Room-Temperature Superconductor Finally Found?

There's a new candidate for a room temperature superconductor, and it isn't some exotic compound, it's graphite, just ground up and baked. A team in Russia says they have found one of the key signatures of superconductivity that survives well above room temperature. The good news is that anyone can try to reproduce this. Let's take a look.

FINALLY: A Proof that Particles Take All Paths At Once?

Eighty years ago Richard Feynman said that a quantum particle takes every possible path at the same time. A team of physicists in China now says they have experimentally shown this is not just an interpretation but physical reality, and the headlines duly followed. I had a look at what they actually measured.

This New Result Changes What We Know About The Butterfly Effect

The butterfly effect is much stranger than most people think, and the famous line about a butterfly in Brazil isn't what Lorenz actually meant. A group of researchers has now worked out that quantum physics puts a hard wall on weather prediction, at 129 days. Not difficult after that. Impossible. And this has implications far beyond the weather forecast because chaos enters in everything from nuclear fusion to robotics to black hole physics. Let's take a look.

Breakthrough: New Type of Matter Discovered

Scientists have discovered a new type of matter. Inside a cooled crystal, structures spontaneously arranged themselves into a three dimensional weave, and they did it at around room temperature. The researchers can even rewrite parts of the pattern with a laser. News like this doesn't come every day. Let's take a look.

Origin of Time Tested in Experiment With Mini-Universe

A physicist built a mini-universe out of cold atoms and used it to test where time comes from. It made big headlines a few weeks ago, and I almost skipped it, as most "universe in a lab" stories are nonsense. But then I actually read the paper. Let's take a look.

You probably misunderstand the double slit experiment

In today's video I talk about some commonly misunderstood points in the double slit experiment.

This New Laser Is Based On Black Hole Physics

You might think that black holes suck in light without letting it escape, but they actually concentrate light in the photon sphere which surrounds their horizon. In a recent paper, researchers created a new type of laser which concentrates light using a technique similar to those found in the photon sphere. Let’s take a look.

Physicists Say They Know the Origin of Gravity

Recently, a pair of researchers made a massive breakthrough in the foundations of physics. In their paper, they describe how gravity is an emergent property. More specifically, they say that the origin of gravity is entropy. And not just any entropy, but the entropy of quantum fields. How big is this really? Let’s take a look.

Did Physics Just Lose a Brilliant Idea?

One of the most popular ideas in physics right now is something named “ER = EPR.” This theory has it that entangled particles are actually linked by tiny, tiny wormholes. Recently, a group of physicists tested the idea – let’s take a look at their findings.

This Calculation Could Change The Periodic Table

If it’s been a while since you’ve taken a chemistry class, you’re lucky – over time, the periodic table has been expanding as physicists produce brand-new atomic nuclei. But the thing about these nuclei is they’re extremely short-lived, sticking around for less than a nanosecond. Recently, though, physicists say they’ve figured out a calculation that should help researchers create new nuclei that are much more stable. Let’s take a look.

String theory hasn't failed, it's worse.

String theory has changed the foundations of physics profoundly, and I for one am worried about its legacy.

Crazy: Riemann Hypothesis Linked to Black Holes, Physicists Find

The Riemann Hypothesis is an open problem in maths which – if proved correct – would show us a pattern in prime numbers. The zeta function, a central part of the hypothesis, has been linked to quantum mechanics, and recently a group of physicists linked it to gravitational equations associated with black holes. What does this mean, exactly? Let’s take a look.

Core Law of Physics is Circular, Physicists Say

The Boltzmann brain hypothesis states that, between the Big Bang occurring and a fully-formed brain suddenly popping into existence in space, the brain spontaneously appearing is more probable. In a recent paper, a group of physicists have compared the second law of thermodynamics and the Boltzmann brain hypothesis – after analyzing both, they concluded that both are equally legitimate theories of physics. Let’s take a look at what this means and if they might be right.

This is how faster than light signalling could work

In this video I explain why I think it’s wrong to believe that the speed of light is an impossible to overcome limit. I am afraid that this is the biggest mistake that physicists are making, that indeed our entire species is making. And it’s all due to physicists’ misunderstanding quantum mechanics.

Breakthrough in Zero Friction Materials

Friction affects almost everything around us. It makes cars drive, our muscles contract, and even helps us walk. But in terms of technology, friction often means wasted energy — that’s why material scientists are always looking for ways to minimize it. In a recent paper, researchers say that they’ve found a material that can reduce friction to almost zero. Let’s take a look.

The Quantum Computer Dream is Falling Apart

As we continue to research quantum computing, quantum advantage – the supposed advantage that quantum computers theoretically have over regular computers – continues to dry up. Today we’re covering how more quantum computing use cases are disappearing, and an unexpected problem with quantum computing in general.

We Live In Between Two HUGE Dark Matter Voids

Our universe is a very strange place, but a new dark matter simulation seems to suggest that we live in a particularly strange area in it. According to a new paper published by a group of astrophysicists, simulations seem to indicate that our galaxy cluster exists in a thin area of highly concentrated dark matter, which itself is located between two voids of dark matter. Let’s take a look.

Why does light exist?

Why does light exist? It's a consequence of what physicists call a "gauge symmetry" and in today's video I do my best to try and explain how that works.

The Laws of Nature Are Ugly. Do We Have to Accept This?

In which I wonder whether we will just have to accept that the laws of nature are ugly

Why does space have 3 dimensions?

Why does space have 3 dimensions? Why not 2? Or 4? Or 7? It’s because physics wouldn’t work properly. Let’s take a look at the major reasons for why physics needs 3 dimensions.