Tech

Researchers cool a 40 kg object to near its quantum ground state

Enlarge / One of the 40 kg mirrors that has approached its quantum ground state. (credit: Matt Heintze/Caltech/MIT/LIGO Lab) Objects that obey the rules of quantum mechanics behave very differently from those in the familiar world around us. That difference leads to an obvious question: is it possible to get an everyday item to start […]

Tech

Researchers measure the gravity exerted by a 90 milligram object

Enlarge / The experimental setup. (credit: Tobias Westphal / University of Vienna) Gravity may feel like one of the most familiar forces, but it’s actually among those we understand least. We know our current model of gravity is inconsistent with quantum mechanics. It also fails to account for the phenomena we’ve termed dark matter and […]

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The Expanse S5 Evaluation: The Series is bigger, bolder, and better than

Expand / / Space is mind-bogglingly large… but what occurs there might not remain there. The science fiction space opera is now a renowned genre, and somehow The Expanse is challenging to describe. Allow me to try to sum this up in its simplest: The Expanse is really a series about distance. It’s a show […]