MIT physicists have created a new form of matter, a supersolid, which combines the properties of solids with those of superfluids.
Quantum Physics
Mar 3, 2017
6
2988
Can helium bond with other elements to form a stable compound? Students attentive to Utah State University professor Alex Boldyrev's introductory chemistry lectures would immediately respond "no." And they'd be correct – ...
Materials Science
Feb 6, 2017
1
1976
The gas that makes balloons float is also vital to scientific experiments. In these experiments, natural helium (He) is purified, but it contains a tiny bit of a slightly different form of helium, known as the isotope 3He. ...
General Physics
Dec 15, 2016
0
6
Helium atoms are loners. Only if they are cooled down to an extremely low temperature do they form a very weakly bound molecule. In so doing, they can keep a tremendous distance from each other thanks to the quantum-mechanical ...
Quantum Physics
Dec 7, 2016
0
14
In the double slit experiment, a particle travels on two different paths at the same time. Something similar can be observed when a helium atom is ionized with a laser beam. The ionization of helium can happen via two different ...
Quantum Physics
Nov 10, 2016
1
225
Analyzing ultrafast chemical processes requires ultrafast lasers—light pulses lasting for mere attoseconds (10-18 second)—to act as a "stop-motion" strobe camera. Physicists at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are analyzing ...
General Physics
Sep 8, 2016
0
14
Scientists in Germany said Thursday they had reached a milestone in a quest to derive energy from nuclear fusion, billed as a potentially limitless, safe and cheap source.
Plasma Physics
Dec 10, 2015
23
7549
Helium usually reminds people of colorful gas balloons. However, helium is much more than the filling for these children's treats. It also helps quantum physicists to study the most exotic and hidden properties of matter. ...
General Physics
Nov 2, 2015
1
27
One of the most important challenges for successful commercialization of fusion power is the development of materials that can tolerate the extreme conditions of elevated temperatures and high particle flux of hydrogen isotopes ...
General Physics
Aug 6, 2015
1
202
A team of researchers from the University of Leicester and France's G2ELab-CNRS in Grenoble have for the first time observed the growth of free nanoparticles in helium gas in a process similar to the decaffeination of coffee, ...
Nanomaterials
Jul 23, 2015
0
51
