Scientists Create Never-Before-Seen Form of Matter

Working with colleagues at the Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms, a group led by Harvard Professor of Physics Mikhail Lukin and MIT Professor of Physics Vladan Vuletic have managed to coax photons into binding together to form molecules -- a state of matter that, until recently, had been purely theoretical. The work is described in a September 25 paper in Nature. The discovery, Lukin said, runs contrary to decades of accepted wisdom about the nature of light. Photons have long been described as massless particles which don't interact with each other -- shine two laser beams at each other, he said, and they simply pass through one another.

www.sciencedaily.com...

Well that changes things a bit. I wonder what astounding things they can come up with in the next while using this kind of technology..

I really shouldn't read ATS threads when I'm half falling asleep from being sick. I read photons as "fontons". I kept thinking, "What the heck is a fonton" lol. Interesting information.

reply to post by Sportbominable


Fontons are the vessels that contain copious amounts of melted cheese. They are what you dip your Photons into. When you have friends over for a Fontondu..

The article mentions how this may be another way to do quantum computing. There sure have a lot of advancements toward that recently in last few years. I may get to see one in my lifetime. That would be interesting. If nothing else a lightsaber would be pretty sweet to have. Complete with whooshing noise lol.

That is some crazy stuff right there, Photonic molecules... molecules with zero mass...

Very interesting.

reply to post by canucks555


Something tells me they ought not do this. I can't explain why I feel this way, because I don't understand it myself. But something made my blood run cold reading that clip you posted.

I don't know enough about it to even formulate a decent argument it. Does anybody out there understand how I feel?

canucks555
reply to post by Sportbominable

 

Fontons are the vessels that contain copious amounts of melted cheese. They are what you dip your Photons into. When you have friends over for a Fontondu..

A star for making me laugh

As for the OP, this is the kind of thing that should open skeptics eyes! I've lost count of the times I hear those words "Cant because of the laws of physics"

We live in exciting times.

reply to post by new_here


Something tells me they ought not do this. I can't explain why I feel this way,

You're probably thinking of the ways this type of thing (IE: real light sabers) could be used as weapons . It's a correct way to think imo...no doubt all sections of society and thought could benefit.

reply to post by new_here


You might be getting that feeling because something like this will probably be weaponized before it will be used for good. My mind goes to invisible bullets, or like I said a lightsaber would be sweet. Hope that made sense.

reply to post by canucks555

They are heading toward the ability some abductees have said UFO's have, able to turn their solid mass invisible and see through where they are standing on nothing. The same as the floor of the alien machine in the movie Contact after it powers up.

Did their theory that lead them to this come maybe from somewhere other than their own learning.

reply to post by canucks555


Lol

This could mean all kinda of crazy possibilitys.

Do the molecules ACTUALLY have no mass? Because last time i checked the photon carries some sort of kinetic property for solar sails to work (which NASA tested and they do)

Could this be something that could be collected, fabricated and then ejected for thrust in space!?

EDIT: even more than thta, can these be bind to another other atoms to make 'light' molecules?

reply to post by Biigs


Hard to say unless you're schooled in this sort of thing. Which I am definitely not.
Maybe the thread will be lucky enough to have Phage chime in on the possibilities at some point.

reply to post by canucks555


Its times like this that minecraft has a surprising attraction

Inserting a non-mass particle into mass-having matter molecules, i really cant even imagine what might be possible.

What if the max speed was increased some how, and you could deliver coded molecules at near light speed. you could not only deliver data but actual matter.... HOLY CRAP bind an electron to it and take data and power... 0.o

canucks555
I wonder what astounding things they can come up with

That is all.

canucks555
reply to post by new_here

 

Something tells me they ought not do this. I can't explain why I feel this way,

You're probably thinking of the ways this type of thing (IE: real light sabers) could be used as weapons . It's a correct way to think imo...no doubt all sections of society and thought could benefit.

edit on 25-9-2013 by canucks555 because: (no reason given)

Wait does this actually mean we can build a lightsaber?
I would benifit

reply to post by canucks555


but why? because they can or is there some unknown positive or negative consequence we just haven't realized yet?... read further into the article, they did it for fun, how unimpressive...

reply to post by agentofchaos


At this point I'd say that they did it just because they "can"
Let the next generation deal with the benefits if this thing amounts to something...
Let the next gen. deal with the side effects as well....
(cue insidious music..)

"Computer, locate Lieutenant Barclay?"
"Lieutenant Barclay is on Holodeck #1"

May be this is the early stages of holography. At least the kind in th public domain.