Is the universe really one big black hole?
According to the equations that govern black holes, the larger one of these cosmic behemoths is the lower its average density – given that the universe contains a lot of relatively empty space, could the whole cosmos be a black hole?
There is an odd streak in the universe – and we still don’t know why
Astronomers have long thought the universe should look generally the same in every direction, but an anomaly in the radiation from the big bang persists even after a new analysis from radio telescopes
Why 'beauty factories' could solve two massive cosmological mysteries
Facilities that make particles called B mesons may seem obscure, but they could help explain why there is more matter than antimatter and what dark matter is, says Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
How faster-than-light explosions could reveal the universe’s secrets
Some things we see in space appear to outpace light. Now we are learning to harness these bizarre optical illusions to understand the mysteries of neutron stars, gamma ray bursts and more
Hints of exotic dark matter particles could be hiding in LHC data
Particles similar to axions, the leading candidate for dark matter that has long eluded detection, may have already been created in particle colliders – and remained hidden in the data
Clearest gravitational wave detection yet confirms Hawking’s black hole theory
Nature, Published online: 10 September 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-02872-5
Discovery joins a list of the greatest hits of the LIGO detector, which ten years ago became the first to detect gravitational waves.Gravitational waves finally prove Stephen Hawking's black hole theorem
An exceptionally loud collision between two black holes has been detected by the LIGO gravitational wave observatory, enabling physicists to test a theorem postulated by Stephen Hawking in 1971
Was a blob of dark matter spotted in the Milky Way?
Science, Volume 389, Issue 6764, Page 962-963, September 2025.
Improving cosmological reach of a gravitational wave observatory using Deep Loop Shaping
Science, Volume 389, Issue 6764, Page 1012-1015, September 2025.
Should it be space-time or spacetime – and why does it matter anyway?
Seeking endorsements for her new book, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein finds herself staring at fundamental questions of space, time – and grammar
Unifiying gravity and quantum theory requires better understanding of time
Nature, Published online: 02 September 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-02756-8
Textbooks give strange, imprecise explanations of where things happen in quantum mechanics. Consistency with gravity needs a fresh approach.What happens to light's energy when it redshifts? It's complicated
When it comes to cosmology, answering one question only leads to more. Just take light. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein dives into a reader's question
Early universe’s ‘little red dots’ may be black hole stars
Science, Volume 389, Issue 6759, Page 438-439, July 2025.
Is gravity a new type of force that arises from cosmic entropy?
Decades ago, a renegade physicist suggested that gravity isn't so much a force as just a byproduct of the universe's tendency to get more disordered. Now this idea might finally be testable
Laws of quantum physics may rule out a universe that came before ours
Instead of the big bang, some physicists have suggested that our universe may have come from a big bounce following another universe contracting – but quantum theory could rule this out
Little red dot galaxies have now been found in our local universe
Small, compact galaxies seen in the early universe have puzzled astronomers – finding these unusual objects closer to home could provide hints about how they form
U.S. cancels hunt for signs of cosmic inflation
Science, Volume 389, Issue 6757, Page 225-226, July 2025.
The mysterious missing ingredient in the highest-energy cosmic rays
Nature, Published online: 15 July 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-02227-0
Data from a South Pole observatory show that the fraction of protons in ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays is lower than expected.We may have finally solved an ultra-high-energy cosmic ray puzzle
The IceCube neutrino detector has allowed researchers to resolve a debate about what types of particles make up ultra-high-energy cosmic rays – but much remains unknown about these rare events
The cosmos is vast, so how do we measure it?
The awe-inspiring distances of the cosmos are hard to visualise, so how can we be certain we are measuring them correctly? Chanda Prescod-Weinstein explains
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