quantum physics

Researchers create a new type of "time crystal" inside a diamond

“It’s an entirely new phase of matter.”

Physicist Claims Gravity Might Emerge From Entropy. Could This Unite Quantum Mechanics and Gravity?

A novel theory could finally bridge the gap between quantum physics and general relativity.

What does it feel like to 'touch' quantum physics? These scientists gave it a shot

Physicists made the intangible almost tangible.

Scientists devised a quantum watch that measures time in a fundamentally different way

A new time-keeping quantum device that requires no "time zero" reference.

Ultracold atoms spun on a string form quantum tornadoes

Physicists call it 'quantum weather'.

Hoverboards are now real -- and the science behind them is dope

Hoverboards like the ones in Back to the Future II now exist for real. Sort of.

Physicists make 2-D supersolid that flows without friction, a world first

It's like an ice cube flowing on water without friction.

What are Gravitational Waves?

Not only do gravitational waves represent the ultimate confirmation of the theory of General Relativity, they will provide us with a new way to see the cosmos. But what are these ripples in spacetime and where do they come from?

What is the Standard Model of Particle Physics?

The Standard Model is our best description of the subatomic world. Join ZME for a stroll through the particle zoo.

Time Travel Without the Paradoxes

Join ZME Science in its carefully non-copyright infringing time machine with your sidekick ‘Marty’ to see if time travel paradoxes can be escaped.

Quantum Teleportation: Separating Science Fact from Science Fiction

Quantum teleportation may take its name from its fictional counterpart, but aside from that, it shares few commonalities. Despite this, by forming the basis of future quantum technologies, it is no less exciting.

A Journey through Multiverses, Hidden Dimensions, and Many Worlds

The alternate world, universe, or dimension is a long-standing element of pop-culture. But these concepts, often conflated, have their roots in physics. But which of them are most likely to play host to that most thrilling of tropes — the evil doppelganger?

Certainly Uncertain: What's Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle

Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle is more than a mathematical quirk, a handy guiding principle, or the inspiration for some really nerdy t-shirts. It is intrinsic to nature, weaved into the fabric of all matter. Together we take a trip to ZME labs to use some everyday objects to demonstrate how nature tells us “you can’t have it all.”

What is Superposition? Schrödinger's Cat Experiment Explained

The tale of physics’ most famous cat is one that is familiar to many, but what is the inside story of the feline so demanding it requires its own Universe, and how does it illustrate the 'weirdness' of the quantum world?

Physicists solved decades-old puzzle with huge implications for quantum computers

A happy accident lead to a breakthrough that may prove to be revolutionary in physics and beyond.

Side stepping Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle isn't easy

The uncertainty principle provides a constant hindrance to the sensitivity of equipment such as LIGO's interferometer and new research shows, avoiding it is going to be even harder than we had believed.

Super-Superposition: 2,000 atoms in 'two places at once'

A new record for the most atoms placed in a quantum superposition simultaneously has been set by researchers - pushing the boundary of massive particles showing quantum effects.

Quantum satellite investigates the gap between Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity

An international team of scientists has attempted to test the effects of gravity on quantum entanglement using the Micius Quantum Satellite - a first for testing quantum physics in space.

Physicists are a step closer to a theory of quantum gravity

A new study outlines the conditions that couple quantum gravity and low-energy physics.

Physicists measure quantum entanglement in chemical reactions

The discovery has implications for the improvement of technologies like solar energy systems.

'Quantum compass' can locate objects without GPS

The device is completely self-contained, being able to determine the position of an object on the globe with no external reference required.

Physicists may have solved 'chicken or the egg' paradox -- both can come first

Of course it had to be weird and confusing.

Scientists demonstrate quantum entanglement with objects big enough to see

'Spooky action at a distance' is approaching the human scale.

Quantum technology of spinning black holes

Are black holes trying to tell us something?

Musk's argument that we live in a simulation doesn't hold water, quantum physicists say

The blue pill or the red pill?

China launches first quantum satellite making its communications unhackable

Teleporting quantum states might the future of communications, and China is leading the way.

Water squeezed in a new state: not liquid, nor solid or gas. Just pure quantum weirdness

Physicists have crammed water inside extremely small cracks about ten-billionth of a metre and found the molecules entered a never before seen state. In this brand new state, the water molecules don't adhere to strict laws of classical physics anymore, nor do they behave like a liquid, gas or solid.

