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Category: quantum physics – Page 12

SCP-239: The Child Who Can Rewrite Reality | The Science and Ethics of a Sleeping God

Can a child’s imagination alter the laws of physics? In this speculative science essay, we explore SCP-239, “The Witch Child” — a sleeping eight-year-old whose mind can reshape matter, rewrite probability, and collapse reality itself.

We examine how the SCP Foundation’s containment procedures—from telekill alloys to induced comas—reflect humanity’s struggle to contain a consciousness powerful enough to bend the universe. Through philosophy, ethics, and quantum speculation, this essay asks:
What happens when belief becomes a force of nature?

🎓 About the Series.
This video is part of our Speculative Science series, where we analyze anomalous phenomena through physics, cognitive science, and ethics.

📅 New speculative science videos every weekday at 6 PM PST / 9 PM EST.
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💬 Share your theories in the comments below:
Should SCP-239 remain asleep forever, or does humanity have a moral duty to understand her?

#SCP239 #SpeculativeScience #TheWitchChild #SCPFoundation #ScienceFiction #Philosophy #AIExplained #Ethics #SciFiEssay #LoreExplained

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Anomalous metal sheds light on ‘impossible’ state between superconductivity and insulation

Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, steered very thin conductors from superconductivity to insulation—creating an “impossible,” strange state between the two mutually exclusive states.

Materials research is absolutely crucial when dealing with quantum states. Whatever material is used as the basis for creating controllable quantum states, like if you want to build applications using quantum states for computing, sensing, or communication, the materials often define to what extent you can eliminate the ever-present noise that disturbs or even disrupts the desired “clean” quantum states or signals. It is an ongoing battle.

The team led by Saulius Vaitiekenas, associate professor at the Niels Bohr Institute, has succeeded in creating what is supposed to be an impossible intermediate state between superconductor = absolutely no resistance or loss of electrical connection—and total insulation = complete shut-off of the electrical signal.

Researchers achieve atomic-scale control of quantum interference

In a study published in Nature Communications, a research team demonstrates the all-electrical control of quantum interference in individual atomic spins on a surface.

Quantum interference arises when a system exists in a superposition of states, with relative phases producing constructive or . An example is Landau-Zener-Stückelberg-Majorana (LZSM) interference, which arises when a quantum two-level system is repeatedly driven through an anticrossing in the energy-level diagram, and undergoes multiple nonadiabatic transitions.

This mechanism is a powerful tool for fast and reliable quantum control, but it remains a significant challenge to achieve tunable LZSM interference in an atomic-scale quantum architecture where multiple spins can be precisely assembled and controllably coupled on demand.

Quantum crystals offer a blueprint for the future of computing and chemistry

Imagine industrial processes that make materials or chemical compounds faster, cheaper, and with fewer steps than ever before. Imagine processing information in your laptop in seconds instead of minutes or a supercomputer that learns and adapts as efficiently as the human brain. These possibilities all hinge on the same thing: how electrons interact in matter.

A team of Auburn University scientists has now designed a new class of materials that gives scientists unprecedented control over these tiny particles. Their study, published in ACS Materials Letters, introduces the tunable coupling between isolated-metal molecular complexes, known as solvated electron precursors, where electrons aren’t locked to atoms but instead float freely in open spaces.

From their key role in energy transfer, bonding, and conductivity, electrons are the lifeblood of chemical synthesis and modern technology. In , electrons drive redox reactions, enable bond formation, and are critical in catalysis. In technological applications, manipulating the flow and interactions between electrons determines the operation of electronic devices, AI algorithms, photovoltaic applications, and even . In most materials, electrons are bound tightly to atoms, which limits how they can be used. But in electrides, electrons roam freely, creating entirely new possibilities.

SCP-3812: The Entity That Broke Reality | The Science of a God Who Knows It’s Fiction

What happens when awareness grows too powerful for the universe that contains it?

SCP-3812 — also known as A Voice Behind Me — is the Foundation’s ultimate paradox: a being that rewrites existence every time it tries to understand itself. This speculative science essay explores the physics, metaphysics, and philosophy behind the phenomenon. From quantum observer effects to pancomputational cosmology, from the breakdown of time to the collapse of narrative itself, we ask the ultimate question:

What if consciousness doesn’t live inside reality, but creates it?

Join us as we explore:

- The origin of Sam Howell and post-mortem evolution of awareness.
- The science of unreality and the hierarchy of dimensions.
- Schizophrenia as multiversal cognition.
- Supersession, recursion, and the limits of containment.
- The final collapse of reality into pure perception.

If you love speculative science, existential philosophy, or cosmic horror wrapped in logic, this video will change the way you think about reality.

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Direct evidence of universal anyon tunneling in a chiral Luttinger liquid revealed in edge-mode experiment

Electrons in two-dimensional (2D) systems placed under strong magnetic fields often behave in unique ways, prompting the emergence of so-called fractional quantum Hall liquids. These are exotic states of matter in which electrons behave collectively and form new quasiparticles carrying only a fraction of an electron’s charge and obeying unusual quantum statistics.

In the 1990s, physicists introduced a theory known as the chiral Luttinger liquid theory, which describes the collective movements of these fractional excitations moving in 1D channels along the boundary of 2D fractional quantum Hall states. Nonetheless, past experimental findings were not always aligned with theoretical predictions.

Researchers at Purdue University recently carried out a study aimed at further testing some of the predictions of chiral Luttinger liquid theory by measuring tunneling between 1D edge modes in a device in which a fractional quantum Hall liquid state emerges. Their paper, published in Nature Physics, offers direct experimental evidence of universal anyon tunneling for the n=1/3 fractional quantum Hall state, confirming theoretical predictions made by X.-G. Wen and collaborators in the early 1990s.

Nobel Prize in physics awarded for ultracold electronics research that launched a quantum technology

Quantum mechanics describes the weird behavior of microscopic particles. Using quantum systems to perform computation promises to allow researchers to solve problems in areas from chemistry to cryptography that have so many possible solutions that they are beyond the capabilities of even the most powerful nonquantum computers possible.

Quantum computing depends on researchers developing practical quantum technologies. Superconducting electrical circuits are a promising technology, but not so long ago it was unclear whether they even showed . The 2025 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to three scientists for their work demonstrating that quantum effects persist even in large electrical circuits, which has enabled the development of practical quantum technologies.

I’m a physicist who studies superconducting circuits for quantum computing and other uses. The work in my field stems from the groundbreaking research the Nobel laureates conducted.

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