Our universe plays by certain rules, which originate from different branches of physics. But sometimes the rules seem ...

The light echo around the star V838 Monocerotis as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope in November 2005. When I was a teenager, I was—shockingly, I know—deeply nerdy. At a science-fiction convention, I ...

You know that scene in the film Contact where the “Machine” is spooling up, its three spinning rings kicking out crazy light and an electromagnetic field powerful enough to pitch nearby Navy ...

Albert Einstein may have proven faster-than-light travel to be impossible, but if I were grading his papers I'd simply say, "Try harder." The rules of physics certainly haven't stopped sci-fi creators ...