New series: short, bite-sized summaries of important scientific topics — this is the first episode. Chapters 0:00 The force ...

A quantum problem once described as impossible for classical computers has now been solved using relatively modest hardware. Researchers used tensor networks to compress the overwhelming wave function ...

Physicists have directly linked quantum mechanics and Einstein's gravity theory. An experiment used ultracold atoms in ...

Irrational numbers have underpinned quantum mechanics for a century. Removing them could eliminate its strangest features and trigger the biggest upheaval in physics since quantum theory began ...

It's a well-known fact that quantum calculations are difficult, but one would think that quantum computers would facilitate the process. In most cases, this is true. Quantum bits, or qubits, use ...

When a guitar string is plucked or a playground swing is set in motion, the movement gradually fades away. Physicists call these "damped harmonic oscillators," and Newton's laws do a fine job of ...