Top 5 stories in (and around) physics of 2016

Maybe 2016 hasn’t been a great year in general, but at least for science it has. A year full of discoveries: expected, missed, surprising. From Solar System exploration to the frontiers of artificial intelligence, from the atomically small to the immensely big, it has been a busy year!

Here’s my personal top 5 news of this year. Sit back. Enjoy.

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The sound of silence

Think about the most quiet place you’ve ever been to. Now imagine something even quieter. What does that sound like? If you can’t figure it out, physics can help: let’s start by looking at how sound works. Loudspeakers, vocal folds and instruments all function by the same principle: rhythmically push and pull on air. The air molecules, in turn, push and pull on their neighbors, … Continue reading The sound of silence