Everyone was taught in their fourth grade science class what matter is- “physical substance in general, as distinct from mind and spirit; that which occupies space and possesses rest mass, especially as distinct from energy.” This definition was probably embedded into your brains years ago(at least mine), but some textbooks forget the ‘energy’ part, oftentimes forget to teach energy altogether. This mostly happens because the word energy is something way too complex to trouble young minds with. But for the sake of today’s topic we would have to know the basics of it.
The word ‘energy’ can be used in a lot of contexts throughout different subjects, however is defined as- “Energy is the capacity to do work or produce change.” used in sentences like, ‘I barely have the energy to do work.’ OR “Photosynthesis is the process by which a plant makes energy.”, ALSO “the kinetic energy of a moving car increases its speed”. If you notice, the word ‘energy’ is not used as the same thing in the sentences, but its definition doesn’t change.
When is a… erm… What is the word?… thing? Let’s say that again… when is a thing an energy? For a thing to be an energy- it first, has to have no mass, is transferable, exists in different forms, and is measurable. Today we’ll be looking at a major discovery in one of the energies- Light.
Recently Italian scientists have managed to freeze light. Yes that’s right! Freeze Light!(wow that rhymes!). How can energy, which is massless, be freezed. Wouldn’t that mean it became a matter. Wait, how does that work?
Light is an energy specifically — a form of electromagnetic radiation. It is present in waves. Light is made up of particles called photons. Light is also the fastest thing in the universe. The recent discovery allowed us to learn more about light, especially that it behaves as a supersolid. A supersolid means that the object behaves as a solid and fluid at the same time. Light which was freezed remained as a solid, but the atoms present in it moved frictionlessly due to the properties of fluids.
By directing lazer light into a semiconductor made by the team of scientists using some material unknown to me [sorry, this stuff is taking a while to sink in:(], they were able to make light-matter particles which were turned into patterns indicating supersolid properties.
This discovery opens more fields to be researched. This data could potentially help us reach new heights in quantum computing. Many scientists believe using light this way could help us with optics and understanding of photon circuits. This is one of the major and groundbreaking discoveries of the generation!😲
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