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Argonne and Northwestern University scientists teamed up to understand how light interacts with metallic nanoframes, with implications for biosensing, quantum information science and beyond.

So how does a 19th-century technology built around two mirrors address the very 21st-century issue of advancing quantum

Researchers at Northumbria University have used the most powerful space telescope ever built to answer one of the longest-standing puzzles in planetary science—why does Saturn appear to spin at a different speed depending on how you measure it? The findings, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, reveal for the first time the complex patterns of heat and electrically charged particles in Saturn's aurora, and show that the entire system is driven by a self-sustaining feedback loop powered by the planet's own northern lights.

Researchers at the Würzburg site of the Cluster of Excellence ctd.qmat have succeeded in transferring the topological quantum Hall and spin Hall effects to a hybrid light-matter system by harnessing targeted material design. The team led by Professor Sebastian Klembt generated this optical quantum phenomenon by using polaritons—hybrid light-matter particles. This advance paves the way for optical information processing. The results have been published in Nature Communications.

An underwater observatory recently detected a startlingly energetic cosmic neutrino. One possible cause involves a phenomenon that so far exists only in theory.

Limbless tree snakes can lift most of their body into the air without toppling. They manage this by focusing all their bending forces at their base.

Trump accepts 'America First Award' at GOP dinner, delivering a rambling speech attacking Biden, Obama and Democrats.

An underwater observatory recently detected a startlingly energetic cosmic neutrino. One possible cause involves a phenomenon that so far exists only in theory.

After the passing of physicist Anthony Leggett, columnist Karmela Padavic-Callaghan remembers their personal connection with this giant of quantum physics, and explores the legacy of his enduring recipe for testing the edges of the quantum world

Have you been keeping up to date with physics news? Try our short quiz to find out The post Quiz of the week: how many antiprotons did CERN transport by truck? appeared first on Physics World.

Long ago, the cosmos might have been a black hole factory—and these primordial objects are even weirder than you think

In 2017 NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope zoomed in on a comet as it passed around the sun. And then things took a more unusual turn

With up to $513 off, a $50 Amazon voucher and four months free, you can watch the UNIT defend humanity against the Sea Devils from anywhere at a bargain price.

Author(s): Michael SchirberThe IceCube observatory at the South Pole has found evidence for a break in the spectrum of cosmic neutrinos, with theoretical implications for their generation. [Physics 19, s7] Published Thu Mar 26, 2026

Author(s): R. Abbasi et al. (IceCube Collaboration)The IceCube observatory at the South Pole has found evidence for a break in the spectrum of cosmic neutrinos, with theoretical implications for their generation. [Phys. Rev. D 113, 062002] Published Thu Mar 26, 2026

Author(s): R. Abbasi et al. (IceCube Collaboration)The IceCube observatory at the South Pole has found evidence for a break in the spectrum of cosmic neutrinos, with theoretical implications for their generation. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 121002] Published Thu Mar 26, 2026

Just as an antenna interacts with radio waves, light interacts with metallic nanostructures. Therefore, understanding how a structure influences field oscillations provides valuable insights into the structure's physical properties. An international research team, including scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL), is investigating the changes in field oscillations that occur when light interacts with indium tin oxide (ITO) nanocrystals. This will deepen our understanding of how the interaction between light and these nanocrystals depends on time.

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In a major advance applying insights from quantum physics to the inner workings of biology, a team of WashU researchers has successfully implanted quantum sensors in living cells to measure shifts in magnetism and temperature. The measurements could offer new insights into the efficiency of cellular metabolism in health and disease.

The unprecedented observations of comet 41P/Tuttle–Giacobini–Kresák show its rotation slowing, reversing and then speeding up, and jet-like outbursts of gas might be providing the push.

The nature of quantum particles has long puzzled scientists. While single-particle interference suggests that a photon can behave like a spread-out wave, a whole photon is only ever detected in one specific place. Traditional interpretations of quantum mechanics often address this by suggesting the particle is in a superposition of being here and there at the same time. However, this tells us only where the particle is when it is measured, not where the particle physically is when no detector is present.

Quantum computing promises to transform our world in rapid, radical and revolutionary ways: solving in seconds problems that would take classical computers years, accelerating the discovery of new medicines, creating sustainable materials, optimizing complex systems, and strengthening cybersecurity. It does so using qubits, the quantum counterparts of classical bits, which can occupy multiple states simultaneously and enable a fundamentally new kind of computation.

