When physicists discover new properties of matter, it usually means better technologies for the rest of us. Superconductors, liquid crystal displays like the ones found in most TVs now, medical imaging technologies that allow doctors to peer inside the human body, and magnetic levitation — which was used to create the Shanghai Maglev train — are all examples of how discoveries of new properties of matter have resulted in revolutionary products.
Now, physicists have discovered another new property of matter that could lead to a new generation of innovation.
For the past 25 years, physicists observed a persistent glitch while conducting experiments that involved cooling a uranium compound to near absolute zero. When the compound, URu2Si2, was cooled to -438 degrees Fahrenheit, they would see a fall in the amount of chaos in the system. The molecules seemed to snap into an ordered state, letting out a burst of heat the scientists couldn't account for. Where did this extra heat come from?
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