SA Special Editions

After a three-decade search, scientists appear to have found the elusive particle. Its peculiar properties suggest a new era in physics could be about to dawn

What if the smallest bits of matter actually harbor an undiscovered world of particles?

Neutrinos, the strangest beasts in the particle zoo, may soon open the way to unexplored realms

Maybe unifying the forces of nature isn't quite as hard as physicists thought it would be

Cosmologists are closing in on the ultimate processes that created and shaped the universe

The largest stars die in explosions more powerful than anyone thought possible—some triggered in part by the production of antimatter

Dark matter is not just a puzzle. It is a solution

Maybe not. The observations that led astronomers to deduce its existence could have another explanation: our galaxy lies at the center of a giant cosmic void

By adapting a global network of telescopes, astronomers will soon get their first look ever at the dark silhouette of a black hole

The black hole has a troublesome sibling, the naked singularity. Physicists have long thought—hoped—it could never exist. But could it?

Quantum effects may prevent true black holes from forming and give rise instead to dense entities called black stars

Physicists have long sought to find one final theory that would unify all of physics. Instead they may have to settle for several

Entanglement, like many quantum effects, violates some of our deepest intuitions about the world. It may also undermine Einstein's special theory of relativity

Once viewed as imposing absolute limits on knowledge and technology, quantum theory is now expanding the power of computers and the vistas of the mind

Leonard Susskind rebelled as a teen and never stopped. Today he insists that reality may forever be beyond reach of our understanding

Bubble chamber photographs reveal the telltale tracks of exotic subatomic particles