How precise can measurements get? Imagine accurately measuring a quartz crystal with merely a few photons.
Search Results
You searched for: light
We often praise selfless action, but it is even possible?
On Sept. 2, a fire spread through Rio de Janeiro’s National Museum, devouring the historic building and most of its 20 million culturally and scientifically important items. We look at nine priceless artifacts and collections likely lost in the blaze.
Animal extinction is, after all, inevitable in the natural world — some have even called it the “engine of evolution”. So why should extinction matter to us?
Imagine data delivered by light. This is an important benchmark toward the development of a whole new computer.
It’s a problem that we still haven’t solved, and it spells doom for all of our low-Earth orbiting satellites, even today. On October 4th, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, […]
Three commercially released facial-analysis programs from major technology companies demonstrate both skin-type and gender biases, according to new research.
In the search for fundamental truths in our Universe, one of the biggest questions, “are space and time continuous or discrete,” remains unanswered. Throughout the history of science, one of […]
A quarter-million years of evolution can’t be wrong.
Biodiversity refers to genetic diversity within species, diversity between species, and diversity of ecosystems. We take a look at all three.
These great thinkers remind us that taking an unpopular, bold stance might not be madness.
The paradox is one that Hawking himself claimed to have a solution to many times, but none of the proposals have held up to scrutiny. The paradox is still unresolved. […]
Think the future isn’t already here with us? Think again!
In the middle of the Cambridge Analytica data harvesting controversy, the Facebook founder has been erasing his private chats from Facebook servers. So why isn’t this an option for anyone else?
High-level official LeClair suppressed her sexuality for decades. Now that she’s out, she’s speaking up.
Aiming for the nearest star would necessitate a whole slew of advances. Even if the mission fails, humanity wins by investing in itself. There have been some magnificent moments in NASA […]
The Galapagos Islands are among the most fascinating places on Earth. Their uniqueness has inspired science to make many important discoveries there.
On September 27, 1972, scientists performed the first test of Bell’s inequality. God does play dice with the Universe, after all. One of the most puzzling and counterintuitive aspects of quantum […]
Quantum interpretations are all the rage. Too bad you don’t even need one. In everyday life, there are certain rules we take for granted: cause-and-effect, for instance. Something occurs, and that […]
NASA discovers a surprisingly dark planet about 1,400 light years away.
For every planet that orbits a star like our own, there are likely thousands of ‘orphan planets’ wandering the galaxy alone. Here in the Solar System, we can watch our star’s […]
Traditional buildings were designed to provide protection against a savage world. But the world has changed. We need to develop a more sustainable relationship with the environment, and semi-permeable architecture allows us to do that.
Every mechanical failure brings Hubble one step closer to its demise. But despite the recent setback, it’s still got plenty of life left. If you want to view the distant Universe […]
Losing your job doesn’t have to mean losing your self-respect and self-image. In fact, a little moxie might go a long way.
We can go to deeper and deeper levels, finding more fundamental quantities as we do. But is there a truly fundamental quantity? What is the Universe, at a fundamental level, […]
This eccentric Spanish spy received medals of honor from both the Nazis and the Allies. How did he do it, and why?
Harvard’s theoretical physicist Lisa Randall links the extinction of the dinosaurs to the mysterious “dark matter”.
What would it be like to experience the 4th dimension?
With a journey of 130 million light years, both signals should move at the speed of light. So why did one get here first? On August 17, after a journey taking […]
As wonderful as the evidence that supports or invalidates a theory is, it can never truly kill the ones that don’t work out. When it comes to science, we like to […]