Physicists just found a new way to bend a fundamental rule of light waves
One of the more well-known rules in physics is that light can only ever go one speed, so long as nothing stands in its way. But new research has found…
We could soon get lasers powerful enough to literally rip emptiness apart
Lasers powerful enough to tear the fabric of matter itself are being developed in a special laboratory in China, potentially giving scientists the chance to create and study experimental environments…
We could soon get lasers powerful enough to literally rip emptiness apart
Lasers powerful enough to tear the fabric of matter itself are being developed in a special laboratory in China, potentially giving scientists the chance to create and study experimental environments…
These Star Wars-like 3D projections are more epic than any hologram you’ve ever seen
Holograms are pretty cool, sure. But they’re still just two-dimensional projections that hover in the air, and as soon as you step to the side, the magic disappears, revealing how…
These Star Wars-like 3D projections are more epic than any hologram you’ve ever seen
Holograms are pretty cool, sure. But they’re still just two-dimensional projections that hover in the air, and as soon as you step to the side, the magic disappears, revealing how…
MIT engineers have designed a chip that behaves just like brain cell connections
For those working in the field of advanced artificial intelligence, getting a computer to simulate brain activity is a gargantuan task, but it may be easier to manage if the…
This new experiment could finally unite the two biggest theories in physics
An idea for an experiment that could unite the stubborn fields of quantum mechanics and general relativity has been given new life by two groups of physicists from the UK.…
The hunt for elusive single-pole magnets just became more challenging
A search through a mountain of data from the Large Hadron Collider for particles called magnetic monopoles has once again come up empty handed. That doesn’t yet completely rule out…
Physicists say they’ve created a device that generates ‘negative mass’
Physicists have created what they say is the first device that’s capable of generating particles that behave as if they have negative mass. The device generates a strange particle that’s…
Supercooled water at record-low temperatures acts like two liquids at once
Scientists have reached a new low in the cooling of liquid water, hitting -45 degrees Celsius (-49 degrees Fahrenheit). That’s way below the usual freezing point, and shows we still…
Physicists just caught particles spinning wildly in the ‘wrong’ direction
Physicists have observed some weird atomic collision problems as particles failed to bounce off each other in the way science predicts they should. But with some new work that helps…
It’s Scientifically Possible to Boil Water Until It Freezes Solid
If you feel like having one of your fundamental beliefs thrown out the window, try this on for size – under the right conditions, you can boil water until it…
Experiments show the effects of a fourth spatial dimension
We’re used to dealing with three physical dimensions and one extra dimension of time as we move through the Universe, but two teams of scientists have shown that a fourth…
A revolutionary new type of lens focuses all the colours of the rainbow into a single point
A brand new type of lens called a metalens has just passed a major hurdle. A metalens is a flat surface that use nanostructures to focus light, and it could…
A high-school student just won $250,000 for this incredible explanation of relativity
The German physicist Albert Einstein needed complex equations to describe his theory of relativity, but 18-year-old Hillary Diane Andales of the Philippines does just fine with a pick-up truck, a…
Physicists Test a Strange Nuclear Sphere That Could Revolutionise Fusion Energy
It’s well established that nuclear fusion – the reaction that powers our Sun – could be the key to unlocking clean, limitless energy here on Earth. But one of the…
New device lets scientists explore the weird physics near absolute zero
Scientists have long been intrigued by the physics near absolute zero – the temperature 0° Kelvin, or -273.15°C, where particles reach the lowest possible amount of movement – ever since…
Physicists have created a set of conditions in which time seems to run in reverse
While we all take for granted the fact that time’s arrow forever points towards the future, physicists have always had trouble showing why this is necessarily the case. A mix…
Physicists Just Discovered a Way to Track Unobserved Quantum Particles
One of the underlying principles of quantum theory is that quantum objects can exist as waves or particles. But, they do not exist as either until they are measured, making…
Incredible graphene sheets could turn harder than diamond when hit by a bullet
Some wonder-materials you hear from once, and that’s it. But not graphene. A month barely goes by these days without us hearing about a new use for this amazing carbon…
6 ways to win $1 million if you’re really, really good at mathematics
In 2000, the Clay Mathematics Institute announced the Millennium Prize problems. These were a collection of seven of the most important maths problems that remain unsolved. Reflecting the importance of…
This superconducting magnet has shattered the record for world’s strongest
If you want to stick something on your fridge, like really get it stuck on hard there, you might want to talk to the scientists at the National High Magnetic…
You can now watch 100+ declassified US nuclear explosion videos on YouTube
The US has conducted more nuclear weapons tests than any other nation in history. The official count of 1,054 tests includes 210 atmospheric nuclear tests between 1945 and 1962 –…
