All articles tagged with #thermodynamics
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson explains on Startalk that after death your body's energy isn’t destroyed: burying you returns energy to the Earth via microbes, while cremation turns it into heat radiated into space, potentially reaching Alpha Centauri. He frames this in terms of the first law of thermodynamics and notes a debate between eco-friendly burial versus cremation.
Physicists have built a theoretical framework linking interparticle interaction strength to the momentum-kick amplitude in a strongly interacting one-dimensional quantum gas, showing a critical regime where external energy stops being absorbed due to dynamical localization. The model explains why the gas resists heating, suggests the mechanism may apply to other quantum systems, and sets the stage for future experimental tests to explore finite-size and thermodynamic-limit behavior.
New research reexamines the Boltzmann brain paradox, arguing that our memories and the arrow of time arise from assumptions about the past; the team offers a framework that separates physical laws from interpretive choices to better assess whether memories reflect a real history.
A 2024 study claimed that deep-sea polymetallic nodules could generate oxygen in total darkness via seawater electrolysis, but a December 2025 opinion article from marine scientists and electrochemists argues the results are flawed and likely artifacts, citing improper chamber ventilation, absence of negative controls, missing hydrogen data, and a thermodynamics violation; the authors defend their work and plan a spring CCZ expedition to test the phenomenon, but many experts say the study should be retracted unless the evidence is revised.
University of Stuttgart researchers demonstrate that at atomic scales, quantum correlations between particles allow correlated quantum engines to exceed the traditional Carnot efficiency limit, by harvesting work from correlations in addition to heat; this generalizes thermodynamics for tiny, strongly correlated systems and could enable ultra-efficient nanoscale motors and quantum devices.
Researchers at West Virginia University have expanded the first law of thermodynamics to describe energy conversion in non‑equilibrium systems by incorporating additional quantitative descriptors beyond density and temperature, enabling a more complete account of energy flow in complex substances such as plasmas, chemistry, circuitry, and quantum systems; the breakthrough could reshape how scientists model energetic processes across multiple fields.
Physicists have demonstrated that the classical Carnot efficiency limit breaks down at the atomic scale when quantum correlations are involved, allowing microscopic heat engines to surpass traditional efficiency limits and paving the way for highly efficient quantum motors.
The article discusses the discovery of aeonophiles, ultra-long-lived microbes living deep beneath Earth's surface, which challenge traditional notions of lifespan and life itself, and have significant implications for understanding life's diversity, evolution, and potential existence on other planets.
Penn State scientists created seven new high-entropy oxide ceramics by removing oxygen during synthesis, stabilizing metals like iron and manganese in structures previously unattainable, using thermodynamic principles and machine learning to guide the process, with potential applications in energy, electronics, and coatings.
Physicists have created a microscopic Stirling engine using a silica particle levitated in electric fields, capable of simulating temperatures up to 13 million kelvin, providing insights into thermodynamics at extreme scales and potential applications in understanding biological processes and particle behavior in complex environments.
Scientists at King's College London have created the world's hottest microengine, operating at temperatures hotter than the sun's core, which could revolutionize our understanding of thermodynamics and aid in developing treatments for diseases by improving knowledge of protein folding.
Researchers have created the smallest and hottest engine ever, achieving temperatures of 10 million Kelvins inside a microscopic particle, which challenges traditional thermodynamics and offers potential for simulating microscopic phenomena like protein folding.
A German research team has demonstrated that the classical Carnot principle, which limits the efficiency of heat engines, does not apply at the atomic scale due to quantum correlations, potentially enabling the development of ultra-efficient quantum engines and nanobots.,
A graduate student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst discovered a liquid mixture of oil, water, and magnetized nickel particles that consistently forms and retains a Grecian urn shape, challenging traditional thermodynamic principles due to magnetic interactions, and opening new avenues in material science research.
Scientists at SLAC have used ultrafast laser heating and X-ray scattering to superheat gold to 19,000 kelvins—over 14 times its melting point—without melting, challenging long-standing thermodynamic limits and suggesting that the entropy catastrophe can be avoided with rapid heating, opening new avenues in material science and extreme condition modeling.