#cavendish laboratory

In 1932, Ernest Walton and John Cockcroft split the nucleus of a Li (lithium) atom, often termed ‘splitting the atom’. The experiment was carried out in the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, England.

APPLES AND ATOMS BY EILIS O’CONNELL Apples and Atoms by Eilís O’Connell RHA Celebrating Ernest T.S. Walton 1903-95, Nobel Laureate In 1932, Ernest Walton and John Cockcroft split the nucleus of a Li (lithium) atom, often termed ‘splitting the atom’. The experiment was carried out in the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, England. Albert Einstein declared that their experiment…

We can verify old predictions of quantum mechanics, for example that particles can exist in different locations at the same time.

David Arvidsson-Shukur

One of the fundamental ideas of quantum theoryis that quantum objects can exist both as a wave and as a particle, and that they don’t exist as one or the other until they are measured. This is the premise that Erwin Schrödinger was…

J. J. Thomson – Scientist of the Day

Joseph John Thomson, an English physicist usually known as J.J., was born Dec. 18, 1856 (first image).

Smallest-ever Star Discovered by Astronomers

Our discovery reveals how small stars can be.

Alexander Boetticher

The smallest star yet measured has been discovered by a team of astronomers led by the University of Cambridge. With a size just a sliver larger than that of Saturn, the gravitational pull at its stellar surface is about 300 times stronger than what humans feel on Earth.

The star is likely as small as stars can possibly…

Rotating Molecules Create a Brighter Future

If the effect we have discovered can be harnessed across the spectrum, it could change the way we generate light

Dr Dan Credgington

Writing in Science this week, the team, from the University of Cambridge, the University of East Anglia and the University of Eastern Finland, describes how it developed a new type of material that uses rotatable moleculesto emit light faster than has ever been…

Researchers have observed quantum effects in electrons by squeezing them into one-dimensional ‘quantum wires’ and observing the interactions between them. The results could be used to aid in the development of quantum technologies, including quantum computing.

Scientists have controlled electrons by packing them so tightly that they start to display quantum effects, using an…

Researchers build the world’s tiniest engine

Like real ants, they produce large forces for their weight.

Jeremy Baumberg

Researchers have developed the world’s tiniest engine – just a few billionths of a metre in size – which uses light to power itself. The nanoscale engine, developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, could form the basis of future nano-machines that can navigate in water, sense the environment around…

New state of matter detected in a two-dimensional material

An international team of researchers have found evidence of a mysterious new state of matter, first predicted 40 years ago, in a real material. This state, known as a quantum spin liquid, causes electrons – thought to be indivisible building blocks of nature – to break into pieces. The researchers, including physicists from the University of Cambridge, measured the first signatures of these…