Physics

We all love fireworks on commemorative days and special occasions but fireworks at an atomic level are probably not something scientists expect to see on a regular day at work. While a team of researchers in the University of Chicago were treated to this show in their lab, they stumbled upon a new form of quantum behavior.

There’s a huge demand for fossil fuels and a lot of research is on-going to discover new sources of clean-burning fuel.  Providing a boost to these efforts, researchers have developed a new hybrid material to help harvest solar energy.   

The benefits of miniaturizing machinery are plenty. Apart from the obvious cost advantages since the material and power requirements are greatly reduced, the potential applications of miniature machinery are many. Therefore, when researchers developed a molecular robot that performs basic tasks, it’s definitely a win for science.   

Forty years ago, the possibility of neutrino-interactions was predicted by many physicists. However, it was not until now that the concept was supported with evidence.

String theory, probably the most dissected theory of quantum gravity in physics, is making a stir once again. But this time it’s because we might have some evidence to prove it.

The kilogram, one of the seven units of measure, is not as accurate as it should be. But now the Planck Constant, which is an important value in quantum physics will be the basis of the new and more accurate kilogram unit.  

How are the wings of butterflies so colorful and bright? While it is known that the wings have photonic crystals, which can reflect light of only a particular color, how they are arranged has been a mystery. To find out more about it, a group of physicists in UC San Diego used ptychography, an advanced imaging technique, and the Advanced Photon Source at the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois to take a closer look at the internal nanostructure of the tiny "scales" that make up the butterfly wing. Read more about their research here.

Researchers have wondered why so few particles of antimatter are found in the universe despite the fact that matter and antimatter were created in equal amounts at the instant of Big Bang. One explanation was that antimatter probably lacked the same attractive force as matter. However, Kefeng Xin, a graduate student at Rice University, along with a team of researchers, measured the scattering length and the effective range of interaction between two antiprotons. Read on to know more about their research.

The researchers at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN near Geneva have discovered a new class of particles called ‘pentaquarks.’ The tiny ingredients of sub-atomic particles such as protons and neutrons are called quarks. Protons and neutrons are made of three quarks. The existence of a five-quark version, or "pentaquark," was theorized by American physicist Murray Gell-Mann in 1964, but it was never found. Read on to learn more about this.

According to a group of researchers, people in crowds subconsciously calculate and predict when they are likely to collide with other people. Read on for more details.