What Would Change with a “New Physics” Breakthrough?

“New physics” is a catch-all term for fundamentally new discoveries in physics (such as dark matter, quantum gravity, or a theory of everything) which push the boundaries of how we understand our reality. How could new discoveries in these areas of research affect our lives? Let’s take a look at what knowledge and practical use we could potentially gain.

New Study Deepens Mystery of Life’s Origin

Scientists believe that all life on Earth originated from one single organism, the Last Universal Common Ancestor, LUCA. Now, researchers have uncovered evidence that LUCA was much more complex than previously thought, which is puzzling because it didn’t have a lot of time to evolve. This seems to suggest that life can come into being much faster than we thought. Let’s take a look.

Theory of Everything Predicts New Physics For Supermassive Black Holes

Mathematician Stephen Wolfram has attempted to develop a theory of everything using hypergraphs, which are essentially sets of graphs that can describe space-time. Recently, another mathematician named Jonathan Gorard has used hypergraphs to describe what happens if a black hole accretes matter. He claims that evidence for hypergraphs should be observable in the energy that is emitted during the accretion. Big if true, as they say. Let’s take a look.

Moore’s Law is So Back

According to Moore’s law, the number of transistors on a microchip should double every year. Two years ago, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that the law was “dead” because we're hitting physical limits for the miniaturization of transistors. Now, though, he’s reversed that claim, instead predicting that we're about to see a “Hyper” Moore’s law. Let’s take a look.

Quantum Tech Could Be Used in Warfare, Scientists Warn.

Physics, as history taught us, can be dangerous. As quantum computing continues to progress (slowly), researchers and governments across the world are worried that the technology will be used for evil purposes. Why? And should we really be worried about quantum tech? Let’s take a look.

The Crisis in Cosmology Just Got So Much Worse

In the past decade, astrophysicists have found a lot of evidence that our large-scale theory for how the universe works has some large-scale problems as well. It has, however, remained controversial whether this is a problem with data collection or whether it is indeed a problem with our understanding of the universe. In a new paper, astrophysicists now demonstrate that something is wrong with the theory indeed. It could be the first good evidence that “Einstein was wrong.” Let’s take a look.



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Is the Universe Infinite or Finite?

Is the universe really infinite? Or could it close back on itself like a sphere? If it’s infinite, how can it expand? And is it true that there might be copies of you in it? Today I want to explain how much we know about those questions and what the expansion of space has to do with Hilbert's Hotel.

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Huge Physics Anomaly Finally Put to Test, But That Just Makes it More Confusing

Ten years ago, physicists discovered an anomaly that was dubbed the “ATOMKI anomaly”. The decays of certain atomic nuclei disagreed with our current understanding of physics. Particle physicists assigned the anomaly to a new particle, X17, often described as a fifth force. The anomaly was now tested by a follow-up experiment, but this is only the latest twist in a rather confusing story.

We’ve Been Searching For Aliens All Wrong, Researchers Say (and they have a point)

Civilizations need energy to expand. You’ve probably heard of the Kardashev scale, which classifies civilizations based on their ability to generate and use energy (if you’re interested, humans are barely on the scale). A new paper has shaken up that scale by putting forth new ways that advanced civilizations could harvest energy, including “eating” stars. Let’s take a look.

AI Could Soon Make Quantum Computing Obsolete, Nobel Prize Winner Says

Last week, DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis said that AI might be able to solve problems that quantum computers were supposedly necessary for. Indeed he said that classical systems – AI run on conventional computers – can model quantum systems. Sounds like an innocent claim but is certain to upset a lot of quantum computing researchers. Hassabis bases his argument on the surprising success of Alphafold.

We are unlikely to be in this universe, new study finds. Multiverse falsified?

According to the multiverse theory, we are likely to find ourselves in a universe particularly suited to the emergence of life. According to a new paper, though, that’s not the case given how it’s expanded over time. But does that mean the multiverse theory has also been invalidated? Let’s take a look.

Why Physicists Changed Their Mind about Dark Matter Particles

Axions were introduced to the world of physics in the 1970’s, when researchers believed they might be the particles that make up dark matter. While early conceptions about axions have since been proven wrong, the particles are now making a comeback as the best motivated candidates for dark matter. Let’s find out why.



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Webb Falsified Dark Matter Prediction – And No One Cares

Data collected by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is in conflict with predictions based on the hypothesis of dark matter and instead confirmed predictions made with Modified Newtonian Dynamics, MOND. While the failure of dark matter has been widely discussed as galaxies that are “too big” or “too old”, little has been said about the success of MOND. In a paper that just appeared, we have an excellent summary of the present situation, and it doesn’t look good for dark matter at all.

Storytelling Beats Facts in Social Media Mental Health Battle

The idea that social media causes children mental health distress is plausible, but unfortunately it isn’t true. Trouble is, if you read what the press has written about it, you wouldn’t know. Scientists have described it as a “moral panic” that isn’t backed by data, which has been promoted most prominently by one man: Jonathan Haidt.

New Calculation Finds we are close to the Kessler Syndrome

The Kessler syndrome is a scenario where, if too many collisions occur between pieces of space debris, low earth orbit will become filled with clouds of tiny particles. All those particles floating around the planet will then make the area unusable for spacecraft and satellites. According to a new study, that scenario might unfold sooner than you’d think. Let’s take a look.

AI Scaling Hits the Wall, Rumours Say. How Serious is it?

In the past few days we have seen a lot of rumours about troubles with AI scaling. In this video, I have a brief summary of recent events, who said what, and why I don't think AI will solve all of physics.

Science is in trouble and it worries me.

Innovation is slowing, research productivity is declining, scientific work is becoming more disruptive. In this video I summarize what we know about the problem and what possible causes have been proposed. I also explain why this matters so much to me.

“New Evidence” That CO2 Doesn’t Cause Global Warming? I Don’t Think So.

Many viewers have asked for a review of a recent study which supposedly shows “new evidence” in the climate change “debate.” More specifically, the study’s authors claim that we need to conduct more research into whether or not carbon dioxide emissions really affect climate change. I’ve had a look.

This New Energy Storage Idea Makes A Lot Of Sense

As we look to transition to our electric future, researchers are still stumped about how to store the electricity generated by inconsistent renewable power sources like solar and wind. In a new paper, scientists have displayed progress in storing energy by shifting the shapes of molecules, a solution that could be directly combined with photovoltaics. This idea makes a lot of sense — at least to me. Let’s take a look.

Dark Energy Might Be Black Holes

Recently, some astrophysicists have claimed that black holes are the source of dark energy, a force that speeds up the expansion of our universe. The idea fits well together with observations that seem to show that dark energy is getting weaker. How does this work? Let’s have a look.