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    Monika Schleier-Smith leads elaborate quantum conversations

    “I like it if I can run uphill and be rewarded with a view of the bay,” says Monika Schleier-Smith. She’s talking about a favorite spot to exercise around Palo Alto, Calif., but the sentiment also applies to her scientific work. A physicist at Stanford, Schleier-Smith, 36, has a reputation for embracing the uphill climb. […] More

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    A new magnetic swirl, or skyrmion, could upgrade data storage

    Magnetic swirls called skyrmions have gotten a new twist. Scientists have created a new version of the atomic whirlpools, in which the tiny magnetic fields of individual atoms in a material arrange into a swirl pattern. Known as antiferromagnetic skyrmions, the new structures have some advantages that could make them easier to work with than […] More

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    A predicted superconductor might work at a record-breaking 200° Celsius

    The steamiest summer day would be no sweat for this potential superconductor. Scientists have calculated that a hydrogen-rich compound could conduct electricity without resistance at temperatures up to about 200° Celsius — well above the 100° C boiling point of water. If that prediction is confirmed experimentally, the material would stand in stark contrast to […] More

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    Quantum physicists have teleported ‘qutrits’ for the first time

    Regular old quantum teleportation wasn’t enough for scientists. So they’ve kicked it up a notch. Previously, physicists had teleported qubits, or quantum bits of information. Just as a standard bit in a desktop computer has two possible values, 0 or 1, a qubit has two possible states. Now scientists have moved on, reporting in the […] More

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    Scientists seek materials that defy friction at the atomic level

    It’s a moonless night. The wind howls outside. A door opens slowly, as if pushed by an invisible hand. “Cre-e-e-a-k.” That sound — a horror movie cliché — is the result of friction. A stealthier entrance calls for oiling the door’s hinges. Friction is everywhere — from a violinist bowing a string to children skidding down […] More

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    In a first, scientists took the temperature of a sonic black hole

    Lab experiments characterize a phenomenon predicted by cosmologist Stephen Hawking NOT BLACK  Stephen Hawking first proposed that black holes (illustrated) aren’t fully black, but emit a faint haze of particles that came to be known as Hawking radiation. Now scientists have measured the radiation’s temperature in a lab analog of a black hole. NASA’s Goddard […] More