For years, Rutgers physicist David Shih solved Rubik's Cubes with his children, twisting the colorful squares until the scrambled puzzle returned to order. He didn't expect the toy to connect to his ...

A tiny discrepancy in particle physics has loomed for decades as an exciting possible crack in one of science's most successful theories, hinting at unknown forces or quantum objects. Now, an ...

The particles that are in an atom: protons, neutrons and electrons The particles that are in protons and neutrons: quarks The four fundamental forces: gravity, electromagnetism, the strong force and ...

Scientists are on the trail of a mysterious five-particle structure that could challenge one of the biggest theories in physics: string theory. This rare particle—never seen before and predicted not ...

Quantum computers are beginning to become powerful tools for studying some of the most fundamental forces in the universe – and some of the trickiest to understand. Two experiments have used them to ...

For decades, a puzzling discrepancy involving a tiny subatomic particle called the muon fueled speculation that physicists might be on the verge of discovering an entirely new force of nature. Now, an ...

A “muon shot” aims to study the basic forces of the cosmos. But meager federal budgets could limit its ambitions. By Dennis Overbye and Katrina Miller Friday, Dec. 8: This story was updated to include ...

The amplituhedron, a shape at the heart of particle physics, appears to be deeply connected to the mathematics of paper folding. The amplituhedron is a geometric shape with an almost mystical quality: ...