The amazing super solid properties
Super solid is not what it sounds like. Essentially, its atoms are arranged in a rigid crystal structure, like a regular solid, but they can also flow with zero viscosity like a superfluid. It sounds like a paradox, but scientists have thought it was theoretically possible since the 1960s—and in 2017, it was finally confirmed experimentally. Several research groups have created supersolids using another state of matter, known as Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC). They are composed of a low-density gas ball of atoms cooled to almost absolute zero, at which point they exhibit strange quantum quirks not normally seen at such a large scale. All atoms in a BEC are present at every point within the cloud at the same time, a phenomenon called delocalization. In previous experiments, supersolids could only be one-dimensional, so atoms could only flow in one direction. Now, researchers have given them a whole new dimension to work with, like upgrading them from moving along a string to moving around a piece of paper. This BEC is made of dysprosium atoms, and magnetic interactions between the atoms cause them to arrange themselves into water droplets, which themselves arrange themselves into a grid. The team says the breakthrough could allow physicists to study entirely new quantum oddities that are inaccessible to one-dimensional supersolids.
There is no friction. This is the ideal state that humans dream of. Come on, scientists. Let’s put it into actual production as soon as possible!