Gamers help solve quantum physics problem where A.I. failed

After an A.I. beat the human champion at Go, a game almost infinitely more complex than chess, some might feel like tossing the towel and let our robot overlords take their rightful place. Not so fast! We're still good for something. Pressed to find a solution for a complicated quantum physics problem that neither the researchers themselves nor an algorithm could properly solve, Danish physicists turned to the gaming community. They devised a game which mimicked the task at hand while also keeping it fun, and found some gamers came up with novel "outside the box" solutions which the algorithm couldn't even touch. Points for humanity!

Book review: 'The Quantum Moment'

How the quantum moment "overturned basic beliefs about space and time, causality and reality, and exposed as mistaken many fundamental cultural and philosophical assumptions."

Quantum physics used to make virtually uncrackable authentication system

Security experts have devised a novel authentication system that exploits quantum effects to make fraud-proof credit cards or IDs. Called Quantum-Secure Authentication (QSA), the technology relies on the quantum properties of single light beams, called photons, including their ability to be in multiple places at once. Quantum physics keys “We experimentally demonstrate quantum-secure authentication (QSA) of […]

Measuring particle momentum without breaking the uncertainty principle

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle makes quantum physics nasty. There's no reason why we can't get all along, though. A novel technique explores how it may be possible to know both position and momentum for a particle. No laws of physics were broken. I promise!

Quantum theory takes out singularity, suggests black holes are wormholes

Black holes are the single most interesting and puzzling objects in our Universe – that we know of. But as if they weren’t mysterious enough, researchers have found that if you apply a quantum theory of gravity to these bizarre objects, the all-crushing singularity at their core disappears, opening a whole new Universe of possibilities […]

Scientists image an atom's shadow for the first time

For the first time ever the shadow of an atom (yes, even an atom can cast a shadow) has been imaged using a complex technique which involved a laser beam and a a Fresnel lens. The culmination of their five-year work is this fantastic snapshot from above, and although this dark spot is quite tiny, the […]

Physicists quantum teleport photons over 143 kilometers

Last May, European scientists managed to teleport photons using quantum phenomena over a distance of 143 kilometers, across two Canary islands; however, it is only now that their paper was accepted in a peer reviewed magazine. Beam me up, Scotty While the technology used in Star Trek is still only science-fiction, the quantum teleportation of […]

Scientists devise qubits in a semiconductor for the first time

Hailed as yet another big step towards devising working quantum computers, scientists at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) have successfully managed to generate quantum qubits inside a semiconductor for the first time, instead of vacuum. A qubit is the quantum analog of a bit. While a bit must be read either as a 0 or 1, the qubit can […]

Scientists cool semiconductor with laser light

By harnessing the science of both quantum and nano physics, scientists at the Niels Bohr Institute have come up with an innovative new way of cooling semiconductor membranes by using laser light. Through this new technique, the researchers were able to cool the tiny, thin membrane from room temperature to -269 degrees Celsius. Paradoxically, the […]

Solar paint promises to turn any surface into a solar cell

Researchers have successfully managed to create a “solar paint” made out of quantum dots, which exhibits similar properties to multifilm solar cell architectures. The later are sophisticated, expensive and require a lot of time to deploy; the paint can be easily applied to basically any surface, like a house’s roof, and prepare it to easily generate […]

The age of nano-electronics: scientists develop one of the world's smallest circuits

A team of researchers from led by Guillaume Gervais from McGill’s Physics Department and Mike Lilly from Sandia National Laboratories, have managed to develop one of the smallest electronic circuits in the world using nanowires spaced across each other by a distance so small, it has to be measured at an atomic level. Miniaturization has been […]

Truly random numbers might be generated with quantum physics

Does flicking a dice really render a random face? The answer would be no. The dice is governed by large-scale conventional physics and its motion, and thus final position can be determined. You can’t tell where it lands just by looking at it thwirl, of course, but the fact remains it’s not random, and neither […]

Watch Quantum Levitation in action [AMAZING!]

What you just saw in the video above is a perfect demonstration of the quantum levitation effect, through a fairly simple set-up made by Tel Aviv University scientists, comprised of a track and a semiconductor. The quantum levitation is actually a perfect demonstration of the Meissner effect, which describes the expulsion of a magnetic field […]