Tag: physics
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Longevity. Xenon 124. Universe.
Theory predicts the isotope’s radioactive decay has a half-life that surpasses the age of the universe “by many orders of magnitude,” but no evidence of the process has appeared until now. An international team of physicists that includes three Rice University researchers – assistant professor Christopher Tunnell, visiting scientist Junji Naganoma and assistant research professor […]
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Non-water. Inside the dead forest.
Led by Professors Raffaele Mezzenga and Ehud Landau, a group of physicists and chemists from ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich have identified an unusual way to prevent water from forming ice crystals, so even at extreme sub-zero temperatures it retains the amorphous characteristics of a liquid. In a first step, the researchers designed and […]
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Reducing resistance… Non-knowledge…
The realization of so-called topological materials – which exhibit exotic, defect-resistant properties – has opened up a new realm in materials discovery. Several of the hotly studied topological materials to date are known as topological insulators. Their surfaces are expected to conduct electricity with very little resistance, somewhat akin to superconductors but without the need […]
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Heat waves. Like… sound waves?
The next time you set a kettle to boil, consider this scenario: After turning the burner off, instead of staying hot and slowly warming the surrounding kitchen and stove, the kettle quickly cools to room temperature and its heat hurtles away in the form of a boiling-hot wave. We know heat doesn’t behave this way […]
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Going back in time… With no change…
We cannot reverse the arrow of time any more than we can erase all our wrinkles or restore a shattered teacup to its original form. Or can we? An international team of scientists led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory managed to return a computer briefly to the past. To achieve […]
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