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“Harnessing the mysterious property that Albert Einstein called ‘spooky action at a distance’ is a crucial step toward exploiting quantum quirks for technology such as new kinds of sensors or computers,” the physicists said. “Entanglement is not just some academic curiosity; it’s also something you can harness as a basis for doing useful things with quantum mechanics,” Professor Clerk added. Entangled states are typically extremely fragile — especially so when they involve large objects. So Professor Clerk and his colleague, Dr. Matt Woolley from the University of New South Wales, developed a theoretical proposal for how to keep the motion...

The knots in question, the researchers wrote in their paper, were visible enough in images of the light wave data for them to identify the figure eights and toruses. ... To create the knots, the researchers carefully tuned the up-and-down and side-to-side wave motion (the polarization) of two beams of light, partly using technology not unlike that found in polarized sunglasses. The knots formed around "polarization singularities" where the beams intersected, places where the side-to-side and up-and-down wavelengths were exactly equal, and a number of other wavelengths of light looped around them. At those points, light bent in the way...

Full title: Amazing footage of sharks swimming in boiling water around a volcano is completely baffling scientists ___________________________ Brennan Phillips and some colleagues were recently on an expedition to Kavachi volcano, an active underwater volcano near the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. But they weren't prepared for what they saw deep inside the volcanic crater: Sharks! Hammerheads and silky sharks, to be specific, contentedly swimming around despite the sizzling water temperatures and biting acidity. Volcanic vents such as these can release fluids above 800 degrees Fahrenheit and have a similar acidity to vinegar, according to the Marine Education Society...

What would science fiction be without laser beams? From handheld ray guns to spaceship-mounted turbolasers, the futuristic weapon of choice definitely involves bright, colorful blasts of energy. In the early 21st century, projectiles still remain the standard means of inflicting damage from a distance. Yet continued research into "directed-energy" weapons by the United States military, among others, could someday bring lasers to a battlefield near you. Lasers are already used in guidance, targeting and communication applications, but significant technological obstacles stand in front of turning them into weapons by themselves. For certain niche scenarios, lasers might prove themselves ideal. It...

A Canadian government scientist has spearheaded the development of a new, high-tech measuring device combining laser beams, GPS locators and chemical detectors to more accurately gauge the amount of methane released by belching and flatulent cows -a significant source of the world's greenhouse gases. A bi-national collaboration with Australian agronomists, the project was led by Sean McGinn, a senior scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's farm research centre in Lethbridge and is detailed in the latest issue of the Journal of Environmental Quality.

LIVERMORE, California (AP) -- Ed Moses talks of the "grand challenge" that has consumed him for the past five years, comparing it to trying to hit the strike zone with a baseball from 350 miles (563 kilometers) away or tossing a dime into a parking meter from 40 miles (64 kilometers) away. "That's the precision we have to have," says Moses, the director of a high-energy physics adventure to produce the world's most powerful laser -- one that scientists hope will create in a laboratory the type of energy found at the center of the sun. In a building the...

A revolutionary method for using laser beams to drill oil and gas wells moved a step closer to reality Tuesday in the laboratories of the Colorado School of Mines. The Golden-based university announced it has acquired six laser technology patents from Boeing in a major step forward in the transfer of military laser uses to civilian applications. If the adaptation of technology borrowed from Reagan-era "Star Wars" military programs is successful, it will mark the first fundamental change to rotary drilling techniques since the concept was invented in Britain in 1845. "It's a very, very sexy project," said Ramona Graves,...