Diamond isn’t the first material that springs to mind when it comes to bending and stretching, but scientists have found a way to manipulate one of the hardest minerals on Earth – and it could lead to a slew of technological advances.   Not only is diamond hard, it’s also very brittle. But the new study

Amateur mathematician Aubrey de Grey has stunned the maths world by making the first significant progress in decades towards solving a longstanding riddle – one that’s perplexed mathematical thinkers for over 60 years.   The riddle, called the Hadwiger-Nelson problem, is basically all about untouchable colours, and how many of them – or, rather, how

Experiments with the metal thorium have revealed a strange quirk that could be used in a totally new class of atomic clock, paving the way to a more precise timekeeping method than we’ve ever had before.   Right now, the kinds of high-precision clocks we use to coordinate global positioning satellites are based on striking an electron

If we want quantum computers, we’re going to need a complex system of quantum entangled particles – particles that are intrinsically linked so that whatever happens to one instantaneously affects another.   That’s a whole lot easier said than done, of course – but a team of physicists has just breached an exciting milestone by

In the summer of 1935, the physicists Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrödinger engaged in a rich, multifaceted and sometimes fretful correspondence about the implications of the new theory of quantum mechanics.   The focus of their worry was what Schrödinger later dubbed entanglement: the inability to describe two quantum systems or particles independently, after they

Locking up super-secret information with digital encryption has become even more secure with the production of numbers that aren’t just ‘nearly random’, but are truly unpredictable in every sense of the word.   Using the data generated by a three-year-old experiment on quantum entanglement, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently generated

Scientists have just performed the world’s most precisely controlled chemical reaction, sticking together just two atoms from elements that wouldn’t normally form a molecule. The two elements – sodium and caesium – produced an interesting alloy-like molecule. On top of that, this method of creation could set the way of making just the kind of materials

By applying an algorithm to a strange section of the periodic table of elements, physicists have at last been able to predict which elements could pair up with hydrogen to create a room temperature superconductor – one of the “holy grails” of physics.   That’s incredibly exciting, because finding a material that can conduct electricity

Right now, odds are that one in every four diamonds on sale around the world is a blood diamond – mined in a war zone and sold to finance armed conflict and civil war. And for those wanting to steer clear of such a commodity, it’s becoming nearly impossible to figure out the difference between

One of the ultimate goals of modern physics is to unlock the power of superconductivity, where electricity flows with zero resistance at room temperature. Progress has been slow, but physicists have just made an unexpected breakthrough. They’ve discovered a superconductor that works in a way no one’s ever seen before – and it opens the

Physicists trying to understand the fundamental structure of nature rely on consistent theoretical frameworks that can explain what we see and simultaneously make predictions that we can test.   On the smallest scale of elementary particles, the standard model of particle physics provides the basis of our understanding. On the scale of the cosmos, much

Experiments carried out on a complex arrangement of magnetic particles have identified a completely new state of matter, and it can only be explained if scientists turn to quantum physics.   The messy structures behind the research show strange properties that could allow us to study the chaos of exotic particles – if researchers can find order

The results of a new comparison between hydrogen’s spectral fingerprints and those of its mirror twin are in, and the news is frustrating – they’re a match right down to just two parts per trillion.   If they turned out to be even a tiny bit different, physicists might at last have a way to

Experiments searching for a solution to one of physics’ most perplexing mysteries have recently been delivering their first rounds of results, setting new limits on where we need to look for evidence.   Based on our current understanding of physics, matter shouldn’t exist. The fact it does means something is off in our equations, and

Boiling an egg to perfection sounds like the simplest cooking task in the world, but as anyone who’s boiled an egg knows, you can get surprisingly mixed results. That’s probably because you’re not taking into account all the variables. But if you want the perfect boiled egg every time, quantum physicist Miłosz Panfil has your

The US military likes to stay at the forefront of the cutting edge of science – most recently investigating ways they can ‘hack’ the human brain and body to make it die slower, and learn faster.   But in an unexpected twist, it turns out they’re also interested in pushing the limits of quantum mechanics.

