The accelerator tunnel of European XFEL, the facility where the tiny atomic motion was measured XFEL/Heiner Mueller-Elsner For the first time, a stunningly powerful X-ray laser has revealed minuscule atomic motions in a molecule that should otherwise be perfectly still – were it not for the quirks of quantum mechanics. Quantum physics abhors stillness. This…
Is that gravitational wave signal coming from a black hole, or something even stranger? titoOnz / Alamy Exotic viscous stars could reflect ripples of space-time, mimicking the signals we observe from black holes. Since 2015, researchers have been learning how to see the contents of the universe by tracking not just light waves but also…
Microfluidics makes it possible for devices like this chip to simulate biological organs WLADIMIR BULGAR/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY How the World Flows(Albert Folch, Oxford University Press, on sale now) What do rainbows, inkjet printers, human skin, pregnancy tests and fish gills have in common? To answer this question, we must travel to what Albert Folch, a bioengineering…
What does interpretation really mean when it comes to quantum theory? Shutterstock/cybermagician If you asked a thousand physicists, they would all disagree. This statement could apply to any number of topics – whether the universe is infinite, what dark matter is made of, how to make wires conduct perfectly efficiently – but it isn’t just…
Some atoms simply refuse to obey entropy Shutterstock / Mendin Repeatedly energising a collection of ultracold atoms should destroy their collective structure, but quantum effects seem to counteract the process. The ultimate fate of any physical system ought to be “thermalisation,” a process by which everything heats up and becomes even and featureless, like an…
Quickly detecting a lone electron is a difficult task agsandrew/Shutterstock We can now detect single electrons with the resolution of a few trillionths of a second, and this could prove essential for building a new generation of quantum electronic devices. Traditional electronic circuits are filled with many electrons, but interactions between these particles often diminish…
A view of Ganymede from NASA’s Juno spacecraft JunoCam/NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kalleheikki Kannisto Jupiter’s moon Ganymede could be a vast dark matter detector, and upcoming space missions might be able to spot distinctive dark matter craters on its ancient surface. Physicists searching for dark matter usually look for tiny, extremely light particles that interact weakly with standard matter,…
To measure electricity, we need standardised units Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images A single quantum device could define all three units we use to understand electricity. When you measure electricity, you need to find the flow’s current in amperes, its resistance in ohms and its voltage in volts. But before even getting started, researchers must agree on…
Origami “bloom” designs fold into flower-like shapes BYU Photo A new family of origami shapes that unfold like flower petals could be used to design more effective structures in space, like telescopes or solar panels. Origami structures, based on the Japanese paper-folding art, are used by engineers because they can be stored compactly but then…
