On quantum scales, there are many second laws of thermodynamics
The traditional second law of thermodynamics is sometimes thought of as a statistical law that only holds when there is a vast numbers of particles that make up a system, said Profes...
New laser-light source could lead to significant advances in research on fundamental physics
The LAP team has developed a novel ytterbium:yttrium-aluminium-garnet thin-disk laser that emits light pulses lasting 7.7 femtoseconds and consisting of 2.2 optical oscillations. Tha...
Michelson-Morley experiment for electrons: Quantum-information techniques used to explore fundamental physics
The work uses quantum-correlated electrons within a pair of calcium ions to look for shifts in quantum energy levels with unprecedented sensitivity. The Berkeley experiment may be in...
Light, meet matter: Single-photon quantum memory in diamond optical phonons at room temperature
The laser output is split to pump the photon source and to produce the orthogonally polarized read and write beams. To date, however, development of a practical single-photon quantum...
How molecular vibrations make photosynthesis efficient
It was shown that the hotly debated quantum phenomena can be understood as a delicate interplay between vibrations and electrons of the involved molecules. The resulting theoretical ...
From quantum, through the big bang, to infinity – how to explain time?
As Augustine of Hippo, expressed in the 4th century: What, then, is time? If no one asks me, I know; if I wish to explain to him who asks, I know not. Explaining time can be an onero...
Endless oscillations: A theoretical study on quantum systems
A quantum system never relaxes. An isolated system (like a cloud of cold atoms trapped in optical grids) will endlessly oscillate between its different configurations without ever fi...
Black holes and the dark sector explained by quantum gravity
Ask any theoretical physicist on what are the most profound mysteries in physics and you will be surprised if she mentions anything other than Quantum Gravity and the Dark Sector. Th...
Best of Last Week – First photo of light as particle/wave, the dark side of cosmology and a hormone that mimics exercise
(Phys.org)—It was another interesting week for physics as a team working at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne found a way to take the first ever photograph of light as both a ...
Atomic-resolution holography electron microscope with the world’s highest point resolution
For example, materials for magnets must have not only high magnetic performance at room temperatures, but they are also required to be usable under high temperatures and high magneti...
A quantum sense of smell – Physics World
But what are you actually smelling? McFadden is a molecular geneticist who specializes in the study of tuberculosis. He thinks in pictures and concepts, and his laboratory at the Uni...
A first glimpse inside a macroscopic quantum state
Quantum entanglement is always related to the microscopic world, but it also has striking macroscopic effects, such as the squeezing of light or superconductivity, a physical phenome...
Construction begins 2016 for Hyperloop on five-mile stretch
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies announced it plans to start building a five-mile track in central California in 2016. The company, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, reache...
Water and sunlight the formula for sustainable fuel
Water is abundant and so is sunlight. Co-researcher Professor Ron Pace said the research opened up new possibilities for manufacturing hydrogen as a cheap and clean source of fuel. T...
Photos: Weird 4-Legged Snake Was Transitional Creature
Like other snake fossils from the Cretaceous, this one is from Gondwana, suggesting that snakes originated on the southern supercontinent. (Image credit: Dave Martill ...
New absorber will lead to better biosensors
Biosensors are more sensitive and able to detect smaller changes in the environment Biological sensors, or biosensors, are like technological canaries in the coalmine. The narrower ...
Modeling shockwaves through the brain
Nevertheless, there remain many gaps in scientists’ understanding of the effects of blasts on the human brain; most new knowledge has come from experiments with animals. Now MIT rese...
Four-legged fossil suggests snakes evolved from burrowing ancestors
This news release is available in Japanese. The discovery of a four-legged fossil of a snake hints that this suborder may have evolved from burrowing, rather than marine, ancestors. ...
Blades of grass inspire advance in organic solar cells
Briseno explains, For decades scientists and engineers have placed great effort in trying to control the morphology of p-n junction interfaces in organic solar cells. We report here ...
After Pluto there’s still plenty of the solar system left to explore
We’ve watched as spacecraft made visits to Mars, comet 67P and, just last week, Pluto, which for decades marked the edge of our solar system. Europe’s ExoMars mission aims to search ...
Scientists track monster waves below the ocean surface
The photo taken by Hans Graber from the R/V Knorr on 31 July 2006 at 13:46 EST during experiment in the Mid-Atlantic Bight off the New Jersey coast shows one of these internal wave p...
Open source and open data’s role in modern meteorology
While many forecasters still practice this art, computers have changed operations, research, and education. Open source software and open data are poised to bring more changes to the...
What life was like for newborn giant sea lizards during the age of the dinosaur
Many scientists have studied fossils from gigantic marine lizards called mosasaurs that lived at the time of the dinosaurs and flourished in ancient seas, but little is known about a...
What is open science?
In his autobiography, Just for Fun, Linux creator Linus Torvalds argues that the open source process tends to mirror the scientific enterprise. And like science, Torvalds suggests, o...
What drives the evolution of bird nest structures?
Build a dome over them! There is tremendous diversity among the nests of birds, in nest location, structure, materials, and more, but we know very little about the forces that shaped...