Studying and designing novel materials is a central application of quantum mechanics. Chemists, materials scientists, and physicists focus on subtle interactions in quantum materials and to uncover them they rely on sophisticated computational and experimental techniques. Computer simulations that connect microscopic quantum interactions to measurable material properties complement experimental data to connect structure to function—but classical computers can struggle to simulate those properties. Fortunately, scientists today have a new tool in their toolbox: quantum computers.

Particle accelerators reveal the heart of nuclear matter by smashing together atoms at close to the speed of light. The high-energy collisions produce a shower of subatomic fragments that scientists can then study to reconstruct the core building blocks of matter.

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found evidence that the spinning of a small comet slowed and then reversed its direction of rotation, offering a dramatic example of how volatile activity can affect the spin and physical evolution of small bodies in the solar system. This is the first time researchers have observed evidence of a comet reversing its spin.

For the first time, a team of physicists in Austria has carried out an experiment that appears to verify the principle of indefinite causal order: an idea that suggests that timelines of events can exist in multiple orders at the same time. Led by Carla Richter at the Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology, the researchers hope their result could finally allow physicists to verify a key prediction of quantum theory. The results have been published in PRX Quantum.

A team of cosmologists in China has introduced a mathematical framework that investigates two of the deepest mysteries in cosmology at the same time. Publishing their research in The Astrophysical Journal, Yun Chen and colleagues at the Chinese Academy of Sciences suggest their work could pave the way for vital corrections to the current ΛCDM model—alongside a long-awaited resolution to the Hubble tension.

Quantum computers, systems that process information leveraging quantum mechanical effects, could outperform classical computers on some advanced tasks. These systems rely on qubits, the fundamental units of quantum information, that become linked via an effect known as quantum entanglement and share a unified quantum state.

Quantum batteries could transform how energy is created, stored, and used by enabling superextensive, steady-state electrical power from light. Superextensivity, a phenomenon where the response of a physical system scales super-linearly with size, has been demonstrated in quantum systems. However, the effects of superextensive behavior typically have been shown on short timescales that are impractical for real-world use. Researchers at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), in collaboration with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and the University of Melbourne, built a quantum battery that demonstrates superextensivity in a steady-state. The world’s first fully...

A device that relies on quantum effects and oversized atoms may be a more reliable way to measure temperature that doesn't require calibration

Author(s): Rachel BerkowitzAndrea Damascelli recounts the struggles of coordinating different sectors to establish a quantum technology ecosystem in Canada. [Physics 19, 35] Published Wed Mar 25, 2026

An international team led by a researcher at the Chiba Institute of Technology has discovered an extremely rare phenomenon: a galaxy about 10 billion light-years away whose brightness dropped to one-twentieth of its original level in just 20 years. By combining multiwavelength observations with archival data spanning several decades, the researchers concluded that the fading was caused by a rapid decrease in the gas flowing into the supermassive black hole at the galaxy's center. The discovery shows that the activity of supermassive black holes can change dramatically on timescales short enough to be observed within a human lifetime.

Their mass is extremely low, but how light are neutrinos really? A collaboration comprising German and international research groups has optimized its experiments to determine the mass of these "ghost particles." In doing so, they succeeded in further adjusting downward the upper limit on the neutrino mass scale that had previously been determined in similar experiments. The study is published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Phonons are the quantum units of mechanical vibration. They describe how motion propagates through a solid at the smallest possible scales, in much the same way that electrons describe electric currents. Because phonons can be exceptionally stable and sensitive, they are used in quantum science and technology.

For decades, it has been widely believed that electrons move most efficiently in materials that are clean and highly ordered. Much like water flowing more easily through a smooth pipe, conventional wisdom has held that electrical transport improves as a material's internal structure becomes more perfectly arranged. However, a recent study shows that the opposite can also be true. A research team at POSTECH in South Korea has discovered that engineered disorder can actually enhance electron transport.

Scientists at CERN built a container weighing more than a ton to transport just 92 subatomic antimatter particles without annihilating them

The JWST has shown us that supermassive black holes were much larger in the early Universe than we thought. New research has extended this understanding to more intermediate redshifts, and to dwarf galaxies. Could the often-invoked Super-Eddington accretion be responsible?

Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have discovered a new red galaxy at a redshift of approximately 11.45. The newfound galaxy, which received designation EGS-z11-R0, turns out to be the most distant red galaxy detected to date. The discovery was detailed in a paper published March 18 on the arXiv pre-print server.