At low temperatures, strontium titanate (SrTiO3) is able to conduct electricity without any resistance. The fact it isn’t a metal and can still accomplish this has long been a mystery. Now physicists have their first clues on why it defies current theories on superconducting materials, and it just might set the stage for a revolution

For the first time, researchers have used diamond to build a solid-state maser that can operate continuously at room temperature. This could burst open the technology for everyday use such as medical imaging and security scanners at airports.   Masers are like the microwave version of lasers. It stands for “microwave amplification by stimulated emission

Wind tunnels are awesome, with many uses, both industrial and recreational. But now China has plans to blow all the others away with plans to build a tunnel capable of whipping up incredible hypersonic air blasts more powerful than any other tunnel currently operating.   You can’t say the Chinese authorities aren’t aiming high –

Theoretically, it should be possible to turn light into matter. In practice, well – “easier said than done” is an understatement. Now, 84 years after the process was first theorised, some researchers reckon they’re going to be able to do it – and they’re about to start the experiment.   It’s called the Breit-Wheeler process,

The magnificent Westminster Abbey in central London will be the final resting place of Stephen Hawking. The ashes of the world-famous British physicist will be interred at the 10th-century Gothic church, it announced on Tuesday – close to the grave of another legendary British scientist, Sir Isaac Newton, as well as Charles Darwin.    A

When Albert Einstein first predicted that light travels the same speed everywhere in our Universe, he essentially stamped a speed limit on it: 299,792 kilometres per second (186,282 miles per second) – fast enough to circle the entire Earth eight times every second.   But that’s not the whole story. In fact, it’s just the

Mathematical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking was best known for his work exploring the relationship between black holes and quantum physics. A black hole is the remnant of a dying supermassive star that’s fallen into itself; these remnants contract to such a small size that gravity is so strong even light cannot escape from them.

Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking were both incredible physicists, wonderful communicators, and inspirations to science lovers the world over.  In a cosmic coincidence, Stephen Hawking passed away this week on March 14 – Einstein’s birthday. But can you tell which of the beautiful minds said these quotes? Take our quiz to find out.   Source

Prime numbers are one of the most basic topics of study in the branch of mathematics called number theory. Primes are numbers that can only be evenly divided by themselves and 1. For example, 7 is a prime number since I’m left with a remainder or a fractional component if I divide 7 by anything

Stephen Hawking, one of the greatest minds of our lifetime, has passed away – leaving behind a lot of heartbroken science fans. While he was publishing papers right up until the months before his death, it was in 2016 that he released one of his most talked about journal articles – a long-awaited solution to

If you rapidly spin a hard-boiled egg on a table, and you do it correctly, you’ll see a curious phenomenon. As it spins, the egg will gradually roll onto its pointy end. It looks really cool, but there’s something really strange at work, too.   It’s such a strange phenomenon that physicists didn’t solve it

One of the greatest minds of our time, physicist and author Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76, according to news reports from the United Kingdom. “We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today,” Hawking’s family said in a statement released on Wednesday morning.   “He was a great scientist

The most promising source of clean energy humans can ever hope for is still fusion power – and researchers at MIT have just received US$30 million in funding to help make it happen.   MIT has joined forces with a newly formed private company called Commonwealth Fusion Systems, and together they hope to have a pilot fusion

Back in 2015, researchers in Spain created a tiny magnetic wormhole for the first time ever. They used it to connect two regions of space so that a magnetic field could travel ‘invisibly’ between them.   Before you get too excited, it wasn’t the kind of gravitational wormhole that would theoretically allow humans to travel rapidly across

Back in 2015, scientists found something amazing for the first time – a classic formula for pi hidden in the world of quantum physics. Pi is the ratio between a circle’s circumference and its diameter, and is incredibly important in pure mathematics. But this was the first time scientists had found it “lurking” in the

Here’s something you’ve probably never thought much about: Is there a way to get a round disk through a smaller square hole in a piece of paper? It seems silly, right? Of course not, you say! It’s impossible!   Well, not always, according to this video by Numberphile featuring a mathematician from Stanford University, Tadashi

