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Categories: Anthropology: General, Physics: Quantum Physics
Published Lasers and chemistry reveal how ancient pottery was made -- and how an empire functioned


Peru's first great empire, the Wari, stretched for more than a thousand miles over the Andes Mountains and along the coast from 600-1000 CE. The pottery they left behind gives archaeologists clues as to how the empire functioned. In a new study researchers showed that rather than using 'official' Wari pottery imported from the capital, potters across the empire were creating their own ceramics, decorated to emulate the traditional Wari style. To figure it out, the scientists analyzed the pottery's chemical make-up, with help from laser beams.
Published Magnetism fosters unusual electronic order in quantum material


Physicists have published an array of experimental evidence showing that the ordered magnetic arrangement of electrons in crystals of iron-germanium plays an integral role in bringing about an ordered electronic arrangement called a charge density wave that the team discovered in the material last year.
Published Experiment unlocks bizarre properties of strange metals


Physicists are learning more about the bizarre behavior of 'strange metals,' which operate outside the normal rules of electricity.
Published Surprising similarities in stone tools of early humans and monkeys


Researchers have discovered artefacts produced by old world monkeys in Thailand that resemble stone tools, which historically have been identified as intentionally made by early hominins. Until now, sharp-edged stone tools were thought to represent the onset of intentional stone tool production, one of the defining and unique characteristics of hominin evolution. This new study challenges long held beliefs about the origins of intentional tool production in our own lineage.
Published Ringing an electronic wave: Elusive massive phason observed in a charge density wave


Researchers have detected the existence of a charge density wave of electrons that acquires mass as it interacts with the background lattice ions of the material over long distances.
Published In the world's smallest ball game, scientists throw and catch single atoms using light


Researchers show that individual atoms can be caught and thrown using light. This is the first time an atom has been released from a trap -- or thrown -- and then caught by another trap. This technology could be used in quantum computing applications.
Published Hitting nuclei with light may create fluid primordial matter


A new analysis supports the idea that photons colliding with heavy ions create a fluid of 'strongly interacting' particles. The results indicate that photon-heavy ion collisions can create a strongly interacting fluid that responds to the initial collision geometry and that these collisions can form a quark-gluon plasma. These findings will help guide future experiments at the planned Electron-Ion Collider.
Published Researchers take a step towards turning interactions that normally ruin quantum information into a way of protecting it


A new method for predicting the behavior of quantum devices provides a crucial tool for real-world applications of quantum technology.
Published Hunter-gatherer childhoods may offer clues to improving education and wellbeing in developed countries


Hunter-gatherers can help us understand the conditions that children may be psychologically adapted to because we lived as hunter-gatherers for 95% of our evolutionary history. And paying greater attention to hunter-gatherer childhoods may help economically developed countries improve education and wellbeing.
Published The colors on these ancient pots hint at the power of an empire


Comparing the colors on pieces of ancient Peruvian pottery revealed that potters across the Wari empire all used the same rich black pigment: a sign of the empire's influence.
Published Graphene quantum dots show promise as novel magnetic field sensors


Trapped electrons traveling in circular loops at extreme speeds inside graphene quantum dots are highly sensitive to external magnetic fields and could be used as novel magnetic field sensors with unique capabilities, according to a new study.
Published Two-dimensional quantum freeze


Researchers have succeeded in simultaneously cooling the motion of a tiny glass sphere in two dimensions to the quantum ground-state. This represents a crucial step towards a 3D ground-state cooling of a massive object and opens up new opportunities for the design of ultra-sensitive sensors.
Published An innovative twist on quantum bits: Tubular nanomaterial of carbon makes ideal home for spinning quantum bits


Scientists develop method for chemically modifying nanoscale tubes of carbon atoms, so they can host spinning electrons to serve as stable quantum bits in quantum technologies.
Published The world's first horse riders


Researchers have discovered evidence of horse riding by studying the remains of human skeletons found in burial mounds called kurgans, which were between 4500-5000 years old. The earthen burial mounds belonged to the Yamnaya culture. The Yamnayans had migrated from the Pontic-Caspian steppes to find greener pastures in today's countries of Romania and Bulgaria up to Hungary and Serbia.
Published Destroying the superconductivity in a kagome metal


A recent study has uncovered a distinct disorder-driven superconductor-insulator transition. This first electric control of superconductivity and quantum Hall effect in a candidate material for future low-energy electronics has promise to reduce the rising, unsustainable energy cost of computing.
Published Archaeological study of 24 ancient Mexican cities reveals that collective forms of governance, infrastructural investments, and collaboration all help societies last longer


Some cities only last a century or two, while others last for a thousand years or more. Often, there aren't clear records left behind to explain why. Instead, archaeologists piece together clues from the cities' remains to search for patterns that help account for why certain places retained their importance longer than others.
Published Genomic study of indigenous Africans paints complex picture of human origins and local adaptation


An international team of researchers analyzed the genomes of 180 indigenous Africans from a dozen ethnically, culturally, linguistically, and geographically diverse populations. The results shed light on the origin of modern humans, historical migrations, linguistic evolution, and local adaptation, and lay the groundwork for more people to benefit from precision medicine.
Published Waxing and waning of environment influences hominin dispersals across ancient Iran


A world-first model of paleoclimate and hydrology in Iran has highlighted favourable routes for Neanderthals and modern human expansions eastwards into Asia. The findings reveal that multiple humid periods in ancient Iran led to the expansions of human populations, opening dispersal route across the region, and the possible interactions of species such as Neanderthals and our own Homo sapiens.
Published Quantum chemistry: Molecules caught tunneling


Quantum effects can play an important role in chemical reactions. Physicists have now observed a quantum mechanical tunneling reaction in experiments. The observation can also be described exactly in theory. The scientists provide an important reference for this fundamental effect in chemistry. It is the slowest reaction with charged particles ever observed.
Published Oldest human genome from southern Spain


A new study reports on genomic data from a 23,000-year-old individual who lived in what was probably the warmest place of Europe at the peak of the last Ice Age. The oldest human genome recovered from the southern tip of Spain adds an important piece of the puzzle to the genetic history of Europe.