When Will Quantum Computers Outperform Regular Computers?
Any day now, quantum computers will solve a problem too hard for a classical computer to take on. Or at least, that’s what we’ve been hoping. Scientists and companies are…
Scientists Recreate Hallmark Quantum Physics Experiment Using Antimatter
A double-slit diffraction pattern produced by sunlight.Photo: Aleksandr Berdnikov (Wikimedia Commons) Scientists recreated one of the most important experiments in the history of physics—but this time, they used antimatter instead…
Scientists see a bizarre quantum effect in antimatter for the first time
We just got one small very weird step closer to Star Trek. Kinda. But this is still exceptionally cool: Scientists have, for the first time, been able to get positrons…
Experimental device generates electricity from the coldness of the universe
The obvious drawback of solar panels is that they require sunlight to generate electricity. Some have observed that for a device on Earth facing space, which has a frigid temperature,…
What a never-before-seen radioactive decay could tell us about neutrinos
Bill Fairbank is looking for...nothing. The Colorado State University professor of physics studies the fundamental matter particles known as neutrinos, and an exceedingly rare instance of radioactive decay in which…
Unprecedented insight into two-dimensional magnets using diamond quantum sensors
For the first time, physicists at the University of Basel have succeeded in measuring the magnetic properties of atomically thin van der Waals materials on the nanoscale. They used diamond…
Coal could yield treatment for traumatic injuries
Graphene quantum dots drawn from common coal may be the basis for an effective antioxidant for people who suffer traumatic brain injuries, strokes or heart attacks. Their ability to quench…
Frustrated materials under high pressure
People are not the only ones to be occasionally frustrated. Some crystals also show frustrations. They do so whenever their elementary magnets, the magnetic spins, cannot align properly. Cesium copper…
A breakthrough in the study of laser/plasma interactions
A new 3D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation tool developed by researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and CEA Saclay is enabling cutting-edge simulations of laser/plasma coupling mechanisms that were previously out…
Elemental old-timer makes the universe look like a toddler
In terms of longevity, the universe has nothing on xenon 124. Theory predicts the isotope's radioactive decay has a half-life that surpasses the age of the universe "by many orders…