An ion trap helped create a quantum defect in two places at once
ANDREW BROOKES, NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Exotic quantum rifts have been created with charged atoms, and they exist in a superposition of being in two places at once. This is a first step towards better understanding the behaviour of such quantum defects in everything from materials to an entire universe.
Defects are ubiquitous – think of tears in textiles or cloudy imperfections in shiny crystals – but in quantum systems, they can have the extra property of being topological. That means the overall structure of the…
When, and where, did the covid-19 pandemic really begin?
People carrying out disinfection work at a market in Wuhan, where covid-19 is thought to have originated, in March 2020An...
Most comprehensive picture yet of how organs age at different rates
Someone’s kidneys could be a decade older, biologically, than their brainChristian Kitzmuller/Alamy Our organs appear to age at different rates,...
How safe is the US food supply?
Produce has been the source of many foodborne illness outbreaks in the US this yearThe Image Party/Shutterstock Apple sauce containing...
Hunter-gatherers built a massive fish trap in Belize 4000 years ago
Satellite image showing channels that formed part of an ancient fishery, and Mayan sites nearbyGoogle Earth Archaeologists have discovered a...
