For the first time, a quantum radiation reaction in strong electromagnetic fields has been demonstrated experimentally by allowing electrons to collide with an extremely intense and powerful laser ...

For the first time, researchers have developed a way to create chilled molecules containing the radioactive element radium.

Researchers use laser treatments to transform ordinary cork into a powerful tool for treating oil spills. They tested variations of a fast-pulsing laser treatment, closely examining the nanoscopic ...

Scientists completed several successful attempts to fire 28 kilojoules of laser energy at small capsules filled with deuterium and tritium fuel, causing the capsules to implode and produce a plasma ...

For the first time, physicists have directly measured the temperature of extremely hot gold particles using a giant X-ray laser—a breakthrough with major implications for engineering spacecraft or ...

In the summer of 1960, physicist Theodore H. Maiman conducted a laboratory experiment at Hughes Research Laboratories that produced the first laser beam. Using a high-energy flashlamp and a small ...

Scientists have long known that light can sometimes appear to exit a material before entering it -- an effect dismissed as an illusion caused by how waves are distorted by matter. Now, researchers at ...

Quantum physicists have measured negative time in a remarkable quantum experiment that is reshaping discussions around quantum mechanics, photon behavior, and the nature of time itself. The study, ...

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American It wasn’t so long ago that I was in graduate ...