Category: Nautilus

• Nuclear pasta and neutron stars

  [ 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 Inside of a Neutron Star Looks Spookily Familiar Exotic ultra-compressed matter can look like pasta, among other things For Nautilus: Hot fluids of neutrons that flow without friction, […]

  Matthew R. Francis

  December 18, 2015

  Nautilus

  astrophysics, magnetars, neutron stars, nuclear physics, pulsars

• Slowing light to measure the creep of glaciers

  [ This blog is dedicated to tracking my most recent publications. Subscribe to the feed to keep up with all the science stories I write! ] My most recent article is an interesting combination of fundamental quantum physics research — the slowing of light inside specially-designed materials — with the study of the impacts of […]

  Matthew R. Francis

  March 13, 2015

  Nautilus, Writing for Other Sites

  climate change, Doppler effect, glaciers, materials science, quantum optics, slow light

• Quantum droplets in an ocean of light

  If you shine light on a barrier with two openings, it produces a distinct pattern of light on a distant screen. Measuring that pattern is standard in introductory physics laboratories. (You could even do it at home, but I recommend a very dark room and a bright laser pointer if you hope to see anything […]

  Matthew R. Francis

  March 25, 2014

  Nautilus, Writing for Other Sites

  photons, quantum entanglement, quantum eraser, quantum mechanics

• How did the biggest black holes form?

  The most massive known object in the cosmos is the black hole at the center of M87, a huge galaxy in the Virgo Cluster. While most large galaxies (including the Milky Way) harbor supermassive black holes, the very largest are interesting. That’s because galaxies and their black holes seem to share a history, based on […]

  Matthew R. Francis

  February 25, 2014

  Nautilus, Writing for Other Sites

  black holes, galaxies, gravitational waves, M87, supermassive black holes

• The week in review (October 13 – 19)

  I’m at GeekGirlCon this weekend, so I’m busy with non-writing activities as part of the DIY Science Zone. Thanks to our Fearless Leader Dr. “Nick Fury” Rubidium for putting our part of the event together! Where Nature Hides the Darkest Mystery of All (Nautilus): Even though there’s no solid barrier, the event horizon of a […]

  Matthew R. Francis

  October 19, 2013

  Ars Technica, Galileo’s Pendulum, Nautilus, Writing for Other Sites

  black holes, general relativity, gravitational waves, pulsar timing arrays, pulsars, supermassive black holes, supernovas

• The week in review (August 18-24)

  I’ve been remiss in blogging at Bowler Hat Science, largely because…well, I’ve been writing too much elsewhere. So, I’m going to try something different: instead of blogging each new article I write in a separate entry, I’ll write a single post summarizing everything in one go. How I learned to stop worrying and love tolerate […]

  Matthew R. Francis

  August 24, 2013

  Ars Technica, Galileo’s Pendulum, Metablog, Nautilus, Slate, Writing for Other Sites

  black holes, cosmology, gamma ray burst, general relativity, multiverse, quasiparticles, warp drive

• On the multiverse, metaphysics, and meaning

  I don’t spent a lot of time thinking about the multiverse: the possible existence of regions of the cosmos that have never been connected to ours at any time, and may never be in the future. That’s because those parallel pocket universes aren’t directly detectable, and may never be even indirectly detectable, putting them into […]

  Matthew R. Francis

  June 4, 2013

  Nautilus, Writing for Other Sites

  cosmology, inflation, multiverse