Quantum computers are still years away, but a trio of theorists has already figured out at least one talent they may have. According to the theorists, including one from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), physicists might one day use quantum computers to study the inner workings of the universe in ways that…
In 1981 physicist Nick Herbert leveraged strange features of quantum mechanics to design a superluminal communication system. The quest to uncover its subtle flaw led to a profound new understanding of the quantum world. This discovery became known as the “no-cloning theorem”: a powerful statement about the ultimate foundations of quantum theory. An arbitrary or…
Researchers have trapped a rainbow – slowing light to a near-stop – in an array of 25,000 “invisibility cloaks”, each smaller than a hair’s breadth. A report in the New Journal of Physics shows how the quest for an invisibility cloak is leading to cleverer ways to use and manipulate light. The trick could aid…
It’s called the transit of Venus. The planet will appear as little dark circle on the sun as it zips between us and that big yellow ball. About every 120 years or so, transits of Venus come in clusters – two in eight years. The last one was in 2004, and we won’t see another…
Once again quantum physics gives us philosophical implications: physicists showed how a small amount of randomness can be amplified without limit. Classical physics is deterministic: for example, we can determine the position and velocity of a particle at any time in the future. Quantum theory, on the other hand, states that there exist processes which…
The leaders of about 50 national research agencies in both the developed and developing worlds have announced the establishment of a Global Research Council (GRC) intended to examine issues of importance to science-funding agencies worldwide. According to a report on Nature News Blog, the GRC has already agreed to observe six principles for using peer…
Researchers have revealed details of a promising way to make a fundamentally different kind of computer memory chip. The device is a “memristor”, a long-hypothesised but only recently demonstrated electronic component. A memristor’s electronic properties make it suitable for both for computing and for far faster, denser memory. Researchers at the European Materials Research Society…
Ever wonder exactly where grizzly bears live on this continent? Or where you might find Myotis lucifungus, the fuzzy, adorable little brown bat that is currently threatened with extinction because of white-nose syndrome? Now you can track them on Google Maps, thanks to a new program that aims to plot the location of every single…
Teleportation is the extraordinary ability to transfer objects from one location to another without travelling through the intervening space. The idea is not that the physical object is teleported but the information that describes it. This can then be applied to a similar object in a new location which effectively takes on the new identity….
U.S. eighth graders did slightly better last year on a national science test than did their counterparts in 2009. But what that result says about the state of science in U.S. schools is open to debate. A 2-point rise to 152 (on a scale from 0 to 300) is part of what Jack Buckley, head…