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NYU Physicists Create Visible Time Crystal Using Sound Waves

3/25/2026

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Summary

Story summary

New York University physicists have developed a new type of time crystal using sound waves that defies Newton's third law and is visible to the naked eye in a one-foot-tall device.
In the device, tiny styrofoam beads levitate and interact through the same sound waves.
The research was led by Professor David Grier of New York University and published in Physical Review Letters.

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Story summary

New York University physicists have developed a new type of time crystal using sound waves that defies Newton's third law and is visible to the naked eye in a one-foot-tall device.
In the device, tiny styrofoam beads levitate and interact through the same sound waves.
The research was led by Professor David Grier of New York University and published in Physical Review Letters.