Search results for

NPR's David Kestenbaum reports on a possible wrinkle in the space-time continuum. Really. Physicists measuring the fundamental characteristics of a subatomic particle, the muon, have come up with some very puzzling results that could punch a hole in the long-standing "standard model" of how matter is put together. And that could help usher in a completely new theory of matter, time and space. Unless, of course, some scientist has made a mistake. (4:30) (It was later revealed this was a mistake: "Well, I would say I'm responsible for the mistake. My collaborator did most of the work, but I am equally guilty of making mistakes." Toichiro Kinoshita, a physicist at Princeton University. Kinoshita's sin was to have a minus sign where he should have had a plus or maybe the other way around. He can't quite remember, though it ended up having gigantic consequences. Kinoshita and his colleague were calculating how a particular subatomic particle behaves when it's stuck in a magnetic field. The particle, it turns out, wobbles like a toy top at a particular frequency. Kinoshita enlisted hundreds of computers and, after a decade of heroic work, had precisely predicted how fast it should wobble according to the laws of physics. Last winter, other physicists who were out measuring the wobble found it differed significantly from Kinoshita's prediction. In the clockwork world of physics, this was potentially a huge finding, signaling something new and mysterious, except that it wasn't. Kinoshita traced his error to a tiny quirk in a computer program he was using. He hadn't checked that bit, in part because other physicists using a different approach had gotten the same answer."

The rule change is an apparent victory for Norway's female handball team after it was fined for wearing shorts rather than the requisite bikini bottoms over the summer.

Research shows that sleep deprivation makes people emotionally volatile and temperamental — a fact that hasn't escaped the notice of some reality TV producers, who deny contestants sleep in an effort to kick up televised drama.

A top Russian figure skater was allowed to compete despite testing positive for a banned substance before the Games. Kamila Valieva, age 15, helped Russia win the team event earlier this week.

As top law enforcement officials prepared to brief the media on the arrest of seven suspected terrorists in Miami, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was otherwise involved. He was meeting with producers and some cast members of the Fox TV counterterrorism show 24.

Barry Bonds hits a 445-foot home run off Colorado Rockies' pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim, delighting the home fans in San Francisco. His 715 career home runs put him second on the all-time list behind Henry Aaron, who passed Ruth in 1974 and finished with 755 home runs.

People living near the Susquehanna River in Wilkes-Barre, Penn., are returning to their homes as river waters recede. But flooding still threatens other communities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other parts of the Northeast.

Ever since the dawn of digital delivery, we've been hearing about how the single-song download is killing the album. But at the Grammy Awards, which take place Sunday night in Los Angeles, there's still a category for Album of the Year. Tom Moon profiles the nominees.

Organizers at Roland-Garros said Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic should be allowed to compete at the French Open thanks to loosened COVID rules in France.

Pizza makers in New York are remembering Domenico "Dom" Demarco, the founder of the beloved Brooklyn pizzeria Di Fara, who has died at the age of 85.