Scientists Create Never-Before-Seen Form of Matter

Sportbominable
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.

It's like a Funton but less fun! or possibly a type of Futon where you can get that extra sleep!

reply to post by new_here


Yes, read the book "Green eggs and Ham".

And then start reading the basics of quantum physics.

new_here
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?

It's called Luddite syndrome.

Biigs
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

Now you've got me thinking of comets and their tails streaming off behind them as they are bombarded with photons from the sun. Comets, those 'dirty balls of ice' --do the photons become one with the comet and propel it onward? They do not travel at the speed of light, to be sure, but there was a recent thread about anomalies of comets' orbits as they leave the inner solar system... something having to do with them returning sooner than their calculated orbits should allow. (Related to their elliptical path being so close to infinity-- meaning, straight line and onward, never to be seen again. But they do come back like clockwork.) I think Halley's comet was one mentioned. Anybody remember that thread?

In short:
Your post + the initial post mentioning sub-freezing temps as a condition in creating these photon molecules = photon-booster comet tails will travel.

This is awesome, thank you this is one of the reasons I joined ATS to catch this news I may have missed otherwise.

Love the lightsaber reference, can I order two?

Hey maybe we will be able to make an actual physical force shield made out of light too, wonder how strong they can make it.

new_here
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?

Sort of.

I subscribe to Science Daily and read the article a few days ago or last week and something about it made me want to not post it nor to read it all.

I love science and I know of tech advances often in depth. This new find is important and exciting, but as per usual, when humanity gets it's hands on something of such importance you can bet your bottom dollar (insert currency) that there will be some war / commercial entity either funding it or trying making claims for it's patent. Such is the way of opportunistic despotism / commercialism / control freakery.

Nature is not owned by man.

Attempts at controlling / owning nature often results in nature having to show who's boss.

boncho

new_here
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?

It's called Luddite syndrome.

Could be. But it would be uncharacteristic of me. Fact is, my gut reaction being so inexplicably strong and unusual is what propelled me to post what I did. Who knows? Hope you're right, 'cause if I had a weird premonition, it's too late to put the cat back in the bag now!

Could this tech lead to true teleportation?
Convert matter into photons, beam photons via laser to destination,
then convert photons back into matter again.

ArcAngel
reply to post by new_here

 

Yes, read the book "Green eggs and Ham".

And then start reading the basics of quantum physics.

Are you trying to be funny, insulting, or just off topic? This is the only thing you've posted in this thread. Of all the thoughts you could add to this lively discussion... why?

Nature is not owned by man.

Attempts at controlling / owning nature often results in nature having to show who's boss.

reply to post by theabsolutetruth


Amen. *Insert thumbs up emoticon here*
Discoveries like this most certainly do bring out the duality of human nature- the good intentions & the bad.

Not molecules in the since most know.

An effect called a Rydberg blockade, Lukin said, which states that when an atom is excited, nearby atoms cannot be excited to the same degree. In practice, the effect means that as two photons enter the atomic cloud, the first excites an atom, but must move forward before the second photon can excite nearby atoms.

The result, he said, is that the two photons push and pull each other through the cloud as their energy is handed off from one atom to the next.

"It's a photonic interaction that's mediated by the atomic interaction," Lukin said. "That makes these two photons behave like a molecule, and when they exit the medium they're much more likely to do so together than as single photons

Just thought of something possibly even better than light sabers and force fields, this could lead to an actual star trek like holodeck where you can create any type of physical environment you want.

Of course that could be a bad thing too, too many people might withdraw into personal fantasies.

Somewhat less fantasy like, maybe it could be used to replace all non-biodegradable containers as well. If we could create containers out of light and disband them when no longer needed we could eliminate most waste.

agentofchaos
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...

edit on 25-9-2013 by agentofchaos because: to add that last sentence, because it is important

realy?, i mean... what better reasons are there than fun? i find it extremely impressive that there are people smart enough to do this for fun. this is exiting

One question, for someone with a better understanding of physics. As I understand it current theories say matter would gain something like infinite mass ans require infinite power to obtain a speed of light so it is not believed to be possible.

Would matter made out of light, previously thought impossible, somehow be able to alter that theory? Could a light type matter retain the ability to travel at the speed of light outside current understanding with matter and light?

reply to post by new_here


Maybe the cold part of the idea of freezing light?

Just a short thought, sorry opt, very interesting new stuff!
Thanks

Biigs
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)

Photons are massless, but they have momentum that is expressed as cE, where c is the usual, and E is the energy level of the photon in question.

It is a small portion of this momentum that is transferred to a solar sail and the photon reflects off at a lower energy level.

It's not unlike the loss of energy of a photon, as the article mentions, when the photon passes through the supercooled rubidium cloud, in fact.

inquisitive1977
One question, for someone with a better understanding of physics. As I understand it current theories say matter would gain something like infinite mass ans require infinite power to obtain a speed of light so it is not believed to be possible.

Not all matter would gain mass, because not all matter possesses mass in the first place. Notably, photons have no intrinsic mass at all, which explains how they can travel at c and not be infinitely massive.

In the broadest sense of the term, photons are "matter" just like everything else. They just don't have mass like (almost) everything else.

Harte

I see tractor beams in the near future but seriously the flood gates are open it's just a matter of time before this gets put to good use

Lukin also suggested that the system might one day even be used to create complex three-dimensional structures -- such as crystals -- wholly out of light.

I know that they are looking at this for quantum computing at the moment however I see this as an applicable interface for 3d printing without the ink/plastic that is required now. You would simply require energy.

reply to post by Harte


Thank you, that is kind of what I was thinking just not sure how to word it.

So theoretically once perfected we might be able to build an interstellar probe capable of travelling at light speed. Just amazing thinking about all of the possible implications of such an advancement.

inquisitive1977
reply to post by Harte

 

Thank you, that is kind of what I was thinking just not sure how to word it.

So theoretically once perfected we might be able to build an interstellar probe capable of travelling at light speed. Just amazing thinking about all of the possible implications of such an advancement.

That would certainly be a great advancement, but what yoyu're saying simply doesn't follow from this discovery.

Harte