Joy of discovery – Material physics

Large (African) elephant collider. Thanks Martin Colbeck!

Even though we belong to this narrow field of conservation biology, we have an eye on other sciences, including physics. Not a very knowledgeable eye though, don’t ask for explanations. Our vision is sufficient however to know that when facts falsify theories, revolutions happen. This is exactly what happened to Suchitra Sebastian (the serious scientist of the family), condensed matter physicist at the University of Cambridge. She and her colleagues have discovered that samarium hexaboride behaves both as a conductor and an insulator in a way that is still unexplained by theory. This was the first time ever such an explosive news about the properties of matter occurs so closely to us, prompting us to share the joy of this discovery.

https://www.quantamagazine.org/20150702-paradoxical-crystal-baffles-physicists/

Jean-Philippe Puyravaud