In science, says Princeton University physicist Paul J. Steinhardt, there are two kinds of impossible. The first kind of impossible claim is when a proposal would violate the basic laws of physics. But the second kind is simply based on assumptions that might contain a loophole. Steinhardt has spent his career chasing these “might actually be possible” claims.
Steinhardt’s new book, The Second Kind of Impossible: The Extraordinary Quest for a New Form of Matter (Simon & Schuster) chronicles his 30-year obsession with a structure called the quasi-crystal, from proving that it could theoretically exist to traveling to remote parts of Russia to discover whether it might be found in nature.
The Verge spoke to Steinhardt about the uses of…
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