The post Physicists Discover the Most Complex Forms of Ice Yet first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Ice comes in more forms than what you’ll find in a freezer or a glacier. Since 1900, scientists have observed more than 20 phases of ice, many of them shaped under extreme conditions. The growing list includes hot ice and even ice that conducts electricity. Ice is the name for any phase of water that is solid and crystalline, meaning that it has a repeating molecular structure.
The post A New Type of Neuroplasticity Rewires the Brain After a Single Experience first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Every experience we have changes our brain, the way a ceramicist reshapes a slab of clay. Every corner we turn, every conversation we have, every shudder we feel causes cascading effects: Chemicals are released, electricity surges, the connections between brain cells tighten, and our mental models update. The brain is “incredibly plastic, and it stays that way throughout the lifespan of a human,”…
The post A Powerful New ‘QR Code’ Untangles Math’s Knottiest Knots first appeared on Quanta Magazine
From the tangle in your computer cord to the mess your cat made of your knitting basket, knots are everywhere in daily life. They also pervade science, showing up in loops of DNA, intertwined polymer strands, and swirling water currents. And within pure mathematics, knots are the key to many central questions in topology. Yet knot theorists still struggle with the most basic of questions: how to…
The post What Physical ‘Life Force’ Turns Biology’s Wheels? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
You’re the earliest known life form. There’s no food around right now. It would be great to go somewhere else. But you’re stuck. Really stuck. At your size (a couple of microns), water feels like tar, or rather, it feels the way being stuck in tar will eventually feel to a human. What do you do? You’ve found the perfect solution. Literally perfect.
The post Quantum ‘Jamming’ Explores the Truly Fundamental Principles of Nature first appeared on Quanta Magazine
For the past few decades, researchers have understood that quantum computers should eventually be able to crack the widely used codes that secure much of the digital world. To protect against this fate, they’ve spent years developing new codes that appear to be safe from future safecrackers armed with quantum computers. At the same time, they’ve also devised ingenious ways to use the rules of…
