Qi Zhang

Water always flows downhill, and heat from hot to cold. That's what энтропия dictates. But the quantum world finds loopholes. Physicists made light particles interact with hot and cold environments in an uncertain sequence — like a flipped coin that hasn't landed yet.

Water in a glass cools, ice melts, and a kettle heats the stove: that's how the world works: heat always flows from hot to cold. This is the second law of thermodynamics, a law that has never been broken.

At night, the brain doesn't switch off. Instead, it sorts through the day's events like a librarian arranging books on shelves. But where do those strange, sometimes nonsensical dream images come from? Many have assumed they're just random noise with no meaning. A new computer model shows that randomness doesn't hinder: it helps.

An atomic nucleus isn't always round. It can stretch out like a melon or flatten like a pumpkin. And its size depends on this shape — just as the size of a pie depends on the shape of the dough. Scientists calculated the shapes and sizes of nuclei of berkelium isotopes — a heavy element produced in reactors.

Biologists often tag cells with glowing molecules — it's like searching for a dim light in the smoke. The light quickly fades, and the smoke creates interference.