The foundation stone of quantum mechanics doesn’t just describe the behaviour of infinitesimal subatomic particles – it also governs the movement of the largest and most massive objects in the Universe, says a prominent astrophysicist.   Einstein’s theory of general relativity is often considered the reliable lynchpin of physics at the astronomical scale, but planetary

Quantum physics just beat classical physics again. A single quantum particle can send a two-way signal, scientists have discovered – something that’s impossible in classical physics. That means a particle can essentially send messages to itself thanks to the whacky state of uncertainty known as superposition.   Superposition states that one particle can occupy two

The second has served us well for hundreds of years, but it’s not perfect – the atomic clocks that are our official timekeepers lose a second of time every 200 million years or so.   That may not be enough to make you late for choir practice, but in the fields of space travel and

One of the world’s most respected theoretical physicists Michio Kaku has predicted that humans will make contact with an alien civilisation within this century. While he doesn’t know if we’ll be able to talk back to them by then, Kaku thinks that humans will detect aliens before 2100 by listening in to their radio communications.

An international team of scientists have provided the first proof of an exotic new state of matter, known as Rydberg polarons. This state of matter is formed at ultra cold temperatures, when an electron orbits its nucleus at such a great distance that other atoms end up bound inside the orbit. All these atoms form

Temperature changes large and small are happening around us all the time, and scientists have come up with a machine that can convert those fluctuations into electricity, potentially powering sensors and communication devices almost out of thin air.   The energy harvesting is done through what’s called a thermal resonator: a device that captures heat

Curling is one of the more unusual sports of the Winter Olympics, often drawing comparisons to shuffleboard, but played on ice. A roughly 42-pound curling rock, or stone, is pushed then slides down a sheet of ice, while two players furiously sweep the surface in front of the stone. The sweeping motion heats up the

Physicists have confirmed the existence of a new form of atomic nuclei, and the fact that it’s not symmetrical challenges the fundamental theories of physics that explain our Universe.   But that’s not as bad as it sounds, because the 2016 discovery could help scientists solve one of the biggest mysteries in theoretical physics –

When CERN researchers need to test the limits of scientific research, it’s not often there’s a van at the centre of it all. But the antiProton Unstable Matter Annihilation (PUMA) project, set to take around one billion antiprotons on a very special road trip, is going to lead to some fascinating physics.   There’s an old saying, “If

Five years ago, physicists from Harvard and MIT achieved a world first by forcing a pair of photons to interact with one another in ways that shouldn’t seem possible. What do you do when you’ve achieved such a lofty goal? You try to add a third photon, of course.   With all eyes on light

Five years ago, physicists from Harvard and MIT achieved a world first by forcing a pair of photons to interact with one another in ways that shouldn’t seem possible. What do you do when you’ve achieved such a lofty goal? You try to add a third photon, of course.   With all eyes on light

Oganesson (Og) is the heaviest chemical element in the periodic table, but its properties have proved difficult to measure since it was first synthesised in 2002. Now an advanced computer simulation has filled in some of the gaps, and it turns out the element is even weirder than many expected.   At the atomic level,

At the very centre of the image above is something incredible – a single, positively-charged strontium atom, suspended in motion by electric fields. Not only is this an incredibly rare sight, it’s also difficult to wrap your head around the fact that this tiny point of blue light is a building block of matter.  

Atomic clocks are capable of the most precise physical measurements humanity can make, but because they’re so complex, they’ve been restricted to laboratory use – until now. For the first time, scientists have developed a portable version, and used it to take measurements of gravity outside a laboratory setting.   The technology involved in atomic

Part of what makes graphene so fantastically useful is its amazing thinness – it’s just one atom thick. Scientists have now found hundreds of other materials that are equally thin, providing a wide selection of new materials with perhaps as much potential as graphene.   The team analysed data in open resources including the Crystallography

Electrons boosted to near light-speed velocities have been shaken to a virtual crawl after being made to collide with what one physicist describes as ‘a sheet of light’. Sure, that sheet is an ultra-intense laser briefly brighter than a quadrillion suns … but that just makes it even cooler.   Not to mention the fact