NSA pursues quantum technology

In this month's issue of Physics World, Jon Cartwright explains how the revelation that the US National Security Agency (NSA) is developing quantum computers has renewed interest and sparked debate on just how far ahead they ...

Can an oil bath solve the mysteries of the quantum world?

For the past eight years, two French researchers have been bouncing droplets around a vibrating oil bath and observing their unique behaviour. What sounds like a high-school experiment has in fact provided the first ever ...

New theory uncovers cancer's deep evolutionary roots

A new way to look at cancer—by tracing its deep evolutionary roots to the dawn of multicellularity more than a billion years ago—has been proposed by Paul Davies of Arizona State University's Beyond Center for Fundamental ...

Space race under way to create quantum satellite

In this month's special edition of Physics World, focusing on quantum physics, Thomas Jennewein and Brendon Higgins from the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo, Canada, describe how a quantum space ...

Pond skating insects reveal water-walking secrets

This month's special issue of Physics World is devoted to animal physics, and includes science writer Stephen Ornes explanation of how s effortlessly skip across water leaving nothing but a small ripple in their wake.

A new 'golden' age for electronics?

One way that heat damages electronic equipment is it makes components expand at different rates, resulting in forces that cause micro-cracking and distortion. Plastic components and circuit boards are particularly prone to ...

The secret life of scientific ideas

Many of the most memorable stories in the history of science revolve around the conscious realization of an idea - the "Eureka!" moment. But what triggers these moments? Is there always some serendipitous event preceding ...

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