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Caption Illustration of the double-slit experiment, showing a plane wave (top left) passing through a screen with two gaps. The gaps act as new wave sources and the wavefronts bend to create two sets of circular waves radiating outwards. These two new waves create an interference pattern as they interact. At the point where a wave peak from one hits a wave peak from another, or a trough hits a trough, they reinforce each other; their magnitudes are summed. This is known as constructive interference. Where a trough hits a peak, they cancel each other out. This is known as destructive interference.

Light interacts with its past self in twist on double-slit experiment

3 April 2023

The double-slit experiment consists of light passing through two slits separated by a small space – now researchers have performed it with small gaps in time instead

Blue laser light being used in experiment

Strange quantum effect predicted 30 years ago has now been observed

18 November 2021

Pauli blocking, a quantum phenomenon that makes a dense quantum gas suddenly turn transparent, has now been observed in three independent experiments

Watch a toy boat float upside down in a levitating puddle

2 September 2020

By taking advantage of a strange phenomenon in which liquids can be shaken so fast that they levitate, researchers have made a toy boat float upside down

Lenses made with spider silk could help take pictures inside the body

30 June 2020

Tiny lenses made out of spider silk and clear resin can produce a special kind of light beam that makes them perfect for taking images of tiny objects like viruses

Smart windows can let visible light through while blocking out heat

27 April 2020

A 3D printed grate can be used to make a smart window that blocks heat from sunlight out in the summer while letting it through in the winter, conserving energy

Electrified artificial skin can feel exactly where it is touched

21 January 2020

Orange-coloured gel has been made into artificial skin that can be 3D printed in any shape and detect human touch – one day it could help robots feel

Blasting lead with 160 lasers makes it incredibly strong, then explode

19 November 2019

When lead is quickly brought to extremely high pressures using 160 laser beams, it suddenly becomes 250 times stronger – and then it explodes

Terraforming Mars with strange silica blanket could let plants thrive

15 July 2019

Mars’s surface is not suitable for life because of its low temperatures and constant radiation bombardment, but just a few centimetres of aerogel could fix that

Packaging-free shops may tackle plastic but risk increasing food waste

3 July 2019

Shops that let you bring your own containers aim to tackle the plastic packaging scourge, but they may not be the perfect solution

A solar panel that unfolds in sunlight could power spacecraft

3 July 2019

Special polymers that expand when heated allow a solar panel to unfurl when it is exposed to sunlight, which could be useful for solar-powered spacecraft