A new state of matter has been identified, modeled, and demonstrated in two different ways; it's called a time crystal.
It is odd in that this is the only phase of matter that is not in equilibrium. It constantly shifts between two energized states, never consuming or releasing energy.
"BUT THE SECOND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS!" I hear you scream...
Yeah. Um. About that... it turns out that matter doesn't have to sit in its lowest energy state, if it stabilizes into this ... erm, unstable ... configuration of a time crystal. And while an external force - in this case a laser - must be applied to the time crystal to make it flip states, there is no loss of energy in the laser. None.
Which is deeply weird. And could be an error somewhere. But the test has been replicated twice now, using different materials, and showing the same results.
In addition - if this proves out - it would be the first non-naturally occurring phase of matter. Which kinda fascinates and scares me at the same time...
It's a beam of colimated EM wave that is in this case used as a kind of a medium for the crystal. Determining energy loss can be (and, to my knowledge: often is) done by splitting the initial beam, directing one in and out of the experiment and comparing against the intensity of the second, unused, beam. There's something missing, but as I mentioned before, it escaped some of the world-class experts. Scepticism is good. Scepticism against something breaking thermodynamics is great. But it's arrogance to assume all those people missed the literal first culprit. To add, from your other comment: See now, you changed the definition and type of 'the system' within quote. Local entropy can change in either direction, but the global entropy will rise. It's a tricky subject.the whole point of a laser
By definition, if you need to use external energy to prevent disorder in the system, the second law of thermodynamics still holds. Why? It takes energy to turn on the laser. No laser = no reversal of entropy = no answer to Asimov's Last Question.
I kind of think the three independent research studies that are quoted in the article as replicating the initial findings have accounted for something like that. It's almost like it actually said it in the article:"Furthermore, the spins never absorbed or dissipated net energy from the microwave laser, leaving the disorder of the system unchanged."