Author: Matthew R. Francis
-
Traces of particles from the first second after the Big Bang
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] Signs of neutrinos from the dawn of time, less than a second after the Big Bang First unambiguous observation of the cosmic neutrino background From Ars Technica: The first…
-
I Love Q, and now you can too!
I wrote a feature story for Physics World on an interesting little discovery about neutron stars, but unfortunately the article wasn’t in their free online edition. HOWEVER, the editors have kindly let me repost the article here in PDF format for free download! (Here’s the summary I wrote a few weeks ago.) Physics World is…
-
How can we see black holes if they’re invisible?
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] The Shadow of a Black Hole From NOVA: The invisible manifests itself through the visible: so say many of the great works of philosophy, poetry, and religion. It’s also…
-
The three little words every pulsar wants to hear
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! UPDATE: you can now download this article in PDF format! See the follow-up post or the update below.] I can’t help falling in Love with Q From Physics World: The…
-
Why are there three copies of each type of particle?
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] The mystery of particle generations Why are there three almost identical copies of each particle of matter? For Symmetry Magazine: The Standard Model of particles and interactions is remarkably…
-
Pluto: what’s in a name?
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] Pluto and Other Truly Epic Space Photos For The Daily Beast: To quote another great space adventurer: “Almost there!” The New Horizons probe, launched in 2006, will finally reach…
-
We aren’t the dinosaurs: we’re the asteroid
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] The Sixth Extinction: We’re Not The Dinosaurs, We’re The Asteroid Yes, humans are probably to blame for the Earth’s sixth mass extinction event, which is wiping out species at…
-
A multitude of faint and fluffy galaxies
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] Scientists Discover Hundreds of Hidden Galaxies The new type of faint, fluffy galaxy might help resolve a cosmological conundrum For The Daily Beast: When we think of galaxies, we…
-
Emmy Noether and her wonderful theorem
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] Mathematician to know: Emmy Noether Noether’s theorem is a thread woven into the fabric of the science For Symmetry Magazine: We are able to understand the world because it…
-
Why do some want to modify general relativity?
[ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] And yes, I did refer to MOND as “a fungus in the basement of astronomy”. Do We Need to Rewrite General Relativity? For NOVA “The Nature of Reality”: General…
Bowler Hat Science 