has been hard to do because electrons, ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The James Webb Space Telescope's view of the iconic Pillars of Creation, famous features within ...

The watt balance—also known as the Kibble balance—is a precision electromechanical instrument that has revolutionised the realisation of the kilogram by linking it directly to the Planck constant.

ELASTIC constants of crystals may be determined from measurements of diffuse X-ray reflexions given by them. According to the theory of Waller 1, diffuse reflexions are produced as a result of the ...

A group of Brazilian researchers has presented an innovative proposal to resolve a decades-old debate among theoretical physicists: how many fundamental constants are needed to describe the observable ...