Large-scale quantum computers are waiting in the wings. One of the main reasons we don't have them yet is because quantum hardware is so noisy. This isn't the type of noise you'd want to shush in a crowded theater. When it comes to computers, noise means errors that crop up when conditions aren't perfect.

A team of scientists led by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has identified a rare, switchable quantum property in a new type of nickel sulfide material. The discovery could have applications in high-speed transistors, adaptive sensors and other devices that require a material's electronic structure to be controlled on the fly. The research is published in the journal Matter.

A scientist who pioneered the modern food processing safety standards used around the world was awarded this year's World Food Prize, the organization announced Wednesday, crediting his work for averting millions of cases of foodborne illness and reducing food waste.

It may well take years to prove, but a pair of University of Miami astrophysicists could be on the verge of a cosmic breakthrough that will confirm the existence of primordial black holes and the role they play in one of cosmology's greatest mysteries.

A cloud of 92 antiprotons have been on a journey around CERN’s campus The post Researchers at CERN transport antiprotons by truck in world‑first experiment appeared first on Physics World.

An international research team led by scientists from Skoltech has developed a method to position molecules on the surface of ultrathin materials with unprecedented precision using molecular DNA self-assembly, enabling the creation of quantum light sources. The results, published in the journal Light: Science & Applications, pave the way for the production of compact and efficient components for future quantum computers and secure communication networks.

QuiX Quantum appointed Richard Moulds and Rob Hays to its supervisory board. Moulds most recently served as director and general manager of quantum computing at Amazon Web Services. Hays has over 25 years of experience across AI infrastructure, data centers, and quantum technology. He is currently the vice president of the public sector at Cornelis Networks and previously served as CEO of Atom Computing. Rob Hays (left) and Richard Moulds. Courtesy of QuiX Quantum. COLLEGE PARK, Md. — IonQ appointed James Hayes senior vice president, head of global government affairs. He has more than 25 years of experience across government, public policy, and the private sector. Most recently, he served as senior vice president at...

Scientists have created the first microlasers capable of detecting individual molecules and even single atomic ions, a breakthrough that could significantly advance early disease diagnosis and molecular-scale medical testing. Researchers at the University of Exeter's Living Systems Institute have published their work in Nature Photonics. The paper opens up new possibilities for microlaser biosensing technology, including "lab-on-a-chip" technology capable of instant medical testing and diagnosis.

LHCb spots elusive particle in just one year of data The post Heavier cousin of the proton discovered at the LHC appeared first on Physics World.

Author(s): Ryan WilkinsonA new approach manufactures many high-quality diamond-based quantum memory chips simultaneously on a single wafer. [Physics 19, s34] Published Tue Mar 24, 2026

A unified field‑theoretic framework models open quantum spins across all coupling and memory regimes The post A single theory for complicated quantum systems appeared first on Physics World.

Scientists from the University of Manchester have played a leading role in the discovery of a new subatomic

President Trump claims Iran sent the US a mysterious oil-and-gas 'present' worth a tremendous amount of money as talks reportedly advance

Researchers have visualized atoms in motion just before a radiation-driven decay process occurs, revealing a surprisingly dynamic scene. Instead of remaining fixed, the atoms roam and rearrange, directly influencing how and when the decay unfolds. This “atomic movie” shows that structure and motion play a central role in radiation damage mechanisms. The findings could improve our understanding of how harmful radiation affects biological matter.

Scientists are envisioning an antimatter delivery program that could ferry antiprotons from CERN to other labs around Europe.

You may not be able to hear it, but all solid materials make a sound. In fact, atoms—bound in lattices of chemical bonds—are never silent nor still: Under the placid surface of each and every object in our surroundings, a low hum hovers or a high-energy squeak titters.

Astronomers have an answer for a long-running mystery in astrophysics: why is the growth of supermassive black holes so much lower today than in the past? A study using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and other X-ray telescopes found that supermassive black holes are unable to consume material as rapidly as they did in the distant past. The results appeared in the December 2025 issue of The Astrophysical Journal.

Detecting gravitational waves has always demanded enormous machines; kilometre scale instruments capable of sensing distortions smaller than a proton. But a new theoretical study suggests the universe may have been leaving its calling card in the light emitted by individual atoms. If the idea holds up, the future of gravitational wave detection might not be sprawling observatories carved into the landscape, but something you could hold in the palm of your hand.

