Physics, Pixelated

Blank glowing gem blocks arranged in the shape of the periodic table, with a glowing atom in front

Why Does the Periodic Table Have the Shape It D...

The periodic table is not a random grid. Its rows hold 2, 8, 8, 18, 18, 32 and 32 elements because electrons fill shells and subshells, and the Pauli exclusion...

Why Does the Periodic Table Have the Shape It D...

The periodic table is not a random grid. Its rows hold 2, 8, 8, 18, 18, 32 and 32 elements because electrons fill shells and subshells, and the Pauli exclusion...

Fast shallow water in a channel rising into a deep, slow, foaming hydraulic jump

Kármán Vortex Streets and Hydraulic Jumps: Why ...

Put a cylinder in a steady flow and it sheds a staggered trail of whirlpools called a Kármán vortex street. Let a fast, shallow stream slow down and it leaps...

Kármán Vortex Streets and Hydraulic Jumps: Why ...

Put a cylinder in a steady flow and it sheds a staggered trail of whirlpools called a Kármán vortex street. Let a fast, shallow stream slow down and it leaps...

The James Webb Space Telescope at L2, its sunshield between the distant Sun, Earth and Moon and its golden mirror

What Are Lagrange Points, and Why Does JWST Sit...

Lagrange points are five spots where a small object can keep pace with two big ones, like a spacecraft riding along with the Sun and Earth. We work out where...

What Are Lagrange Points, and Why Does JWST Sit...

Lagrange points are five spots where a small object can keep pace with two big ones, like a spacecraft riding along with the Sun and Earth. We work out where...

Two glowing electron trails meeting at bright vertices linked by a wavy pink photon in starry space

Feynman Diagrams Explained: What the Little Squ...

A Feynman diagram is not a photo of particles bouncing around. Each little drawing stands for one term in a calculation of how likely a process is. Here is how...

Feynman Diagrams Explained: What the Little Squ...

A Feynman diagram is not a photo of particles bouncing around. Each little drawing stands for one term in a calculation of how likely a process is. Here is how...

Gold-leaf electroscope in a glass bell jar in a glowing night laboratory

Marie Curie’s Discoveries: Radioactivity, Polon...

Marie Curie did not discover radioactivity. Henri Becquerel found the rays in 1896. What she did was turn a strange effect into a science: she showed the rays were an...

Marie Curie’s Discoveries: Radioactivity, Polon...

Marie Curie did not discover radioactivity. Henri Becquerel found the rays in 1896. What she did was turn a strange effect into a science: she showed the rays were an...

Neutrino streaks from the Sun passing straight through Earth toward a huge underground water detector

What Are Neutrinos? The Ghost Particles That Pa...

Neutrinos are the most elusive particles we know of. Thousands of billions stream through your body every second without touching you. Pauli invented them in 1930 to save energy conservation,...

What Are Neutrinos? The Ghost Particles That Pa...

Neutrinos are the most elusive particles we know of. Thousands of billions stream through your body every second without touching you. Pauli invented them in 1930 to save energy conservation,...