We humans can be incredibly productive when we want to be—or when there is a quick buck to be made. Take for example, plastic; the first synthetic polymer was invented in 1869, and the first easily mass-produced plastic was formulated in 1907. In 1950, the world’s annual plastic production was around 2 tons; by 2015…

You may have seen a recent story (tweeted about by our own James Dixon) about researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, China, who successfully established a quantum communication network. The network is composed of over 700 ground links, and two high-speed ground-to-satellite connections. It’s quite modest compared to the…

Back in 1961, physicist Eugene Wigner proposed a thought experiment in which measuring the polarization of a single photon can result in incompatible realities. The first observer, known as “Wigner’s friend,” would measure the polarization of the photon, discovering if it is horizontal or vertical. Wigner however, outside his friend’s laboratory, would have no way…