Extreme laser bursts are getting us closer to the limitless power of nuclear fusion
Achieving nuclear fusion without needing radioactive fuel or producing radioactive waste is now “within reach” thanks to a new laser-driven technique, according to researchers. The type of fusion we’re talking…
Physicists Test a Strange Nuclear Sphere That Could Revolutionise Fusion Energy
It’s well established that nuclear fusion – the reaction that powers our Sun – could be the key to unlocking clean, limitless energy here on Earth. But one of the…
Physicists just experimentally confirmed the existence of ‘excitonium’
Researchers at the University of Illinois have announced an exciting finding – the discovery of a new form of matter: excitonium. This material is made up of a kind of…
Physicists Just Transferred Quantum Data Between Different Materials For The First Time
Scientists just took a big step towards the goal of quantum computers, and even a quantum internet to connect them, after successfully using photons to transfer quantum information between a…
MIT researchers have designed a “living tattoo” using genetically programmed bacteria
Researchers at MIT have invented a temporary “tattoo” made from genetically programmed living cells. Their prototype looks like a stick-on patch with a pattern in the shape of a tree.…
Watching 25,000 dice neatly arrange themselves shouldn’t be this fascinating
It’s the simplest trick in the pantry – pour sugar into a jar, run out of space, then tap the jar on a table to pack it down so you…
Physicists have demonstrated that ‘impossible’ tetraquarks can exist after all
An exotic kind of particle so mysterious that it was suspected to be impossible has finally been identified by physicists – and not just once, but twice. Two new theoretical…
This crazy twist on black holes says there was no Big Bang
A physicist from the University of Campinas in Brazil isn’t a big fan of the idea that time started with a so-called Big Bang. Instead, Juliano César Silva Neves imagines…
Physicists just smashed a record for measuring a fundamental proton feature
An international team of scientists employed highly precise methods to uncover the most exact measurement of the magnetic moment of protons. They found it to be 2.79284734462, plus-or-minus 0.00000000082 nuclear…
Physicists just found a loophole in graphene that could unlock clean, limitless energy
By all measures, graphene shouldn’t exist. The fact it does comes down to a neat loophole in physics that sees an impossible 2D sheet of atoms act like a solid…
Thunderstorms observed triggering nuclear reactions in the sky
For the first time, scientists have witnessed lightning triggering nuclear reactions in the atmosphere, confirming a hypothesis dating back almost a century. It’s long been predicted that high-energy electrons in…
Earth’s absorption of ghost-like neutrinos has been measured for the first time
Neutrinos have a reputation for playing hard to get. Tiny, sub-atomic particles that have no charge and close to zero mass, they usually slip past Earth’s atoms leaving barely a…
LHC measurements hint at entirely new physics just outside our reach
During the mid- to late-twentieth century, quantum physicists picked apart the unified theory of physics that Einstein’s theory of relativity offered. The physics of the large was governed by gravity,…
Physicists just quantum entangled two silicon chips that can share information
In the science of quantum communication, the challenge has always been prolonging the entangled state that the particles are in. As quantum information is carried by these entangled particles, the…
Engineers have created an ‘impossible’ stable ring of plasma in the open air
Plasma, one of the four fundamental states of matter, is tricky stuff. Just like gas, plasma has no fixed shape or volume, so it usually has to be contained to…
MIT scientists discover how droplets can levitate on a liquid surface
Have you ever seen droplets skitter across a puddle on a rainy day, or when you pour milk into your coffee? Researchers have just found an explanation for why that…
A helium-resistant material could finally usher in the age of nuclear fusion
A collaboration of engineers and researchers has found a way to prevent helium, a byproduct of the fusion reaction, from weakening nuclear fusion reactors. The secret is in building the…
Scientists finally answer the important question, Are cats a liquid?
A liquid is traditionally defined as a material that adapts its shape to fit a container. Yet under certain conditions, cats seem to fit this definition. This somewhat paradoxical observation…
Physicists are running out of places to look for mysterious dark matter particles
Dark matter continues to be an itch particle physicists just can’t scratch. Whatever is tugging at the Universe’s more visible material, it just doesn’t want to be found. A fresh…
Harvard scientists have unlocked unexpected new states of light
Light is ubiquitous and vital, but also incredibly strange – and it’s possible we’ll never exhaust the opportunities to learn more about it. Case in point: researchers at Harvard have…
Physicists discovered such an explosive type of fusion they almost hid the results
A pair of physicists discovered a new kind of fusion that occurs between quarks – and they were so concerned with its power they almost didn’t publish the results. It…
A protein has been caught conducting electricity, and scientists are really excited
Proteins, the building blocks in every cell, have usually been thought of as blobs of inert organic matter. Now scientists have caught one particular protein doing something incredible: conducting electricity.…