Astronomy, astrophysics & cosmology

Latest articles

Excess of electrons could point to dark matter Nov 20, 2008

Are WIMPs annihilating nearby?

First 'bona fide' direct images of exoplanets Nov 13, 2008 1 comment

Hubble, Gemini and Keck spot four new planets outside our Solar System

Magnetic shield could protect spacecraft Nov 6, 2008 10 comments

Fusion science shows feasibility of protecting astronauts from cosmic radiation

The digital universe Oct 31, 2008 1 comment

Seth Lloyd looks at the possibility of solving the conundrum of quantum gravity with the tools of information and computation

Solar activity could dictate river flow Oct 29, 2008 1 comment

Sunspot counting could help predict future floods

Galaxy survey casts doubt on cold dark matter Oct 24, 2008 9 comments

Are galaxies simpler than we thought?

India launches first lunar mission Oct 22, 2008 1 comment

Craft to provide 'mineralogical' map of the Moon

IBEX blasts-off to map edge of the solar system Oct 19, 2008 5 comments

NASA spacecraft will tell us how the solar wind interacts with the interstellar medium

Detector has an ear for dark matter Oct 16, 2008 1 comment

Acoustic breakthrough could help find WIMPS

...And now for the next 20 years Oct 1, 2008 3 comments

Six leading physicists peek into the future

The new geography of science Oct 1, 2008

China, Brazil, India and other emerging superpowers are reshaping the scientific landscape and breaking the US–Europe hegemony. James Wilsdon reports on the new balance of power in physics

Life at the frontier Oct 1, 2008 2 comments

Physics has traditionally been viewed as a grand quest to understand the building blocks of matter and the forces holding them together. But as Robert P Crease argues, the reality is no longer that simple

Pop science's big bang Oct 1, 2008

Stephen Hawking’s book A Brief History of Time, first published 20 years ago, reshaped the science publishing landscape. John D Barrow charts the rise of the popular-science book and looks at the huge impact of Hawking’s bestseller on popular culture

The global-village pioneers Oct 1, 2008 1 comment

Paul Ginsparg, who founded the arXiv e-print archive, recounts the early days of the Web and looks at how it has changed scientific communication

Two decades and counting... Oct 1, 2008

Opening this special issue marking the 20th anniversary of the launch of Physics World, Matin Durrani says that the magazine still has a vital role to play in the electronic age