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The driving engine of a key step in photosynthesis, the process by which plants and some microorganisms convert water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight into oxygen and carbohydrates. More efficient by far in its ability to convert energy than any operation devised by man, this cascade helps drive almost all life on earth. Remarkably, photosynthesis appears to derive its ferocious efficiency not from the familiar physical laws that govern the...
2009-01-13
quantum physics photosynthesis brain evolutionHand-held devices could soon have pressure-sensitive touch-screens and keys, thanks to a UK firm's material that exploits a quantum physics trick.
2010-02-09
quantum physics tunnel mobile phone touch probabilitySuch states, in which an object is effectively in two places at once, have until now only been accomplished with single particles, atoms and molecules. In this experiment, published in the journal Nature, scientists produced a quantum state in an object billions of times larger than previous tests.
2010-03-17
nanotechnology quantum computer quantum physics virus
It uses the strange "quantum states" of matter to perform calculations in a way that, if scaled up, could vastly outperform conventional computers. The 6cm-by-6cm chip holds nine quantum devices, among them four "quantum bits" that do the calculations. The team said further scaling up to 10 qubits should be possible this year.
2011-03-22
quantum computer quantum physics computer qubit chip processorResearchers have devised a penny-sized silicon chip that uses photons to run Shor's algorithm - a well-known quantum approach - to solve a maths problem.
2009-09-04
quantum computer quantum physics optical photon physics computerThe team allowed the photons to pass through a thin sliver of the mineral calcite which gave each photon a tiny nudge in its path, with the amount of deviation dependent on which slit it passed through. By averaging over a great many photons passing through the apparatus, and only measuring the light patterns on a camera, the team was able to infer what paths the photons had taken. While they were able to easily observe the interference...
2011-06-03
quantum physics uncertainty particle wave interference law physics philosophyUS particle physicists are inching closer to determining why the Universe exists in its current form, made overwhelmingly of matter.
2011-07-01
antimatter physics quantum physics Universe cosmology