As children, we obsess over our favorite superheroes and the superpowers we wish we could have. We dress up as Spiderman for Halloween and pretend we have superhuman reflexes like Wonder Woman. Some powers, like telekinesis, are out of the reach of science. But what if some are not? In the past decade, researchers have begun developing
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To many in the general public today, the concept of “nuclear fusion” evokes a sense of strange, distant, otherworldly awe. Even in recent pop culture, Marvel’s cinematic Iron Man franchise uses this property of fusion reactors to augment the sleek, futuristic feel of Tony Stark’s suit. Yet despite its long relegation to science fiction, a few small organizations–including one
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You trust the encryption systems that your bank uses to secure your accounts and that your doctor uses to keep your medical records confidential, right? These encryption systems are great at guarding against almost all attacks by modern computers, but there’s a new type of computer on the rise: the quantum computer. Not only can quantum computers easily break
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Once upon a time, it was the early 20th century and physics was pretty much over. Yes, that’s right. With classical mechanics (remember what we talked about last time?) having been thoroughly thought out by some of the most brilliant scientific minds in history
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Before the dawn of civilization, two giants spun. Floating out in the void of space, two black holes circled each other. With every rotation, they came ever so slightly closer. And finally, in an instant, they collided. In an event of unimaginable power, two black holes became one with a universe-shaking blast. And over a billion years later, humanity heard
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Staring at a list of physics equations can be daunting. These mathematical expressions, though, are meant to model the world that we see around us. Luckily there are several do-it-yourself demos that can illustrate concepts such as circular motion. For example, swinging a bucket full of water over your head seems like a good way to get wet, right? Intuitively,
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