The how does that work (you can't explain that) thread - Ask here.

[Tero]

why cold and flu in winter?
Now we know:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/06/health/w ... index.html

[Tero]

I finally googled: how are movies distributed now?

Now that all movies are distributed as digital files, they are delivered to theatres two ways. The first method is to send a hard disk drive to the theatre with the movie and all of the trailers that the studio wants to have shown before the movie. Each theatre gets one copy of the movie and will copy it from the hard drive to the servers in each auditorium where the movie will be shown.
The other distribution method that is growing in popularity is to download the movie from a communications satellite or to get it through a high speed internet connection. To do this the theatre needs a satellite reception dish and a library server where the movie is received and stored. Once on the library server, the movie file is sent to the playback server in the auditorium where the movie will be shown.
With either distribution method, the movie is encrypted with a strong encryption system. A digital key is sent to the theatre for each server that will run that movie, allowing the movie to be shown in that particular auditorium. Each key will only unlock that one movie on that one playback server, and only for a specific time period during which the movie can be played. If the movie's run is to be extended, then a new security key needs to be sent.

https://www.quora.com/How-do-movies-get-to-cinemas

"Art" movies may still be discs or hard drives physically sent

[Tero]

If your plane crashes, is your ticket refunded?

[pErvinalia]

[L'Emmerdeur]

I've been trying to wrap my head around the concept of time crystals since they first came on the scene. Now scientists have managed to create 2D photonic time crystals. OK then.

'A New Kind of Time Crystal Has Been Created That Does Interesting Things to Light'

Scientists are still getting to grips with the ins and outs of strange materials known as time crystals; structures that buzz with movement for eternity. Now a new variety might help deepen our understanding of the perplexing state of matter.

Just as regular crystals are atoms and molecules that repeat over a volume of space, time crystals are collections of particles that tick-tock in patterns over a duration of time in ways that initially seem to defy science.

Theorized in 2012 before being observed in the lab for the first time just four years later, researchers have been busy tinkering with the structures to probe deeper foundations of particle physics and uncover potential applications.

In this latest study, a new kind if 'photonic' time crystal has been created. Operating at microwave frequencies, it is able to neaten and amplify electromagnetic waves, promising future applications in wireless communication systems, laser development, and electronic circuits.

"In a photonic time crystal, the photons are arranged in a pattern that repeats over time," says lead author Xuchen Wang, a nano engineer from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany.

"This means that the photons in the crystal are synchronized and coherent, which can lead to constructive interference and amplification of the light."

In addition, the research team found electromagnetic waves traveling along surfaces could be amplified as well as waves from the surrounding environment.

At the center of the research is a 2D approach based on ultra-thin sheets of artificial materials known as metasurfaces. Previously, research into photonic time crystals has been through bulk 3D materials: making and studying these materials is hugely difficult for scientists, but the switch to 2D means a faster and easier route to experimentation – and to finding out how these crystals might be applied in real world settings.

While simpler than full 3D structures, they share some important characteristics with photonic time crystals and can mimic their behavior – including the way they interact with light. It's the first time that photonic time crystals have been shown to amplify light in this particular way and to such a significant extent.

[macdoc]

Seems a variation on what happens in a laser but have to read more.

[Brian Peacock]

I've been trying to wrap my head around the concept of time crystals since they first came on the scene. Now scientists have managed to create 2D photonic time crystals. OK then.

'A New Kind of Time Crystal Has Been Created That Does Interesting Things to Light'

Scientists are still getting to grips with the ins and outs of strange materials known as time crystals; structures that buzz with movement for eternity. Now a new variety might help deepen our understanding of the perplexing state of matter.

Just as regular crystals are atoms and molecules that repeat over a volume of space, time crystals are collections of particles that tick-tock in patterns over a duration of time in ways that initially seem to defy science.

Theorized in 2012 before being observed in the lab for the first time just four years later, researchers have been busy tinkering with the structures to probe deeper foundations of particle physics and uncover potential applications.

In this latest study, a new kind if 'photonic' time crystal has been created. Operating at microwave frequencies, it is able to neaten and amplify electromagnetic waves, promising future applications in wireless communication systems, laser development, and electronic circuits.

"In a photonic time crystal, the photons are arranged in a pattern that repeats over time," says lead author Xuchen Wang, a nano engineer from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany.

"This means that the photons in the crystal are synchronized and coherent, which can lead to constructive interference and amplification of the light."

In addition, the research team found electromagnetic waves traveling along surfaces could be amplified as well as waves from the surrounding environment.

At the center of the research is a 2D approach based on ultra-thin sheets of artificial materials known as metasurfaces. Previously, research into photonic time crystals has been through bulk 3D materials: making and studying these materials is hugely difficult for scientists, but the switch to 2D means a faster and easier route to experimentation – and to finding out how these crystals might be applied in real world settings.

While simpler than full 3D structures, they share some important characteristics with photonic time crystals and can mimic their behavior – including the way they interact with light. It's the first time that photonic time crystals have been shown to amplify light in this particular way and to such a significant extent.

FermiLab basic primer on time crystals. Skip to 1:04 do avoid the dodgy acting!

[rainbow]

Film diffusion

[L'Emmerdeur]

Nice video, and the dodgy acting was just what it was intended to be.

Clearly it is oversimplifying, and skips over (what I consider) important issues, but good for what it is. Not being a physicist, I can't fault it and had already got the basic concepts that it lays out. For the same reason I can't fault the video, I still don't really understand what is going on with time crystals, despite the nice soft presentation. I've tackled papers on the topic but when it gets to the real nitty gritty laid out in equations I'm out of my depth.

[pErvinalia]