Cold atom experiments trap atoms to probe quantum effects, enabling ultra-precise sensing, timekeeping, and monitoring of ...

A cloud of ultracold atoms is like a motel with a neon “no vacancy” sign. If a guest at the motel wants to switch rooms, they’re out of luck. No vacant rooms means there’s no choice but to stay put.

A single speck of light—captured inside a lab at Oxford—turned the abstract into the tangible. It didn’t just win a prize; it showed that we ...

It seemed that the atom—already split, measured, analyzed, and prodded by great machines—had few secrets left. Scientists were almost agreed that the atomic nucleus (one-trillionth the size of an atom ...