Yes and no. E = mc2 explains mass-energy equivalence. Mass and energy are manifestation of the same physical property. Mass energy equivalence does not explain everything. The article is confusing. Photons are bosons, force carrying particles, but so are, surprisingly, W-bosons. The photons are the particles that carry the electromagnetic force, W- and Z- bosons carry the weak nuclear force (weak only in comparison to the strong nuclear force).
What they demonstrated was the conversion of photons into other particles. Particle-antiparticle annihilation (with intermediate steps to preserve energy and momentum) resulting in baryonic (particles with rest mass) conversion to photons is old hat. They went the other way and converted "massless" (having no rest mass) particles, photons, into "massive" (having rest mass) particles, W- bosons.
Nice to have that cleared up...
>>hey went the other way and converted “massless” (having no rest mass) particles, photons, into “massive” (having rest mass) particles, W- bosons.<<
I am no physicist but I understand enough to know that they may have to completely recast how energy works.
This is not “something out of nothing” but as close as we can get.
Too bad only our great- great- great grandchildren will get free energy from it.
Unless the democrats call it “quantum change” and protest against it.
ok...what you said...but where did the mass/energy needed to produce more photons come from? To my knowledge, photons are emitted as a result of molecular energy states created by electromagnetic waves in a medium. I don’t get it!