Zhou and his colleagues considered a well-established technique known as reconstruction of attosecond beating by interference of two-photon transitions (RABBIT). In RABBIT, a train of ...

A fundamental limit on the heat produced when erasing a bit of information has been confirmed in a fully quantum system. The challenge in confirming the Landauer principle experimentally for a ...

Most models for the overall shape and geometry of the Universe—including some exotic ones—are compatible with the latest cosmic observations. Hall of mirrors. Lines of sight within a 3-torus form ...

The mass-and-spring-like behavior of a water droplet helps explain its ability to seal the leaky pipe from where it came. Liquid leaking from a small hole in the side of a vertical pipe transitions ...

Figure 1: Will two objects fall at the same rate in a vacuum? Galileo was the first to test this equivalence principle, and he was followed by many others, including the Apollo astronauts. Now, the ...

The creation of modern quantum mechanics was a messy business in which many of the participants did not grasp the significance of their own discoveries. The wave nature of electrons is revealed in ...

The demonstration that ions can be precisely manipulated in a trap containing integrated photonics paves the way for a large-scale trapped-ion quantum processor. Figure 1: Mordini and colleagues ...

The new JWST observatory is revealing far more bright galaxies in the early Universe than anyone predicted, and astrophysicists have more than one explanation for the puzzle. With the JWST observatory ...

Gravitational waves emitted by the merger of two black holes have been detected, setting the course for a new era of observational astrophysics. Figure 1: Numerical simulations of the gravitational ...

A laser-fusion scheme has achieved ignition—an important step on the road to energy production. Figure 1: Artist’s rendering of NIF’s laser beams entering through openings on either end of a hohlraum ...

Two studies find that fundamental quantum constraints rule out a previously proposed neutrino-laser scheme. In last year’s proposal of a neutrino laser, the researchers sought to exploit the same ...

Whether a droplet hitting a solid surface flattens smoothly or forms a ragged splash depends on the gas surrounding it. When a liquid drop hits a solid surface, like a raindrop hitting pavement, it ...