While science fiction movies would have us believe that space is incredibly cold — even freezing cold — space itself isn’t exactly cold. In fact, it has no temperature at all. Temperature is a measure of the speed at which particles move, and heat is how much energy an object’s particles have. So in a …
How cold is the room? Physics behind the temperature of the universe Read More »
History of deep ocean temperature and atmospheric CO2 change. Previous temperature estimates are shown with a red line, with new data in symbols. Credit: University of St Andrews A new study of ancient ocean temperatures, published today in Scienceshows that the deep North Atlantic was once 20 °C (68 °F) – warmer than the surface …
Depths of the North Atlantic Ocean once as warm as the Mediterranean Sea Read More »
A new “quantum flute” experiment by University of Chicago physicists could point the way to new quantum technology. The holes create different wavelengths, similar to “notes” on a flute, that can be used to encode quantum information. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Schuster lab Physicists at the University of Chicago have invented a “quantum flute” …
Scientists invent ‘quantum flute’ that can make light particles move together Read More »
cliff is an exuberant bite of a game by Torfi Asgeirsson — one of the ghosts behind NUTS and A firm handshake — which focuses on exploring physics and character movements by letting players test a brave climber. The project is inspired by turn-based fighting games toribashallowing players to create their own moves by choosing …
Experimenting with movement in squishy physics climb-em-up Klifur Read More »
Physicists have found that certain magnetic material freezes when the temperature rises to a certain point. We have usually only seen this behavior when we cool magnetic materials, not when we heat them. As such, it has left physicists scratching their heads and baffled by the development. These magnetic materials freeze when heated This figure …
Scientists baffled by magnetic material that freezes when heated Read More »
Physicists say they’ve found evidence in data from Europe’s Large Hadron Collider for three never-before-seen combinations of quarks, just as the world’s largest particle destroyer begins another round of high-energy experiments. The three exotic types of particles—including two combinations of four quarks known as tetraquarks, plus a unit of five quarks called pentaquarks—are fully consistent …
Large Hadron Collider Finds Evidence of 3 Never-Before-seen Particles Read More »
The movement of the system in an energy landscape. The system moves back and forth like a rolling ball on a complicated surface. Credit: TU Wien If you switch a bit in a computer’s memory and then switch back again, you’ve restored it to its original state. There are only two states that can be …
An artistic depiction of the big bang nucleosynthesis, the early period of the universe in which protons “p” and neutrons “n” come together to form light elements. The presence of dark matter “χ” changes how much of each element will be formed. Credit: Cara Giovanetti/New York University A new analysis by a team of physicists …
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 public domain Although they are separate particles, water molecules flow together like liquids, producing streams, waves, eddies, and other classical fluid phenomena. Not so with electricity. Although an electric current is also a construction of different particles – in this case electrons—the particles are so small that each collective behavior among them is …
Physicists see electron vortices for the first time Read More »
Credit: University of Portsmouth The mystery of how the universe’s first quasars formed — something that has baffled scientists for nearly 20 years — has now been solved by a team of astrophysicists whose findings have been published in Nature† The existence of more than 200 quasars powered by supermassive black holes Less than a …
Scientists discover how the universe’s first quasars formed Read More »
