Time Crystals – A Form of Matter That Changes Everything
Of all the names that have science fiction connotations, perhaps none are as mysterious or seemingly impossible as time crystals. The name may make you think of the movie “Back to the Future,” but the reality is much more interesting than the movie. Two different teams of researchers recently reported observing time crystals, or temporal crystals, which reinforces the idea that this theoretical state of matter can be created and observed. And indeed, these crystals can be grown even in a child’s bedroom! You’ve probably heard of crystal growing kits. But it takes nuclear sensors and lasers to help them reach their full potential. Read on to understand what they…
Is interstellar travel possible? Some arguments and questions
Interstellar travel is possible, says a team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Georgia Gwinnett College. Through numerical simulations and computer calculations, they have observed that rotating black holes can be traversed. Scientists wanted to test whether Cooper (played by Matthew McConaughey) in Christopher Nolan’s film “Interstellar” could survive crashing into Gargantua – a fictional, rotating, supermassive black hole about 100 million times the mass of our sun. The physical properties of this black hole were taken from the book written by Nobel laureate Kip Thorne, on which the film was based. Do rotating black holes make interstellar travel possible? These mysterious creatures called black holes are…
