A cloud of 24,000 rubidium atoms, chilled to within a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero, has given researchers their clearest experimental window yet into how time can arise without any external clock keeping track. The work, published in Physical Review Research, shows that a usable form of time, complete with its one-way direction, emerged directly from changes inside an isolated quantum system.
A walk through the trees turned up more than expected a few years ago. One person spotted a plastic Nintendo 64 cartridge half-hidden on the forest floor. Its paper labels had vanished completely, leaving no hint of what game sat inside. The finder brought it home, then passed it along to someone who fixes old consoles for a closer look.
Photo credit: Australia Space Agency
Over the weekend, visitors wandering along Australia’s Forrest Beach, just north of Townsville, came across something pretty unusual. A host of shining, metallic spheres began washing up on the beach, attracting attention due to their unique shapes and fittings in an area of the coastline where little else happens. Six of these appeared on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, each almost twice the size of a basketball.
Vertu has positioned its new Alpha Fold as a true ultra-luxury folding phone. The neon green version arrives wrapped in what the company describes as real alligator skin and carries a price near nine thousand dollars. JerryRigEverything acquired one and ran it through the full sequence of scratch, flame, bend, and teardown trials to see where the money actually goes and how the device performs under stress.
Peter’s dad floated the idea five years earlier. An aquarium sounded nice, yet the feeding schedule and water changes did not. The comment lingered until Peter teamed up with Filip on the CPSdrone project to build something better. Small submarine-like machines now patrol a glass tank in place of live fish. Each one carries its own motors, battery, and controller inside a sealed body. They move on command or follow simple rules that keep them cruising without constant human input.
Matthew Trahan has turned his workshop into a testing ground for unusual ideas. Past projects included full-size musical instruments, bedroom furniture, and even a life-size copy of himself. Each build pushed what desktop machines could handle. His newest effort went further still. He set out to create every single piece of clothing he would wear, starting from rolls of plastic filament and ending with something he could actually put on.
Professional car thieves have leaned on a quiet radio trick for years to slip past keyless entry systems. Mark Rober, the former NASA engineer known for his glitter bomb videos and hands-on builds, wanted to see exactly how that trick works and whether regular people could defend against it. His latest experiment delivers a clear answer on both fronts.
Valve shipped its latest Steam Controller earlier this year with a fresh set of haptic motors built into the grips. Those motors were meant for richer game feedback. One developer saw another possibility. A short web page now lets the controller pull itself across a smooth table, turn left or right, and respond to simple keyboard commands. No wires added, no case opened, no firmware changed.
Back in 1991, Toyota offered something in select LiteAce minivans that still catches people off guard decades later. Between the front seats sat a console box that could chill drinks and freeze real ice cubes while the vehicle moved down the road. Most minivans from that era focused on basic space and reliability. This one added a practical touch few competitors matched.
Most people have sat in a go-kart at some point. The seat sits low, the steering feels direct, and the whole thing skitters around with a kind of playful urgency. Very few have ever climbed into one that still carries the shape and branding of a soda machine. A maker known as Mixed Bag set out to close that gap. He bought a used Pepsi vending machine for a hundred dollars on Facebook Marketplace, then spent four months turning it into something that could actually drive.