Going underground in search of dark matter strikes

THE chill hits me as soon as the door shuts. Then the floor starts to rumble. The lift I've just entered feels like an original from the late 1800s, when miners made the same trip in search of iron ore. But my guide and I (pictured above) are seeking a much more elusive substance: dark matter.

A theory of everything won't provide all the answers

"Dark matter and dark energy – these are not crazy ingredients we're adding"

We shouldn't be obsessed with finding a theory of everything, says Lisa Randall, one of the world's most prominent theoretical physicists

Doesn't every physicist dream of one neat theory of everything?
There are lots of physicists! I don't think about a theory of everything when I do my research. And even if we knew the ultimate underlying theory, how are you going to explain the fact that we're sitting here? Solving string theory won't tell us how humanity was born.

Cloud of atoms goes beyond absolute zero

Nothing is colder than absolute zero, so it seems nonsensical to talk about negative temperature – but now there is a substance that must have just that. The revelation could shake up our ideas about temperature and help us understand strange entities such as dark energy, as well as the interactions of subatomic particles.

2012 review: The year in the physical sciences

Even the universe probably isn't eternal (Image: Jupe/Alamy)

You may have thought that 2011 was the year of amazing physics, but 2012 soundly beats it. Whereas last year threw up intriguing questions, 2012 was a year of answers, some enabled by marvels of engineering.

Cern discovery points to new model of universe

SCIENTISTS AT Cern may be on the verge of a discovery that will take them towards a new understanding of the evolution of our universe. The finding may also help explain fundamental things about the cosmos that happened just a minute after the Big Bang.