A truck full of antimatter would make for a seriously epic road trip. And scientists are now one step closer to transporting the substance in vehicles. Scientists at the European laboratory CERN have demonstrated the ability to transport a cloud of subatomic particles on board a truck, using protons as a support for their antimatter…
Scientific watchmakers have created a prototype of a nuclear clock, hinting at future possibilities for using atomic nuclei to make precise time measurements and make new tests of fundamental theories of physics. While the definition of “watch” is scientifically nebulous, the prototype has yet to be used to measure time. So it should technically be…
Quantum entanglement has made its way to the top. Scientists have measured the strange quantum phenomenon of entanglement in top quarks, the heaviest fundamental subatomic particles known. It is the first detection of entanglement between pairs of quarks – a class of subatomic particles that make up larger particles, including protons and neutrons. Particles that…
Bhavin Shastri still gets excited when he sees a laser pointer and has been fascinated by them since he was about 10 years old. “I was amazed that a beam of light could retain its brightness, concentrated in a small spot even after traveling a great distance,” says Shastri. “A laser pointer in my hand…
Imagine Victorian London, but its skies are filled with airplanes. Steam robots crowd the streets, mingling with people in hats and cloaks. This kind of retrofuturistic mash-up is the fantasy realm of steampunk, a genre of literature, film, and other creative media. Theoretical physicist Nicole Yunger Halpern sees her specialty, the field of quantum thermodynamics,…
An asteroid heading toward Earth can be deflected without ever touching a spacecraft. The trick is to use X-rays to deflect the space rock, researchers report Sept. 23 Nature Physics. In laboratory experiments, scientists heated the surfaces of free-falling artificial asteroids with X-ray radiation, producing steam plumes that blew the objects away. Later computer simulations…
Above the cloud tops, storms blow with a complex and frenetic light show of high-energy radiation. A view from a refurbished spy plane flying 20 kilometers up revealed storms glowing and flickering in gamma rays, high-energy light invisible to the eye. Ten flybys of the aircraft, NASA’s ER-2 aircraft, captured the flickering of gamma-ray bursts…
Stitching is getting a shocking upgrade. In an experiment with mice, a new strong and flexible thread accelerated wound healing by converting muscle movement into electrical energy, researchers report Oct. 8. Nature Communications. If the material is eventually deemed safe for use in humans, it “could change the way we treat injuries,” says materials scientist…