Data from NASA's InSight mission suggests the Red Planet's Tharsis region is more active than previously thought and may be why Mars is spinning more quickly over time.

Cells are squishy and soft. Tiny nanometer-sized particles such as quantum sensors cannot move freely inside them due to viscous drag, which makes sensing challenging. Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have now developed a technique to precisely maneuver quantum sensors through these highly viscous biological environments, such as the interior of living cells, using magnetic microbots. This opens up possibilities for real-time, minimally invasive measurement of parameters like local viscosity and temperature inside cells.

CERN is working on building an antimatter delivery service. The project passed a big test by successfully transporting 92 antiprotons around a 4-kilometre loop of road

Scientists in Geneva took some antiprotons out for a spin—a very delicate one—in a truck, in a never-tried-before test drive that has been deemed a success.

Scientists in Geneva are taking some antiprotons out for a spin—a very delicate one—in a truck, in a never-tried-before test drive.

Scientists have turned simple glass into a powerful quantum communication device that could safeguard data against future quantum attacks. The chip combines stability, speed, and versatility—handling both ultra-secure encryption and record-breaking random number generation in one compact system.

Scientists have found a clever way to supercharge ultra-thin semiconductors by reshaping the space beneath them rather than altering the material itself. By placing a single-atom-thick layer of tungsten disulfide over tiny air cavities carved into a crystal, they created miniature “light traps” that dramatically boost brightness and optical effects—up to 20 times stronger emission and 25 times stronger nonlinear signals. These hollow structures, called Mie voids, concentrate light exactly where the material sits, overcoming a major limitation of atomically thin devices.

Visible to the naked eye in the constellation Cassiopeia, the star γ Cas has puzzled astrophysicists for half a century. It emits X-rays of an intensity and temperature incompatible with what one would expect from an ordinary massive star. Observations, carried out using the Resolve instrument aboard the Japanese XRISM telescope, now allow us to attribute this emission to the white dwarf orbiting γ Cas. This also confirms the existence of a family of binary systems long predicted to exist but never identified.

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Gallium nitride, a semiconductor that can operate at high voltages, temperatures, and frequencies, has enabled technologies from LED lighting to high-power electronics. Now Cornell researchers have observed a quantum property of the material for the first time, an advance that could expand its technological reach.

Method from University of Bristol functions well against strong solar background.

Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a boron-catalyzed method to transform oxetanes, which are small four-membered ring molecules, into larger, medicinally relevant 1,3-oxazinanes by the selective insertion of two building blocks, a carbon unit and a nitrogen unit. The research team was led by Associate Professor Koh Ming Joo from the NUS Department of Chemistry. The research breakthrough was published in the journal Nature Synthesis on March 12, 2026.

Artificial intelligence (AI) group OpenAI is reportedly discussing buying electricity from Helion Energy, the fusion startup company based in Everett, Washington. Sources told POWER that a deal would enable OpenAI to be guaranteed part of Helion's power generation, with as much as 5 GW available by 2030 and up to 50 GW by 2035. The post OpenAI in Talks With Helion to Secure Fusion Energy appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The performance of quantum computers could cap out after around 1,000 qubits, according to a new analysis published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Through new calculations, Tim Palmer at the University of Oxford has reconsidered the mathematical foundations underlying the quantum principles behind the technology, concluding that restrictions on the information-carrying capacity of large quantum systems could make their computing power far more limited than many researchers predict.

We can now use the gravitational waves of black holes to test general relativity and look for evidence of alternative theories of gravity.

Quantum computers, computing systems that process information using quantum mechanical effects, could outperform classical computers on some computational tasks. These computers rely on qubits, the basic units of quantum information, which can exist in multiple states (0, 1 or both simultaneously), due to quantum effects known as superposition and entanglement.

What if the mysterious 'Little Red Dots' aren't baby black holes, but rather globular clusters in their messy, glorious formation?

Fusion energy startup Focused Energy and the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) have established a $6.9 million partnership to address fundamental challenges in inertial fusion energy (IFE) and accelerate progress toward practical, sustainable fusion power. Conceptual rendering of Focused Energy’s planned Fusion Pilot Plant. Courtesy of Focused Energy. Through the collaboration, LLE will contribute its advanced experimental and modeling capabilities — including the high-bandwidth FLUX laser system — to investigate laser-plasma instabilities (LPI). These instabilities, which include phenomena such as cross-beam energy transfer, stimulated Raman scatter, and two-plasmon decay, can...

