More than 200 years ago, Count Rumford showed that heat isn’t a mysterious substance but something you can generate endlessly through motion. That insight laid the foundation for thermodynamics, the ...

Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. Why Trust Us? Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: The Laws of Thermodynamics explain ...

When laser light passes through a cavity filled with atoms, part of it can do useful work (for instance, charge a quantum battery, top), whereas the other part turns into “heat” (bottom). Credit: ...

The physics of thermodynamics, which involves quantities like heat and entropy, offers well-established tools for determining how far from equilibrium an idealised system of particles is. But when it ...

What if the key to unlocking artificial general intelligence (AGI) lies not in brute computational power but in something as unassuming as thermal noise? Imagine a world where AI systems capable of ...

What if the future of artificial intelligence wasn’t just faster or smarter, but fundamentally more sustainable? Picture this: a world where the energy demands of AI no longer threaten to outpace our ...

Two physicists at the University of Stuttgart have proven that the Carnot principle, a central law of thermodynamics, does not apply to objects on the atomic scale whose physical properties are linked ...

USC engineers have developed an optical system that routes light autonomously using thermodynamic principles. Rather than relying on switches, light organizes itself much like particles in a gas ...

Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: Researchers have made a breakthrough in applying the first law of thermodynamics to complex systems. The law is a bedrock of physics, but has long ...