Actually, There Is a Time Like the Present
Nautilus
Article
Actually, There Is a Time Like the Present
Nov 30, 2017
We’ve all heard it before: There’s no time like the present. Broadly speaking, of course, it means to “seize the opportunity right now,” or maybe in my case, to avoid procrastinating. From a psychological perspective, this makes a lot of sense. As hu
4 min read
The Strangeness of Black Holes
Nautilus
Article
The Strangeness of Black Holes
Jan 17, 2019
An Introduction to the Black Hole Institute Fittingly, the Black Hole Initiative (BHI) was founded 100 years after Karl Schwarzschild solved Einstein’s equations for general relativity—a solution that described a black hole decades before the first a
7 min read
Physics Has Demoted Mass
Nautilus
Article
Physics Has Demoted Mass
Nov 9, 2017
You’re sitting here, reading this article. Maybe it’s a hard copy, or an e-book on a tablet computer or e-reader. It doesn’t matter. Whatever you’re reading it on, we can be reasonably sure it’s made of some kind of stuff: paper, card, plastic, perha
10 min read
Goodbye Copernicus, Hello Universe: Our insignificance, and significance, on a cosmic scale
Nautilus
Article
Goodbye Copernicus, Hello Universe: Our insignificance, and significance, on a cosmic scale
Apr 29, 2013
13 min read
What Question Will You Be Remembered For?
Nautilus
Article
What Question Will You Be Remembered For?
Feb 7, 2018
3 min read
The Sacred, Spherical Cows of Physics: Theoretical physics milks symmetry to power its newest tool.
Nautilus
Article
The Sacred, Spherical Cows of Physics: Theoretical physics milks symmetry to power its newest tool.
May 1, 2014
Early in their training, many physics students come across the idea of spherical cows. Cows in the real world—even at their most plump and well-fed—are hardly spherical, and this makes it tricky to calculate things like, say, how their volume or surf
11 min read
In Search of Time’s Origin: What happened before the Big Bang?
Nautilus
Article
In Search of Time’s Origin: What happened before the Big Bang?
Jan 9, 2014
Rearrange the following words to tell a coherent life story: A man dies, later he gets married, and finally he is born. Thanks to our built-in temporal sense, it’s pretty straightforward: Tomb always follows womb, it’s never the other way around. Yet
10 min read
The Metaphysical Baggage of Physics: Lee Smolin argues that time is more fundamental than physical laws.
Nautilus
Article
The Metaphysical Baggage of Physics: Lee Smolin argues that time is more fundamental than physical laws.
Jan 30, 2014
An issue on time would not be complete without a conversation with Lee Smolin. High school dropout, theoretical physicist, and founding member of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Canada, Smolin’s life and work reflect many
7 min read
Is Our Universe a One-Off Fluke, or an Endless Cycle?
Nautilus
Article
Is Our Universe a One-Off Fluke, or an Endless Cycle?
Apr 28, 2015
3 min read
The Case Against Geniuses
Nautilus
Article
The Case Against Geniuses
Dec 31, 2018
3 min read
Hologram Within a Hologram Hints at Fate of Black Holes
Nautilus
Article
Hologram Within a Hologram Hints at Fate of Black Holes
Nov 27, 2019
5 min read
Life Is a Braid in Spacetime: How to See Yourself in a World Where Only Math Is Real.: How to see yourself in a world where only math is real.
Nautilus
Article
Life Is a Braid in Spacetime: How to See Yourself in a World Where Only Math Is Real.: How to see yourself in a world where only math is real.
Jan 9, 2014
“Excuse me, but what’s the time?” I’m guessing that you, like me, are guilty of having asked this question, as if it were obvious that there is such a thing as the time. Yet you’ve probably never approached a stranger and asked “Excuse me, but what’s
7 min read
The Mystery of Time’s Arrow
Nautilus
Article
The Mystery of Time’s Arrow
Apr 4, 2019
As conscious beings, we are constantly aware of the relentless march of time. You can make an egg into an omelet, but you can’t turn an omelet back into an egg. Dropped glasses shatter and do not reassemble themselves. Above all, we age and become de
9 min read
The Mystery of Time’s Arrow: Past and future may not be what they seem.
