Chemistry breakthrough offers unprecedented control over atomic bonds

In what’s being hailed as an important first for chemistry, an international team of scientists has developed a new technology that can selectively rearrange atomic bonds within a single molecule. The breakthrough allows for an unprecedented level of c… Continue reading Chemistry breakthrough offers unprecedented control over atomic bonds

Strange new form of ice discovered in high pressure experiments

Ice may seem pretty simple in our everyday experience, but it actually comes in at least 20 different forms. Scientists at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) have now discovered a new type of ice that may be found deep in the Earth’s mantle or o… Continue reading Strange new form of ice discovered in high pressure experiments

Record-setting hybrid atom array could power quantum computer RAM and CPU

Researchers at the University of Chicago have demonstrated a key technology that could help scale up quantum computers, and used it to create a model with a record-breaking 512 qubits. The team combined atoms of two elements into an array, so that one … Continue reading Record-setting hybrid atom array could power quantum computer RAM and CPU

Physicists measure gravitational time warp to within one millimeter

The flow of time isn’t as consistent as we might think – gravity slows it down, so clocks on the surface of Earth tick slower than those in space. Now researchers have measured time passing at different speeds across just one millimeter, the smallest d… Continue reading Physicists measure gravitational time warp to within one millimeter

“Quantum tornadoes” mark crossover from classical to quantum physics

The universe is governed by two sets of seemingly incompatible laws of physics – there’s the classical physics we’re used to on our scale, and the spooky world of quantum physics on the atomic scale. MIT physicists have now observed the moment atoms sw… Continue reading “Quantum tornadoes” mark crossover from classical to quantum physics

“Quantum tornadoes” mark crossover from classical to quantum physics

The universe is governed by two sets of seemingly incompatible laws of physics – there’s the classical physics we’re used to on our scale, and the spooky world of quantum physics on the atomic scale. MIT physicists have now observed the moment atoms sw… Continue reading “Quantum tornadoes” mark crossover from classical to quantum physics

Quantum gas free fall experiment creates coldest temperature ever recorded

Physicists in Germany have produced the coldest temperature ever recorded – a chilly 38 trillionths of a degree above absolute zero. The strange experiment involved dropping a quantum gas, and switching a magnetic field on and off to bring its atoms to… Continue reading Quantum gas free fall experiment creates coldest temperature ever recorded

New antimatter trap could help explain why cosmos didn’t self-destruct

Antimatter is a tricky substance to study, not least because it will annihilate any container you try to put it in. But now, physicists at CERN have developed a new antimatter trap that can cool down samples in seconds, rather than hours. This advance … Continue reading New antimatter trap could help explain why cosmos didn’t self-destruct

2D quantum crystal sensor could hunt for dark matter particles

Dark matter should be all around us, but the stuff is frustratingly elusive. Now physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new sensor that could help us detect certain hypothetical dark matter particles, u… Continue reading 2D quantum crystal sensor could hunt for dark matter particles

Individual isotopes measured in exoplanet atmosphere for first time

Astronomers have counted the number of neutrons inside carbon atoms from 2.8 quadrillion km away. The team managed to measure the ratios of carbon isotopes in the atmosphere of an exoplanet for the first time, which can tell us about how it formed.Cont… Continue reading Individual isotopes measured in exoplanet atmosphere for first time