Did primordial black holes born during the Big Bang swallow the universe's antimatter, allowing matter to dominate the cosmos?

Scientists in Australia have demonstrated a prototype quantum battery that could revolutionize energy storage. By harnessing quantum effects, it can absorb energy in a rapid “super absorption” event, enabling much faster charging than conventional batteries. Even more surprisingly, the system becomes more efficient as it scales up. The research opens the door to ultra-fast, next-generation energy technologies.

Scientists have created a new kind of time crystal using sound waves to levitate tiny beads in mid-air. These particles interact in a one-sided, unbalanced way, breaking the usual rules of motion and creating a steady, repeating rhythm. The system is surprisingly simple yet reveals complex physics with big implications. It could help advance quantum computing and deepen our understanding of biological timing systems.

He helped discover cancer-causing genes. Later, as chancellor of the University of California, San Francisco, he led a major expansion.

Marie Mortreux, an assistant professor in the University of Rhode Island’s College of Health Sciences, is part of an international team of researchers studying how the Mars’s gravity would affect astronauts’ skeletal muscle.

Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international team of astronomers has observed a nearby spiral galaxy known as NGC 628. Results of the observational campaign, published March 10 on the arXiv pre-print server, shed more light on the population of emerging young star clusters in this galaxy.

Researchers have proposed that a newly identified class of magnetic materials could extend the zero-resistance currents of superconductors to electron spins. Publishing their calculations in Physical Review X, Kyle Monkman and colleagues at the University of British Columbia propose how "altermagnets" could enable persistent spin currents to flow without dissipation. If confirmed experimentally, the effect could provide a powerful new platform for spintronics, where information is encoded in spin rather than electric charge.

Qilimanjaro is selling a relatively cheap kit with everything you need for a quantum computer – you just need to be able to put it together

Using a new method, physicists found a way to 'catapult' electrons across solar materials in quadrillionths of a second.

This week, among a lot of other important findings, we learned that emperor cichlid fish have gaze sensitivity and dislike it if you look at them—or especially their children. England is looking for a solution to its 5-billion-liter water deficit. And a high-fiber diet isn't only healthy for you—it also benefits your parasitic tapeworms!

A routine quantum optics technique just revealed an extraordinary secret: entangled light can carry incredibly complex topological structures. Researchers found these hidden patterns reach up to 48 dimensions, offering a vast new “alphabet” for encoding quantum information. Unlike previous assumptions, this topology can emerge from a single property of light—orbital angular momentum.

Physicists have directly visualized the fundamental electronic building blocks of flat-band quantum materials, a class of systems in which electron motion is effectively quenched and strong interactions give rise to emergent phases of matter. In a study published in Nature Physics, Qimiao Si's group at Rice University, in collaboration with researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science, identified compact molecular orbitals that act as the key electronic agents governing the exotic behavior of these materials.

On Tuesday, CERN will transport antiprotons on a truck for the first time, testing the plan to deliver antimatter by road to research labs across Europe

In a new study, scientists from the universities of Portsmouth and Manchester report that a specially engineered enzyme can significantly speed up the breakdown of PET—the plastic used in water bottles, food packaging and polyester clothing—when it is processed at high concentrations similar to those used in industry. The findings are published in the journal Bioresource Technology.

In new research published in Physical Review X, scientists have designed quantum control protocols that generate processes more consistent with time flowing backward than forward. The protocols—techniques to control quantum systems—modify a quantum system's "arrow of time," the concept of time as moving in one forward direction. The work opens up possibilities for energy extraction from quantum systems and for quantum state preparation.

New work could help optimize quantum memories and information processing The post Extracting entropy information from quantum dots appeared first on Physics World.

Over the past decades, quantum scientists have introduced various technologies that operate leveraging quantum mechanical effects, including quantum sensors, computers and memory devices. Most of these technologies leverage entanglement, a quantum phenomenon via which two or more particles become intrinsically linked and share a unified quantum state, irrespective of the distance between them.

Researchers have created a cutting-edge catalyst that turns CO2 into methanol more efficiently than ever before. Instead of using clumps of metal atoms, they engineered a system where each single indium atom actively drives the reaction. This dramatically reduces energy needs while making the process easier to study and optimize. The result could accelerate the shift toward cleaner fuels and sustainable chemical production.