A few years ago, the researchers decided to put a superconducting metal called strontium ruthenate in their crosshairs. Its structure is similar to that of a mysterious class of copper-based “cuprate” superconductors, but it can be manufactured in a more pristine way. While the team didn’t learn the secrets of the cuprates, the material responded … Read more
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. To catch a glimpse of the subatomic world’s unimaginably fleet-footed particles, you need to produce unimaginably brief flashes of light. Anne L’Huillier, Pierre Agostini, and Ferenc Krausz have shared the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics for their pioneering work in developing the ability to illuminate … Read more
According to a new “holy grail” scientific discovery, the blazing-hot ball of metal at the center of the Earth’s core is actually more active than one might think. In fact, it might be host to a centra-planet molecular dinner party. Using machine learning and a supercomputer, physicists at the University of Texas at Austin and … Read more