29 Amazing Physics Facts that will Blow Your Mind

By Karin Lehnardt, Senior Writer

Published October 4, 2025

Moving at the speed of light isn't possible unless you are made of light._[9]
The universe is expanding faster over time. This is similar to if a person threw a baseball that kept going faster and faster and never fell back to the ground. Physicists believe that is because dark energy is the force behind cosmic expansion._[10]
The main goal of physics is to understand how the universe behaves, making it one of the most fundamental scientific disciplines._[1]
Most of ordinary matter is empty space. If all the space in our atoms were removed, the entire human race could fit into one volume of a sugar cube._[12]
Most of the hydrogen atoms in our bodies were formed in the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago._[12]

Physics was originally a branch of philosophy

Physics comes from the Greek and means "science of nature."_[6]
While we are free to move around in space, we seem to be stuck in one direction of time, what physicists call the "Arrow of time."_[10]
An estimated 100 trillion neutrinos pass through our bodies every second._[4]
According to the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, heat naturally flows from warmer to cooler areas, not the reverse._[11]
Everything that exists, including humans, show both wave-like and particle-like properties._[8]
Nuclear physics is the study of the nucleus of an atom._[9]
Isaac Newton is considered to be one of the founders of physics. He is famous for his law of gravitation and the three laws of motion. Albert Einstein is considered to be the father of modern physics._[1]
The Theory of One Electron states that everything in the universe is comprised of the same electron._[1]

Not only is the universe stranger than we think, it's stranger than we can think.

- Werner Heisenberg

Scientists have created crystals that are capable of absorbing oxygen and store it for later. Just a few crystals could replace the heavy oxygen tanks that SCUBA divers use._[2]
Neuroscientists have found that the human brain can create theoretical structures in up to 11 dimensions._[3]
Life experiences can leave chemical markers on your DNA that can be passed to future generations._[5]
The world as we perceive it has three dimensions of space: length, width, and depth. It also has one dimension of time._[1]
Gravity is the curvature of space and time._[9]
If you traveled at the speed of light, time would stop._[6]

In order to reach the speed of light, a human body would need an infinite amount of energy

The sun and moon appear to be the same size because the moon is 400 times smaller but 400 times closer._[10]
There are four fundamental forces of physics that hold everything together: 1) strong nuclear force, 2) weak nuclear force, 3) electromagnetic force, and 4) gravity._[1]
A spoonful of matter from a neutron star would weigh more than Mt. Everest (5,500,000,000 tons)._[1]
Because atoms are more like fuzzy quantum probability fields and not solid spheres, it's hard to tell if atoms really "touch." If touching means influences, then atoms are always influencing or "touching." However, in the every day sense of the word, atoms never touch because they don't have hard boundaries._[7]
According to the conservation of momentum, a penny on the tracks is too small to derail a train. However, never place anything on train tracks._[7]

Aerogel is 99.8% air

The world's lowest density solid is aerogel, which is also known as frozen smoke._[10]
The speed of darkness is the speed of light. Since spheres of light are traveling at the speed of light, the spheres of darkness in between them must be spreading at the same speed._[7]
There are 118 elements on the periodic table; however, there are no Js or Qs in the names._[9]
Most of the universe is invisible. About 80% of the universe is dark matter, which current technology cannot observe. It does not interact with the electromagnetic force, which means we can only infer its existence through its interaction with gravity._[1]
It can take a photon up to 100,000-170,00 years to travel from the core of the sun to the its surface. However, it only takes 8 minutes to travel to Earth._[1]