New findings on Dark Matter – the most mysterious substance in the universe – suggest that Einstein’s Theory of Relativity “may be wrong”. What could this revelation mean for both the world of science and beyond?
Quantum Computers, Explained With Quantum Physics
Quantum computers aren’t the next generation of supercomputers—they’re something else entirely. Before we can even begin to talk about their potential applications, we need to understand the fundamental physics that drives the theory of quantum computing. (Featuring Scott Aaronson, John Preskill, and Dorit Aharonov.) For more, read “Why Quantum Computers Are So Hard to Explain”
How Small Is An Atom? Spoiler: Very Small.
Atoms are very weird. Wrapping your head around exactly how weird, is close to impossible – how can you describe something that is SO removed from humans experience? But then again, they kind of make up everything, so let us try anyways.
A Better Way To Picture Atoms
This video is about using Bohmian trajectories to visualize the wavefunctions of hydrogen orbitals, rendered in 3D using custom python code in Blender.
This Fusion Fuel Experiment Will Bring Us One Step Closer to Ignition
Scientists are about to test the fuel that will eventually power the world’s largest nuclear fusion experiment, ITER. If all goes well, we’ll be one step closer to the goal of generating limitless energy.
If you’re new to the world of nuclear fusion, welcome to the decades-long waiting party. See, nuclear fission is what most of us are more familiar with: it’s when atoms are split apart to create huge amounts of energy.
But fusion is the fusing of two atoms, which releases an energy yield several times greater than fission. Almost all fusion experiments work specifically on fusing hydrogen atoms to form helium. And that’s the big dream of fusion ignition—it would produce a limitless supply of clean energy.
But as you can imagine, heating hydrogen plasmas to 150 million degrees Celsius and then compressing and confining them down into states of matter even more extreme than what’s at the center of the Sun is…kinda hard. There are private and nationally-funded facilities all over the world working toward this…and that’s where ITER comes in.
What Is Light?
We are so used to some things that we stopped wondering about them. Like light. What is light? Some kind of wavy thing, right? Kind of.
What the HECK is a Photon?!
A photon is a purely quantum mechanical object representing the smallest piece of energy (or quanta) for light. Every quantum particle is a packet of energy though, so how do we tell photons apart from electrons, quarks, and neutrinos?
What Does An Atom REALLY Look Like?
From orbital mechanics to quantum mechanics, this video explains why we must accept a world of particles based on probabilities, statistics, and chance. Electrons, protons, and neutrons don’t behave the same way that planets and billiard balls do.
The Hidden Reality of Quantum Physics With Sean Carroll
Sean Carroll, the American theoretical physicist who specializes in quantum mechanics, gravity and cosmology explains the hidden reality of the micro-world.
The fundamental theory in physics which describes the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles, is known as quantum mechanics. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, quantum field theory, quantum technology, and quantum information science.
Sean Carroll explains to us in simple turns the mysterious properties of quantum physics. He thinks that we should try to understand quantum mechanics even though prominent physicists like Richard Feynman thought no one can understand quantum mechanics.
Quantum mechanics arose gradually from theories to explain observations which could not be reconciled with classical physics, such as Max Planck’s solution in 1900 to the black-body radiation problem.
Sean Carroll mentions how predictions of quantum mechanics have been verified experimentally to an extremely high degree of accuracy.
He also explains the wave function collapse of quantum mechanics. Another spooky aspect in quantum mechanics is when quantum systems interact with each other and the result can be the creation of quantum entanglement: their properties become so intertwined that a description of the whole solely in terms of the individual parts is no longer possible.
Contrary to popular belief, entanglement does not allow sending signals faster than light.
Quantum mechanics is perhaps the most successful theory ever formulated. For almost a century, experimenters have subjected it to rigorous tests, none of which called its foundations into question. It is truly one of the major triumphs in modern physics.
Electric Fields: Crash Course Physics #26
As we learn more about electricity, we have to talk about fields. Electric fields may seem complicated, but they’re really fascinating and a crucial part of physics. In this episode of Crash Course Physics, Shini chats about capacitors, conductors, electric field lines, and how objects with net charge generate electric fields.