Now, for the first time, IBM researchers have observed a gravitational anomaly in earthly materials, which was previously only thought to occur in QGP in deep space or just after the Big Bang.

The world of classical physics is governed by the laws of conservation, stating that a measurement like energy or mass in a system cannot change quantity, although it may change form. But exotic types of matter, like QGP, can exhibit quantum effects that throw those laws out the window.

These exotic materials, forged in the crucible of the Big Bang or high energy particle accelerators, were thought to be the only places such quantum phenomena could occur. But now IBM scientists have observed a quantum effect called an axial-gravitational anomaly in recently-discovered materials called Weyl semimetals.