physicist

Chien-Shiung Wu | Particle physicist denied a Nobel prize

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At its heart, physics is the study of symmetries. In the 1950s Chien-Shiung Wu made a fundamental discovery about how under certain circumstances a fundamental symmetry of the particle world, known as parity symmetry, could be broken – but she never got full recognition for the achievement. Symmetry is important because by observing how, under … Read more

Physicists Have Observed a Strange New Kind of Transition in Electronic Crystals

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As basic science teaches us, changes in temperature can result in phase transitions in materials – like when water solidifies as ice in the freezing cold. However, in some cases the temperature that triggers the change is different depending on whether the material is cooling down or warming up. This is known as a hysteresis … Read more

In a Historic Milestone, Silicon Quantum Computing Just Exceeded 99% Accuracy

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A major milestone has just been reached in quantum computing. Three separate teams around the world have passed the 99 percent accuracy threshold for silicon-based quantum computing, placing error-free quantum operations within tantalizing grasp.   In Australia, a team led by physicist Andrea Morello of the University of New South Wales achieved 99.95 percent accuracy … Read more

google celebrates 315th birthday of french physicist émilie du châtelet

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Google is celebrating the 315th birthday of Émilie du Châtelet, who was a physicist, translator, philosopher despite the exclusion of women from physics at the time. Du Châtelet’s most influential book was her anonymously published 1740 text, “The Foundations of Physics,” which built on Isaac Newton‘s work. She also completed a translation of his “Principia,” … Read more