Nautilus
Article
The Mystery of Time’s Arrow: Past and future may not be what they seem.
Jan 30, 2014
As conscious beings, we are constantly aware of the relentless march of time. You can make an egg into an omelet, but you can’t turn an omelet back into an egg. Dropped glasses shatter and do not reassemble themselves. Above all, we age and become de
9 min read
Why The Flow Of Time Is An Illusion
Nautilus
Article
Why The Flow Of Time Is An Illusion
Apr 25, 2019
In his book Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality, Max Tegmark writes that “time is not an illusion, but the flow of time is.” In this month’s issue of Nautilus, which looks at the concept of flow through various port
6 min read
Life Is a Braid in Spacetime: How to see yourself in a world where only math is real.
Nautilus
Article
Life Is a Braid in Spacetime: How to see yourself in a world where only math is real.
Oct 1, 2015
Excuse me, but what’s the time?” I’m guessing that you, like me, are guilty of having asked this question, as if it were obvious that there is such a thing as the time. Yet you’ve probably never approached a stranger and asked “Excuse me, but what’s
7 min read
A Letter to Einstein From the Future: Two Princeton Physicists Catch Albert Up.
Nautilus
Article
A Letter to Einstein From the Future: Two Princeton Physicists Catch Albert Up.
Sep 14, 2017
We don’t believe in time travel, and we’re not into mysticism. But what if we could write a letter to Albert Einstein to tell him about gravity and black holes in a few paragraphs? We’d write something like this letter. Steven Gubser and Frans Pretor
4 min read
Is This The End Of Space And Time?
All About Space
Article
Is This The End Of Space And Time?
Aug 13, 2020
6 min read
The Complications Of Time And Space
All About Space
Article
The Complications Of Time And Space
Jul 18, 2019
8 min read
The Vastness Of Outer Space
New Philosopher
Article
The Vastness Of Outer Space
Mar 17, 2021
4 min read
Spaced Out
New Philosopher
Article
Spaced Out
Mar 17, 2021
5 min read
How (Relatively) Simple Symmetries Underlie Our Expanding Universe
Quanta
Article
How (Relatively) Simple Symmetries Underlie Our Expanding Universe
Jul 15, 2019
5 min read
The Strangeness of Black Holes
Nautilus
Article
The Strangeness of Black Holes
Apr 11, 2019
This essay is one of the five winners in the 2019 writing competition held by the Black Hole Initiative at Harvard University. “The Black Hole Initiative offers a unique environment for thinking about the topic of black holes more creatively and comp
6 min read
Let’s Rethink Space: Does space exist without objects, or is it made by them?
Nautilus
Article
Let’s Rethink Space: Does space exist without objects, or is it made by them?
Jan 14, 2016
Space is brutally egalitarian. When you become separated from your lover, the two of you retain no tighter a physical connection than do two lumps of coal. In this way, space serves as the organizing principle of the natural world—the glue that binds
26 min read
Where Did We Come From?
New Philosopher
Article
Where Did We Come From?
Mar 17, 2021
20 min read
Everything Is Relative
New Philosopher
Article
Everything Is Relative
Oct 29, 2018
4 min read
How Gravity Is a Double Copy of Other Forces
Quanta
Article
How Gravity Is a Double Copy of Other Forces
May 4, 2021
5 min read
The Hunt For Wormholes
All About Space
Article
The Hunt For Wormholes
Nov 5, 2020
4 min read
The THEORY of EVERYTHING
All About Space
Article
The THEORY of EVERYTHING
Jun 20, 2019
6 min read
Rethinking Black Holes
All About Space
Article
Rethinking Black Holes
Aug 12, 2021
6 min read