The tiny atom, the basic building block of everything, is itself almost nothing, but atoms form a crossroads where science ...

The best way to find buried treasure may be with a quantum gravity sensor. In these devices, free-falling atoms reveal subtle variations in Earth’s gravitational pull at different places. Those ...

Using ultracold atoms and laser light, researchers recreated the behavior of a Josephson junction—an essential component of quantum computers and voltage standards. The appearance of Shapiro steps in ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. The Earth’s crust is cracked into seven major tectonic plates ...

In a short talk at Caltech, physicist Richard Feynman laid out a vision of manipulating and controlling atoms at the tiniest ...

For the first time, scientists have observed the iconic Shapiro steps, a staircase-like quantum effect, in ultracold atoms.

Physicists know how to describe single atoms, and they know how to describe a large collection of particles, like air. But they don’t always know when to switch from one description to the other. As ...

European Southern Observatory (ESO) astronomers have produced a spectacular new image of the famous Atoms-for-Peace Galaxy (NGC 7252). This galactic pile-up, formed by the collision of two galaxies, ...

Scientists have captured the first ever footage of atoms bonding at a scale around half a million times smaller than the width of a human hair. Using advanced microscopy methods, the team of UK and ...

Scientists have discovered a new method to manipulate atoms. Using the atoms at the tip (that are chemically different to those at the surface) as “ink”, it is possible to “write” or “draw” with the ...

One of the abiding mysteries of physics is how to make the transition between quantum and classical objects. With very few exceptions, we live in a world that is clearly and obviously classical in ...