Thomas Pohl

In the world of atoms, any external influence can turn a neat order into chaos. Usually, energy losses only increase entropy — a measure of disorder. But physicists discovered the opposite: sometimes losses help the system maintain stability.

Inside an atomic nucleus, particles aren't just tossed together any which way. Sometimes two protons and two neutrons huddle into a tight quartet — a mini-collective known as an alpha cluster. Think of it as a family that sticks together in a crowded building. Knocking this quartet out of the nucleus and seeing how it lived there is a job for a fast proton.

Molecules in an ultracold gas are like tiny magnets: they attract when far apart, but when they get close they can stick together for good. Such sticking destroys the gas: particles drop out of the game, and you never reach the quantum regime where all of them behave as one.