Nature.

In the experiment, I don't know yet.

Why is it so far?

Like, it sounds so simple.

They had no idea.

But now the data's...

I find this not only refreshing, but at some level astounding.

Nature. Welcome back to the nature podcast. This week we'll be finding out how quantum forces get things in a bit of a twist and testing out our reporter's knowledge of this year's science headlines.

Plus, a roundup of some of this year's top science tones and some

sensational science-themed seasonal songs. I'm Ali Jennings. And I'm Benjamin Thompson.

So, Ali, it's your first time on hosting duty and what a show to do it in our special festive edition of the podcast.

Agreed. It's the perfect Christmas present, especially looking forward to hearing those special science songs in a bit.

First up, though, on this week's show, I want to put a bit of quantum in your Christmas.

I've been finding out how quantum fluctuations can create a turning force

on some objects seemingly out of thin air. Down at the smallest scales, the nanoscopic world of

viruses and proteins, quantum effects start to exert forces on matter. One of these effects is called the Casimir torque. The Casimir torque

exerts a turning force on an object. To measure this in a lab, researchers put two metal plates

in a vacuum and then bring them very close together. In a vacuum, photons pop in and out of existence all the time,

creating electromagnetic waves reflecting between the two plates. To induce Casimir torque,

the plates need to be optically anisotropic. That means they reflect light differently,

depending on how you rotate them. Rotating the

plates also changes the energy of the reflected light. Here's Jeremy Monday, a researcher from the

...