In 1935, the physicist Erwin Schrödinger put forward the thought experiment with the quantum cat, in which the cat is enclosed in a box together with a radioactive sample, a detector and a lethal amount of poison. If the radioactive... Continue Reading →
Where do neutrons go? The elusive answer to such a seemingly simple question provides fundamental new insights into the structure of both atomic nuclei and neutron stars. To place the question in the proper context, consider lead-208, the element’s most... Continue Reading →
A new study by a pair of researchers in the US and Japan has found that, when gravity is combined with quantum mechanics, symmetry is not possible. "Many physicists believe that there must a beautiful set of laws in Nature... Continue Reading →
Yale researchers have figured out how to catch and save Schrödinger's famous cat, the symbol of quantum superposition and unpredictability, by anticipating its jumps and acting in real time to save it from proverbial doom. In the process, they overturn... Continue Reading →
The most affordable, efficient way to harness the cleanest, most abundant renewable energy source in the world is one step closer to reality. The University of Toledo physicist pushing the performance of solar cells to levels never before reached made... Continue Reading →
Most people are familiar with the notion of turbulence. Whether it is the chaotic swirls that appear as you add milk to your morning coffee, the branching and twisting of cigarette smoke that causes it to linger in front of... Continue Reading →
Scientists find surprising way to affect information storage properties in metal alloy. Sometimes scientific discoveries can be found along well-trodden paths. That proved the case for a cobalt-iron alloy material commonly found in hard disk drives. As reported in a... Continue Reading →
U.S. mathematician Karen Keskulla Uhlenbeck has won the 2019 Abel Prize—one of the field’s most prestigious awardscfor her wide-ranging work in analysis, geometry and mathematical physics. Uhlenbeck is the first woman to win the 6-million-kroner (U.S.$702,500) prize, which is given... Continue Reading →
The Bekenstein-Hawking entropy or black hole entropy is the amount of entropy that must be assigned to a black hole in order for it to comply with the laws of thermodynamics as they are interpreted by observers external to that black hole. This is particularly true for the... Continue Reading →