Lifeboat Foundation

My new article, “Quantum Entanglement of Optical Photons: The First Experiment, 1964–67,” is intended to convey the spirit of a small research project that reaches into uncharted territory. The article breaks with tradition, as it offers a first-person account of the strategy and challenges of the experiment, as well as an interpretation of the final result and its significance. In this guest editorial, I will introduce the subject and also attempt to illuminate the question “What is a paradox?”

The fabric of spacetime is roiling with vibrating quantum fields, known as vacuum energy. It’s right there, everywhere we look. But could we ever get anything out of it?

Recently, quantum spin liquid signatures have been found in 3D systems. Here, using a combination of inelastic neutron scattering and calculations, the authors study the dynamic magnetic properties of a 3D quantum spin liquid candidate K2Ni2(SO4)3, identifying a spin liquid region in the theoretical phase diagram.

Figure 5 is the second key result of our work. It demonstrates a robust route to decomposing the contributions to the overall chiral optical signal, originating from interfering pathways encoding different topological charge. The decomposition relies on straightforward Fourier analysis of the far-field image. Given the ability to precisely control the orientation of the polarization ellipse of the incident infrared light, chiral topological light generated by such infrared drivers stands out as a robust probe of molecular chirality, capable of inducing strongly enantiosensitive total intensity signals as well as giant rotations of intense spectral features.

The concept of chiral topological light introduced here is not limited to vortex beams: other members of the larger family of structured light beams^32,33,34 can be used to create locally and globally chiral topological light. We envision using tightly focused radially polarized beams, which are known to posses strong longitudinal components³⁵, central to the concept of local chirality. Skyrmionic beams^36,37 could also be used, for example to induce topological distributions with radially dependent topological charges. From the perspective of structured light^32,33,34,38 the temporally chiral vortex introduced here represents a new kind of polarization singularity, which could be analysed by extending the current framework from monochromatic 3D fields^39,40 to polychromatic 3D fields^13,41,42.

Our method is not limited to high harmonics. Its extension to low-order parametric processes such as chiral sum-frequency generation⁴³ has potential for non-destructive enantiosensitive imaging in the ultraviolet region and for exploiting intrinsically low-order nonlinearities for enantiosensitive detection in the X-ray domain^16,17.

The detection of individual particles and molecules has opened new horizons in analytical chemistry, cellular imaging, nanomaterials, and biomedical diagnostics. Traditional single-molecule detection methods rely heavily on fluorescence techniques, which require labeling of the target molecules.

Theoretical work explains why terahertz radiation is emitted when a laser pulse demagnetizes a magnetic thin film.

A Yale-led study reveals that two types of neurodevelopmental abnormalities emerging early in brain development are linked to autism, with these differences influenced by brain size.

By using brain organoids derived from autistic children’s stem cells, researchers uncovered distinct neural growth patterns, potentially guiding personalized treatments and diagnoses.

Early Brain Development and Autism.

A New Zealand-based startup has developed a method of safely and wirelessly transmitting electric power across long distances without the use of copper wire, and is working on implementing it with the country’s second-largest power distributor.

The dream of wireless power transmission is far from new; everyone’s favorite electrical genius Nikola Tesla once proved he could power light bulbs from more than two miles away with a 140-foot Tesla coil in the 1890s – never mind that in doing so he burned out the dynamo at the local powerplant and plunged the entire town of Colorado Springs into blackout.

Tesla’s dream was to place enormous towers all over the world that could transmit power wirelessly to any point on the globe, powering homes, businesses, industries and even giant electric ships on the ocean. Investor J.P. Morgan famously killed the idea with a single question: “where can I put the meter?”

Note: This post is co-authored with Stacy Li, a PhD student at Berkeley studying aging biology! Highly appreciate all her help in writing, editing, and fact-checking my understanding!