After the triumph of general relativity, Albert Einstein spent the rest of his life chasing a unified theory, which eluded him right up until the end.
Articles on General Relativity
Displaying 61 - 79 of 79 articles
Many people think relativity puts a hard speed limit on the universe, but it actually opens up the possibility of faster-than-light travel - if we can overcome some significant practical hurdles.
Einstein’s theory of general relativity is a triumph of reason and imagination, of art and science, with a profound beauty of its own.
Physicists are working hard to unite Einstein’s theory of relativity with quantum mechanics. It’s no easy task.
Space, time and space-time: it’s all relative.
General relativity challenges our intuitive conception of how space and time work, which might explain why it’s such a popular target for crank theorists.
Special relativity was inspired, but it took true genius to conceive of general relativity. Had Einstein not come up with it, it may have taken decades for us to figure it out.
We talk about mass all the time but what is it that actually gives an object mass? And why do some things have mass and others have no mass at all?
This month is the centenary of the general theory of relativity. But how did we get from the absolutism of Newton to the relativity of Einstein?
A new detector built deep underground in a gold mine will hopefully unravel the mystery of dark matter.
Scientists are not always as scientific as many suppose. Recent well-publicized cases of scientific fraud prove that scientists can be as susceptible to the allures of wealth, power and fame as politicians…
A special Pi Day this year for those who celebrate this remarkable number on March 14, a date that can be written 3/14. Given 3.14 is Pi to two decimal places, what happens when you add in the year?
Forget about anti-ageing creams and hair treatments. If you want to stay young, get a fast spaceship. That is what Einstein’s Theory of Relativity predicted a century ago, and it is commonly known as “twin…
Astronomers have been searching for a mysterious substance called “dark matter” since the 1930s. Most scientists still believe it exists, despite many fruitless decades. Now we propose a new theory of…
As 2012 comes to a close and you toast the New Year, be sure to also raise a glass to one Vesto Melvin Slipher. My intent is to describe what Slipher did 100 years ago in Flagstaff, Arizona and why this…
Fans of science fiction must be disheartened when introduced to Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity. Dreams of galactic empires, criss-crossed by roguish princesses and beautiful smugglers, go out…
Detecting gravity waves is a major goal for astrophysicists. We know they should be there, but we haven’t found them yet. But today we are one step closer. By literally squeezing light on a quantum level…
In questioning the fundamental nature of the universe, cosmology regularly grabs the public’s attention. But in an era in which we are observing deeper and more widely than ever before, our knowledge of…
Switzerland’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) can be called a time machine in one sense: it enables us to examine conditions as they were during the universe’s early stages. But is the 27km-long particle accelerator…
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Professor of Astrophysics, University of Sydney
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Professor, Philosophy of Science, The University of Melbourne
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Observatory Manager and Instructor, Astronomy, University of Saskatchewan
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Associate Professor of Physics, Oklahoma State University
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Pro Vice-Chancellor Flagship Initiatives, Swinburne University of Technology
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Professor and Director of the Centre of Excellence for Data Science, AI and Modelling, University of Hull
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Professor of Gravitational Astrophysics and Cosmology, University of Glasgow
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Senior Lecturer in Astronomy & Astrophysics, Coordinator of Swinburne Astronomy Online, Swinburne University of Technology
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Emeritus Professor, ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery, OzGrav, The University of Western Australia
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Professor of Astrophysics and Royal Society University Research Fellow, University of Hertfordshire
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Professor of Physics, Penn State
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Co-Founder of BQI@UNSW and PhD Student, UNSW
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Professor of Theoretical Physics, University of Canterbury
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Professor in mathematical physics, Lancaster University
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Cosmologist, University of Tasmania