Back in 2000, a team of physicists led by Lijun Wang at the NEC Research Institute in Princeton, USA, pulled off a mind-bending experiment. They fired a precisely shaped laser pulse through a special ...

Casimir cavities are mysterious spaces between microscopic metal plates in a vacuum. Areas of diminished energy between the plates cause them to push toward each other, as if trying to fill the ...

The method involves stitching together many thin “slices” of light reflecting off an object.

Scientists captured the first images of the Terrell-Penrose effect, showing objects near light speed appear rotated rather than compressed in photos.

Everyone loves “break the record” stories—until physics shows up with a hard rule. The speed of light isn’t just fast, it’s ...

The speed of light has been one of science’s most trusted markers of stability. For more than a century, the idea that light moves through space at a constant speed has supported some of physics’ most ...

Imagine you’re in a car driving across the country watching the landscape. A tree in the distance gets closer to your car, passes right by you, then moves off again in the distance behind you. Of ...

Here is a thought experiment for you: imagine shining a powerful laser at the moon, the beam cutting through space until it lands on its dusty grey surface. Now flick the laser so the spot of light ...

James is a published author with multiple pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, space, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.View full profile James is a ...