Stealthy communication just got more secure, thanks to quantum entanglement. Quantum physics provides a way to share secret information that’s mathematically proven to be safe from the prying eyes of…
Category: Physics
A new dark matter experiment quashed earlier hints of new particles
Potential hints of weird new particles in a dark matter detector have evaporated with new data. Following up on a beguiling result from its predecessor experiment, the XENONnT experiment found…
A supersensitive dark matter search found no signs of the substance — yet
The next generation of dark matter detectors has arrived. A massive new effort to detect the elusive substance has reported its first results. Following a time-honored tradition of dark matter…
Aliens could send quantum messages to Earth, calculations suggest
An intelligent alien civilization could beam quantum messages to Earth. Particles of light, or photons, could be transmitted over vast, interstellar distances without losing their quantum nature, researchers report June…
How physicists are probing the Higgs boson 10 years after its discovery
Javier Duarte kicked off his scientific career by witnessing the biggest particle physics event in decades. On July 4, 2012, scientists at the laboratory CERN near Geneva announced the discovery…
Quantum physics exponentially improves some types of machine learning
Machine learning can get a boost from quantum physics. On certain types of machine learning tasks, quantum computers have an exponential advantage over standard computation, scientists report in the June…
How neutrinos could ensure a submarine’s nuclear fuel isn’t weaponized
Nuclear submarines might provide rogue nations with a path to nuclear weapons. But neutrinos could help reveal attempts to go from boats to bombs. Neutrinos, lightweight subatomic particles that are…
High-energy neutrinos may come from black holes ripping apart stars
When a star gets too close to a black hole, sparks fly. And, potentially, so do subatomic particles called neutrinos. A dramatic light show results when a supermassive black hole…
Experiments hint at why bird nests are so sturdy
To build its nest, a bird won’t go for any old twig. Somehow, birds pick and choose material that will create a cozy, sturdy nest. “That’s just totally mystifying to…
The Large Hadron Collider has restarted with upgraded proton-smashing potential
After a hiatus of more than three years, the Large Hadron Collider is back. Scientists shut down the particle accelerator in 2018 to allow for upgrades (SN: 12/3/18). On April…
