![An illustration shows a grid of atoms being hit with a red beam of laser light. Blue lines indicating a magnetic field emanate from the lit-up region.](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/071224_ec_light-superconductors_feat.jpg?fit=1030%2C580&ssl=1)
Physics
Can light spark superconductivity? A new study reignites debate
Brief blasts of light might make some materials into fleeting superconductors. Magnetic measurements strengthen the case for this controversial claim.
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Brief blasts of light might make some materials into fleeting superconductors. Magnetic measurements strengthen the case for this controversial claim.
A new study claims to confirm that the inner core is now rotating more slowly than it was over a decade ago, but some researchers remain skeptical.
A “kugelblitz” is a black hole made of concentrated electromagnetic energy. But it’s not possible to make one, according to new calculations.
The experiment is a step toward testing how quantum physics interfaces with gravity.
Two centuries on, scientists are still seeking a proof of the Second Law and why heat always flows from hot to cold.
Made of heavy relatives of the electron, the exotic atoms could be used to test the theory of quantum electrodynamics.
Scientists successfully entangled quantum memories linked by telecommunications fibers across two different urban environments.
Ice’s weirdly slick exterior might originate from the boundaries between two different types of ice that form on the surface of frozen water.
An experiment studying the neutrino’s “wave packet” sets a limit on the uncertainty of the subatomic particle’s position.
Physicists haven’t yet ruled out the possibility that the universe has a complicated topology in which space loops back around on itself.
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