Princeton physicists developed a new experimental approach that precisely detects quantum mechanical fluctuations on the verge of a phase transition of a two-dimensional superconductor. The results uncover a new type of quantum phase transition that cannot be explained by the established theories used to describe phase transitions in superconductors. This research promises to propel the study of quantum condensed matter and superconductivity in new directions.

Modern robots know how to sense their environment and respond to language, but what they don’t know is often more important than what they do know. Teaching robots to ask for help is key to making them safer and more efficient.

Engineers at Princeton University and Google have come up with a new way to teach robots to know when they don’t…

Artificial intelligence seems perfect for creating massive sets of images needed to train autonomous cars and other machines to see their environment, but current generative AI systems have shortcomings that can limit their use. Now, engineers at Princeton have developed a software system to overcome those limits and quickly create image sets…

At the northern and southern tips of our planet are tiny bubbles of air trapped for millions of years within polar ice. These microscopic time capsules hold a record of Earth’s atmosphere — and thus its climate history.

“Ice is time, crystalized,” said Princeton environmentalist Anne McClintock. “Ice is the custodian of deep time,…