Knowledge in a time of crisis
Big Think Live
Coronavirus coverage
Big Think Edge

Revised Schrödinger's cat experiment challenges reality

A classic experiment gets an update that contradicts key assumptions of quantum mechanics.

  • Physicists revise the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment.
  • The new version leads to contradictions in quantum theory.
  • Scientists are stumped by the implications.
Keep reading Show less
thought experiment physics quantum mechanics niels bohr most famous experiment switzerland controversy quantum theory weird science

New controversial theory: Past, present, future exist simultaneously

Our experience of time may be blinding us to its true nature, say scientists.

Back to the Future.
  • Time may not be passing at all, says the Block Universe Theory.
  • Time travel may be possible.
  • Your perception of time is likely relative to you and limited.
Keep reading Show less
time travel cosmology physics grandfather paradox block universe theory future time spacetime einstein weird science

Scientists Discover The "Angel Particle" That Is Both Matter and Anti-Matter

Researchers succeed in an 80-year-old quest to find the elusive "angel particle".

A composite view of the Crab nebula viewed by the Herschel Space Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope (Image: NASA)

A team of scientists found first evidence for the existence of a Majorana fermion, a hypothetical particle proposed 80 years ago that is its own antiparticle. 

Keep reading Show less
physics quantum big bang science angel particle Dan Brown Angels and Demons Shoucheng Zhang Frank Wilczek technology weird science