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.

Einstein was first to dream up dark energy

For geniuses, even blunders are triumphs in disguise. A dialogue between Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrödinger, pictured, suggests the pair stumbled upon the idea of dark energy 80 years before its time, while toying with what they thought was an ugly fudge factor.

Is Quantum Reality Analog after All?

Last year the Foundational Questions Institute's third essay contest posed the following question to physicists and philosophers: “Is Reality Digital or Analog?”

Common Physics Misconceptions

Full Moon, Partial Eclipse, and Jupiter

This week we are presented with a collection of celestial alignments that are quite visible in an urban setting.

Climate change may supersize sweet potatoes

RISING levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may have a silver lining: doubling the size of the sweet potato, the fifth most important food crop in the developing world.

Most studies of the effects of higher atmospheric CO₂ on crops have shown rising yields of rice,

Bridging Cities of Galaxies

Image credits: Sunyaev–Zel’dovich effect: ESA Planck Collaboration; optical image: STScI Digitized Sky Survey

Planck has discovered a bridge of hot gas that connects galaxy clusters Abell 399 (lower center) and Abell 401 (top left). The galaxy pair is located about a billion light-years from Earth, and the gas bridge extends approximately 10 million light-years between them.