Atoms

Ice may seem pretty simple in our everyday experience, but it actually comes in at least 20 different forms. Scientists at UNLV have now discovered a new type of ice that may be found deep in the Earth’s mantle or on distant watery planets.

Researchers have demonstrated key tech that could help scale up quantum computers, creating a model with a record-breaking 512 qubits. The team combined atoms of two elements into an array, so atoms can be manipulated without disturbing their neighbors.

The flow of time isn’t as consistent as we might think – gravity slows it down, so clocks on Earth tick slower than those in space. Now researchers have measured time passing at different speeds across just one millimeter, the smallest distance yet.

The universe is governed by two sets of seemingly incompatible laws of physics – classical and quantum physics. MIT physicists have now observed the moment atoms switch from one to the other, as they form intriguing “quantum tornadoes.”

German physicists have recorded the coldest temperature ever – 38 trillionths of a degree above absolute zero. The experiment involved dropping quantum gas and switching a magnetic field on and off to bring its atoms to an almost complete standstill.

Antimatter is hard to study, not least because it annihilates any container you try to put it in. Now CERN physicists have developed a new antimatter trap that can cool samples in seconds, which could help unlock a fundamental mystery of the universe.

Dark matter should be all around us, but the stuff is frustratingly elusive. Now physicists at NIST have developed a new sensor that could help us detect certain hypothetical dark matter particles, using a two-dimensional quantum crystal.

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.

Silicon is vital to all of the electronics that our modern world is built on. Now, research led by the Carnegie Institution for Science has developed a way to create a new form of silicon with a unique hexagonal structure.

Researchers at Cornell University have snapped the clearest images of atoms ever taken. Aided by new noise-reducing algorithms, the images are of such high resolution that, the team says, they almost reach the ultimate limit possible.

Mundane as it may seem, glass is a surprisingly mysterious material. Now scientists at the University of Konstanz have identified a new state of matter called liquid glass, which has some unusual properties.

The world of atoms and molecules is tricky to study, not just because it’s so small but because events occur so quickly at that scale. Now, researchers have captured slow motion video of the movements of single molecules at 1,600 frames per second.