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MIT physicists working at the LHC may have discovered a new kind of matter by accident. The existence of this type of matter, called “color-glass condensate,” was proposed shortly before the discovery.

Up until the the 1960s, physicists believed that time worked the same forward as it did backward. For example, in classical physics, if you reversed the momentum of every particle in the universe, the universe would look exactly like a tape being run in reverse.

This of course begs the question: if the laws of physics work the same way forward as they do backward, why does time flow forward and not the other way around?

A new paper hints at an answer. The forward flow of time may not be an illusion. At the very least, we can now be sure time has an “arrow.” The laws of physics work differently in reverse. Now we just need to figure out why.

Is it possible to send messages faster than the speed of light? A new theory could have us testing for an answer within just a few years.

The possibility of faster than light communication is loved by science fiction authors, and mostly loathed by the physics community, mainly because according to Einstein’s (very well tested) theory of relativity it ought to mean time travel is possible, which creates all kinds of unsightly logical paradoxes (among other things).

It is actually for precisely this reason that Einstein despised what quantum theory ended up being, despite his important role in its creation. Einstein and others mathematically demonstrated a phenomenon called quantum entanglement. This phenomenon allows two particles to communicate with one another instantaneously, apparently in complete violation of relativity.

You are almost certainly familiar with the popular equation: E=mc^2, but do you know what it means? If you’ve read a pop science book every now and then, or paid attention in physics and chemistry classes, you may already know that it means mass and energy are equivalent. But this doesn’t necessarily mean what you think it does, either.

First off, we need to distinguish between mass and matter. Mass is a measurable quantity related to concepts like force and momentum. The more mass an object has, the more force it takes to accelerate it at the same pace.

Matter, at this point in our understanding of physics, isn’t necessarily as easy to define as we might think it should be. Matter isn’t necessarily solid (it can be liquid, solid, gas, or plasma), or even “tangible” (neutrinos are matter, but they pass through almost everything like a ghost).