When people talk about the notional 1960’s, for example, they don’t really mean the years 1960-1969 inclusive. As a pop-culture phenomenon, “The 60’s” don’t really start until after ...

In the current approach to physics, some laws already have this counterfactual structure — the conservation of energy, for example, is the statement that it is impossible to have a perpetual motion ...

Artificial intelligence software is designing novel experimental protocols that improve upon the work of human physicists, ...

These are both examples of sources of “systematic uncertainty”, and while all concerned do their best to quantify them, there can be unforeseen complications that under- or over-estimate them.

Rahul Rao is a former intern and contributing science writer for Popular Science since early 2021. He covers physics, space, technology, and their intersections with each other and everything else.

But look, if we get into all that, we're going to go real deep on particle physics and it'll explode our brains. The neutrino is unique because it has a vanishingly small mass and no electrical ...