Thomas Young, born 250 years ago this week, was a polymath who made seminal contributions in fields from physics to Egyptology. But perhaps his most enduring legacy is proving Isaac Newton wrong about ...

I learned in October 2022’s Breakthrough that the spikes of stars in high-power photos are called diffraction spikes. Why do they appear as two crosses at 45 degrees to each other? The diffraction ...

Tokyo, Japan – One of the simplest and most beautiful naturally occurring patterns can be observed when light is shined through a pair of slightly misaligned periodic structures. This phenomenon, ...

For over 100 years, quantum physics has taught us that light is both a wave and a particle. Now, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have performed a daring experiment using ...

In a paper published in Nature Photonics, the research team from the Center for Quantum Information and Communication – Ecole polytechnique de Bruxelles of Université libre de Bruxelles, has found an ...

MIT physicists have performed an idealized version of one of the most famous experiments in quantum physics. Their findings demonstrate, with atomic-level precision, the dual yet evasive nature of ...

The following is an extract from our Lost in Space-Time newsletter. Each month, we dive into fascinating ideas from around the universe. You can sign up for Lost in Space-Time here. When physicist ...

Changing light's polarization can reverse the structure of a patterned light field, opening a new way to control geometry and information in optics. (Nanowerk Spotlight) Light can be bent, focused, or ...

"These single atoms are like the smallest slits you could possibly build." When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. For over 100 years, ...

Physicists confirm that light has two identities that are impossible to see at once. (Nanowerk News) MIT physicists have performed an idealized version of one of the most famous experiments in quantum ...