A study that will 'test our understanding of how the Universe works, particularly outside the relatively narrow confines of our planet' is being undertaken by an international team of researchers led by the University of ...
Astronomy
Sep 5, 2017
74
2744
On his first day at work as a security guard, Steve was greeted warmly, drawing attention from passersby, including some taking selfies with him at the tony retail-residential complex he patrolled. Then he fell into the fountain.
Robotics
Aug 3, 2017
6
252
According to the second law of thermodynamics, the total entropy of a closed process can increase or stay the same, but never decrease. The second law guarantees, for example, that an egg can wobble off a table and leave ...
General Physics
Nov 5, 2021
6
2867
When Thomas Hertog was first summoned to Stephen Hawking's office in the late 1990s, there was an instant connection between the young Belgian researcher and the legendary British theoretical physicist.
General Physics
May 28, 2023
3
710
A simple drop of olive oil in a system of photons bouncing between two mirrors has revealed universal aspects of phase transitions in physics. Researchers at AMOLF used an oil-filled optical cavity in which light undergoes ...
General Physics
Apr 17, 2020
0
2220
This week, researchers proved empirically that life isn't fair. Also, you'll notice that, in a superhuman display of restraint, I managed to write a paragraph about the simulated universe hypothesis without once referencing ...
Researchers at the University of Vienna and the Austrian Academy of Sciences, led by Markus Aspelmeyer have succeeded in measuring the gravitational field of a gold sphere, just 2 mm in diameter, using a highly sensitive ...
Quantum Physics
Mar 10, 2021
3
6183
Solar energy is a popular candidate for a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. A solar cell, or photovoltaic (PV) cell, converts sunlight directly into electricity. However, the conversion efficiency has not been enough ...
Optics & Photonics
Jun 1, 2022
0
234
The second law of thermodynamics delineates an asymmetry in how physical systems evolve over time, known as the arrow of time. In macroscopic systems, this asymmetry has a clear direction (e.g., one can easily notice if ...
Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, ETH Zurich, and Argonne National Laboratory, U.S, have described an extended quantum Maxwell's demon, a device locally violating the second law of thermodynamics ...
Quantum Physics
Dec 20, 2018
2
456
