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Quasars may prove quantum entanglement – or a 12 billion-year-old conspiracy

Michael Irving August 21, 2018

Quantum entanglement is an eerie concept that Einstein himself had trouble accepting, and yet it’s been experimentally demonstrated. To find out whether there are other variables, a new experiment provides the strongest evidence so far of quantum entanglement or a 12-billion year “conspiracy."

Light from distant quasars has been used as a cosmic "coin flip" to help provide the ...

Physics

Fastest-spinning manmade object clocks 60 billion rpm

Michael Irving July 22, 2018

The fastest-spinning manmade object has been created in a lab at Purdue University. This microscopic rotor is made up of two silica nanoparticles stuck together to form a "dumbbell," and by hitting it with laser light the team has sent it spinning at a blistering 60 billion rpm.

Using a high-powered laser, researchers at Purdue University have set a microscopic "dumbbell" spinning at 60 ...

Physics

Entanglement "on demand" sets the stage for quantum internet

Michael Irving June 13, 2018

In a quantum network, information is passed instantly between nodes that have been entangled, and are unhackable since any unauthorized observation of the data will scramble it. Delft scientists have now overcome a hurdle to that technology, by generating quantum links faster than they deteriorate.

Researchers at TU Delft have developed a new technique for generating quantum entanglement links on demand, ...

Physics

Stephen Hawking's final paper bursts the multiverse bubble with a Holographic Universe theory

Michael Irving May 2, 2018

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking passed away earlier this year, but his legacy to science will live on. His final theory on the origin of the universe has now been published, and it offers an interesting departure from earlier ideas about the nature of the “multiverse.”

A new theory on the origin of the universe, put forward in the late Stephen Hawking's ...

Physics

Scientists drum up quantum entanglement at the macro scale

Michael Irving April 26, 2018

Quantum entanglement is the idea that two distant atoms can become so entwined that changes to one can instantly affect the other. Now scientists have managed to demonstrate it on a much larger scale, which is beginning to cross over into our everyday world.

An illustration of two drumheads, measuring 15 microns wide, which are now the largest objects to ...

Physics

Photons entangled to make new form of light

Michael Irving February 15, 2018

Photons, the elementary particles that make up light, are fast, weightless and don't interact with each other. But in new experiments, physicists have now created a new form of light, demonstrating that groups of photons can be made to interact with each other, slow down and gain mass.

An MIT and Harvard team have developed a way to make photons of light interact with ...

Physics

Long-theorized new form of matter, excitonium, finally discovered

Michael Irving December 10, 2017

Physicists have discovered a new form of matter called excitonium. First theorized almost 50 years ago, the Illinois researchers have found a “smoking gun” that they claim is the first definitive proof that excitonium exists.

An artist's rendition of excitonium, made up of excitations (yellow) moving through an otherwise ordered solid ...

Physics

Do gravitational anomalies prove we're not living in a computer simulation?

Michael Irving October 2, 2017

Is our entire universe just a computer simulation? Theoretical physicists believe they’ve found proof that our universe is far too complex to be captured in any simulation. According to the researchers, the hypothesis is done in by gravitational anomalies, tiny “twists” in the fabric of spacetime.

Researchers from Oxford and the Hebrew University believe they've found proof that the universe is too ...

Computers

Scientists sprinkle "magic dust" of light and matter for faster supercomputers

Michael Irving September 26, 2017

Supercomputers and quantum computers rely on a “brute force” approach to solve problems, performing billions of calculations very quickly until they arrive at the optimal solution. But a new system has the potential to outperform them, using “magic dust” as a beacon to highlight the solution.

Scientists have developed a new technique that could speed up supercomputers exponentially, by using a "magic ...

Physics

Does quantum tunneling take time or is it instantaneous?

Michael Irving August 7, 2017

In quantum physics particles can tunnel through barriers that they shouldn’t normally be able to. While this process, called quantum tunneling, is well documented, physicists haven’t been able to tell if it happens instantly or takes time, but now a team from the Max Planck Institute has an answer.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute have determined how long it takes electrons to quantum tunnel