MMC
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A team of Harvard and MIT physicists liken their discovery to the iconic weapon wielded by Jedi and Sith alike in the George Lucas films.
However, that could all change following a chance discovery by group of Harvard and MIT physicists. Writing in the latest edition of scientific journal Nature, they reveal that they have indeed found a way to bind photons together and make them do as they're told. The jump from forming photon-based molecules to a Jedi Knight's iconic space-age sword is nowhere near as farfetched or fantastical as it may seem either because the scientists themselves dare to draw the comparison. "It's not an in-apt analogy to compare this to lightsabers," said Professor Mikhail Lukin. "When these photons interact with each other, they're pushing against and deflect each other. The physics of what's happening in these molecules is similar to what we see in the movies."
The discovery is an off-shoot of experimenting with photons and rubidium atoms as a way of getting photons to carry quantum information. The team found that when more than one photon was fired through a cloud of rubidium at a time, they bound together and started interacting, doing none of the things that photons are typically known for.....snip~
Scientists may have invented the lightsaber
Looks like the Force will be with us. Now lets be smart enough not to share the tech with any else.
However, that could all change following a chance discovery by group of Harvard and MIT physicists. Writing in the latest edition of scientific journal Nature, they reveal that they have indeed found a way to bind photons together and make them do as they're told. The jump from forming photon-based molecules to a Jedi Knight's iconic space-age sword is nowhere near as farfetched or fantastical as it may seem either because the scientists themselves dare to draw the comparison. "It's not an in-apt analogy to compare this to lightsabers," said Professor Mikhail Lukin. "When these photons interact with each other, they're pushing against and deflect each other. The physics of what's happening in these molecules is similar to what we see in the movies."
The discovery is an off-shoot of experimenting with photons and rubidium atoms as a way of getting photons to carry quantum information. The team found that when more than one photon was fired through a cloud of rubidium at a time, they bound together and started interacting, doing none of the things that photons are typically known for.....snip~
Scientists may have invented the lightsaber
Looks like the Force will be with us. Now lets be smart enough not to share the tech with any else.
