Universe, Physics | featured news

Imagine that the visible universe and everything in it was once contained in a volume many times smaller than the size of a single atom. With a quantum theory of gravity, we may be able to trace the Big Bang expansion back to its very beginning, and understand precisely how our universe arose, presumably from nothing.

If the discovery of the Higgs boson particle pans out, could that lead to a new array of mind-bending technologies result? Theoretically, it's possible, says Arizona State University physicist Lawrence Krauss; but practically, it's unlikely.

Physicists investigating the make-up of the universe said on Wednesday they were closing in on the long-sought but elusive Higgs boson they believe was key to turning debris from the Big Bang into stars, planets and finally life.

Three U.S.-born scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for their studies of exploding stars that revealed that the expansion of the universe is accelerating....

The "God particle" may have to wait. The Tevatron, a once-cutting edge Chicago-area particle accelerator run by the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and played a key role in the quest for the Higgs Boson or "God particle" was shut down for the last time Friday afternoon at 3:40 p.m. EDT.

Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: Is it preposterous to consider the existence of parallel universes? Or is it preposterous not to? Physicist Brian Greene would tend toward the latter view.

Researchers have developed a simple geometrical method to add weight to the idea that ours is a flat, dark-energy-rich Universe.

European researchers observe for the first time a transformation in neutrinos, evidence that they have mass. It's an important step in understanding the universe's dark matter.