MIT theoretical physicists are working to carry the structure of crystals, such as table salt, into the fourth dimension of time. The result could be a computer than runs infinitely into the future.
Search Results
You searched for: quantum
By linking a single ion with a single proton, physicists at the University of Innsbruck have established the first quantum interface between quantum processors and optical information channels.
A panel of cosmologists recently affirmed that the laws of physics, specifically quantum mechanics, can explain why the Universe exists without appealing to divine powers.
While discovering the Higgs particle would bode well for the validity of the Standard Model, there are still lingering questions which the Large Hadron Collider has yet to find answers to.
Scientists have made a breakthrough in building quantum communication networks. The research could eventually be used to build a quantum Internet, says the study’s director.
A Conversation with William Irwin Thompson by Michael Garfield William Irwin Thompson is a poet, philosopher, cultural historian, former MIT professor, and founder of the Lindisfarne Association – a transdisciplinary think-tank […]
What’s the Big Idea? Before neuroscience and quantum physics, there was Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. The 19th century German idealist revolutionized Western thought, and every great thinker since has been working […]
With Willard Mitt Romney, American politics has moved beyond the predictable Newtonian rules of campaigning, into the bewildering and unpredictable era of quantum politicking.
While scientists jump to answer this notoriously difficult question, scientific observation is not well suited to finding the cosmic will that the question implies. This stumper is better left alone.
“We don’t really want what we think we want,” says philosopher Slavoj Žižek. It’s a strange, almost exotic thought at a time when many of us are inundated daily with […]
In recent years, the term “emergence” has become popular among scientists to describe the seemingly inexplicable leaps that occur in the evolutionary process when greater complexity bursts forth from lesser […]
Some of the world’s leading engineers and physicists believe we are about to reach the limits of computing power, requiring a fundamental technological shift which we have yet to imagine.
This semester when college students return to campus at America’s leading universities, they may be surprised to find out that the men and women teaching them subjects like Machine Learning or Listening to […]
Just ninety years ago, we thought our galaxy was the extent of the Universe. Now we know hundreds of millions of galaxies exist in an ever-expanding Universe. Where does that leave us?
New York, 1964. The World’s Fair is in full gear, as 50 million people make the trek to Queens to see what the future has in store. The exposition showcases […]
With respect to the cosmos, mankind has just been born. Hypothetically, if our 14 billion-year-old universe were scaled down to just 10 years (for the sake of comparison), dinosaurs would […]
[Author’s Note: In keeping with the tradition that whenever you have a blog post whose title is a question, the answer is always “no”…] Of all the essays I’ve written, […]
Researchers have isolated a single phosphorus atom and placed it atop a silicon crystal with more precision than ever before. We are one step closer to achieving a quantum computer.
Neuroscientists have used quantum dots—light-sensitive, semiconducting particles just a few nanometers in diameter—to stimulate neurons which have been damaged by disease or age.
We may have heard about one notable religious conversion this week, but in the more than ten years I’ve been writing about atheism (yes, it’s been that long!), I’ve found […]
When popular culture appropriates complex scientific theories, such as quantum mechanics, Joe Schmoe opines all over the Internet. Is it worth bringing science to the mainstream?
By Rick Popely Someday, personal transportation may be in automated vehicles that drive themselves and run on electricity or an alternative fuel. But for the foreseeable future, most Americans will rely […]
Today we’re pleased to announce our second Big Think Book of the Month, the dazzlingly ambitious Less Than Nothing: Hegel and the Shadow of Dialectical Materialism, out May 22, 2012 from […]
Using standard chip making parts, IBM has created a super-fast optical processing chip by drilling a series of holes through the back which allow light to pass into the core of the chip.
If ideas are the currency of the future, then books are still the best way to trade these ideas with others. To celebrate the 600th blog post of Endless Innovation, I’ve put together […]
Three things stood out to me yesterday amid all the Trayvon Martin related hoopla surrounding the arrest of George Zimmerman on a charge of murder in the second degree. I […]
What’s the Big Idea? The words “Renaissance man” get thrown around a lot these days, but Nathan Myrhvold’s career evokes the true spirit of the phrase. More polymath than genius, the […]
Mysterious dark matter and dark energy may no longer be needed to explain the Universe’s accelerating expansion, which may be caused by tension between matter and antimatter.
The buzz surrounding physicist Stephen Hawking‘s newest experiments with communication technology has been a bit overexuberant, along the lines of “new technology could help Stephen Hawking communicate via brain waves!” […]
New methods of creating solar cells cut manufacturing costs nearly in half. The New Jersey-based company is also working to create super-efficient cells by using nanotechnology.