The map of nuclear deformation takes the form of a mountain landscape

Until recently, scientists believed that only very massive nuclei could have excited zero-spin states of increased stability with a significantly deformed shape. Meanwhile, an international team of researchers from Romania, France, Italy, the USA and Poland showed in their latest article that such states also exist in much lighter nickel nuclei. Positive verification of the theoretical model used in these experiments allows describing the properties of nuclei unavailable in Earth laboratories.

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Researchers publish review article on the physics of interacting particles

Scientific articles in the field of physics are mostly very short and deal with a very restricted topic. A remarkable exception to this is an article published recently by physicists from the Universities of Münster and Düsseldorf. The article is 127 pages long, cites a total of 1075 sources and deals with a wide range of branches of physics—from biophysics to quantum mechanics.

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Order and disorder in crystalline ice explained

A fascinating substance with unique properties, ice has intrigued humans since time immemorial. Unlike most other materials, ice at very low temperature is not as ordered as it could be. A collaboration between the Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), the Institute of Physics Rosario (IFIR-UNR), with the support of the Istituto Officina dei Materiali of the Italian National Research Council (CNR-IOM), made new theoretical inroads on the reasons why this happens and on the way in which some of the missing order can be recovered. In that ordered state the team of scientists have described a relatively obscure and yet fundamental property of very low temperature ice: ferroelectricity. The results, published in PNAS, are likely to extend to ice surfaces, a possibility that could be relevant to the agglomeration of ice particles in interstellar space.

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Searching for invisible axion dark matter with a new multiple-cell cavity haloscope

Over the past few decades, many experimental physicists have been probing the existence of particles called axions, which would result from a specific mechanism that they think could explain the contradiction between theories and experiments describing a fundamental symmetry. This symmetry is associated with a matter-antimatter imbalance in the Universe, reflected in interactions between different particles.

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Quantum wave in helium dimer filmed for the first time

Anyone entering the world of quantum physics must prepare themself for quite a few things unknown in the everyday world: Noble gases form compounds, atoms behave like particles and waves at the same time and events that in the macroscopic world exclude each other occur simultaneously.

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Perfect transmission through barrier using sound

The perfect transmission of sound through a barrier is difficult to achieve, if not impossible based on our existing knowledge. This is also true with other energy forms such as light and heat.

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Masks block 99.9% of large COVID-linked droplets: study

Face masks reduce the risk of spreading large COVID-linked droplets when speaking or coughing by up to 99.9 percent, according to a lab experiment with mechanical mannequins and human subjects, researchers said Wednesday.

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A proposal for a neutrino detection array spanning 200,000 square kilometers

Sometimes in astronomy, the acronym for a project fits it particularly well. That would absolutely be the case for the Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection, which researchers hope to scale up to a size of 200,000 km2 in an effort to measure ultra-high-energy tau neutrinos. Is it ambitious? Yes, but that doesn't really stop humanity from exploring when it wants to.

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Researchers develop new way to break reciprocity law

An international research team lead by Aalto University has found a new and simple route to break the reciprocity law in the electromagnetic world, by changing a material's property periodically in time. The breakthrough could help to create efficient nonreciprocal devices, such as compact isolators and circulators, that are needed for the next generation of microwave and optical communications systems.

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Are two phases of quarantine better than one?

New research into this question shows that the second wave of an epidemic is very different if a population has a homogenous distribution of contacts, compared to the scenario of subpopulations with diverse number of contacts.

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Three flavors are better than one—in ice cream and supernova research

Any Neapolitan ice cream lover knows three flavors are better than one. New research from Northwestern University has found that by studying all three "flavors" involved in a supernova, they've unlocked more clues as to how and why stars die.

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Skyrmions proposed as the basis for a completely new computer architecture

The magnetic interactions between atoms at minute scales can create unique states such as skyrmions. Skyrmions have special properties and can exist in certain material systems, such as a 'stack' of different sub-nanometer-thick metal layers. Modern computer technology based on skyrmions—which are only a few nanometers in size—promises to enable an extremely compact and ultrafast way of storing and processing data.

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Looking for dark matter near neutron stars with radio telescopes

In the 1970s, physicists uncovered a problem with the Standard Model of particle physics—the theory that describes three of the four fundamental forces of nature (electromagnetic, weak, and strong interactions; the fourth is gravity). They found that, while the theory predicts that a symmetry between particles and forces in our Universe and a mirror version should be broken, the experiments say otherwise. This mismatch between theory and observations is dubbed 'the Strong CP problem'—CP stands for Charge+Parity. What is the CP problem, and why has it puzzled scientists for almost half a century?

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Discovery sheds light on the great mystery of why the universe has less antimatter than matter

It's one of the greatest puzzles in physics. All the particles that make up the matter around us, such electrons and protons, have antimatter versions which are nearly identical, but with mirrored properties such as the opposite electric charge. When an antimatter and a matter particle meet, they annihilate in a flash of energy.

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Seeking answers in ferroelectric patterning

Why do some ferroelectric materials display bubble-shaped patterning, while others display complex, labyrinthine patterns?

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Researchers unveil the origin of Oobleck waves

"Oobleck" is a strange fluid made of equal parts of cornstarch and water. It flows like milk when gently stirred, but turns rock-solid when impacted at high speed. This fascinating phenomenon, known as shear-thickening, results in spectacular demonstrations like running on a pool of Oobleck without submerging into it, as long as the runner doesn't stop.

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Recreating Big Bang matter on Earth

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN usually collides protons together. It is these proton–proton collisions that led to the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012. But the world's biggest accelerator was also designed to smash together heavy ions, primarily the nuclei of lead atoms, and it does so every year for about one month. And for at least two good reasons. First, heavy-ion collisions at the LHC recreate in laboratory conditions the plasma of quarks and gluons that is thought to have existed shortly after the Big Bang. Second, the collisions can be used to test and study, at the highest manmade temperatures and densities, fundamental predictions of quantum chromodynamics, the theory of the strong force that binds quarks and gluons together into protons and neutrons and ultimately all atomic nuclei.

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Topological phases in biological systems

LMU physicists have shown that topological phases could exist in biology, and in so doing they have identified a link between solid-state physics and biophysics.

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New discovery brings analog spintronic devices closer

The observation of nonlinearity in electron spin-related processes in graphene makes it easier to transport, manipulate and detect spins, as well as spin-to-charge conversion. It also allows analog operations such as amplitude modulation and spin amplification. This brings spintronics to the point where regular electronics was after the introduction of the first transistors. These results by University of Groningen physicists were published in the journal Physical Review Applied on 17 December.

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Speed of magnetic domain walls found to be fundamentally limited

A team of researchers from MIT and several institutions in Korea has found that the speed of magnetic domain wall movement is fundamentally limited. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes testing a theory regarding the maximum speed of domain walls to prove them correct. Matthew Daniels and Mark Stiles with the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the U.S. have published a Perspective piece outlining the work by the researchers in the same journal issue and sum up the implications of their findings.

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Researchers set new bounds on the mass of leptoquarks

At the most fundamental level, matter is made up of two types of particles: leptons, such as the electron, and quarks, which combine to form protons, neutrons and other composite particles. Under the Standard Model of particle physics, both leptons and quarks fall into three generations of increasing mass. Otherwise, the two kinds of particles are distinct. But some theories that extend the Standard Model predict the existence of new particles called leptoquarks that would unify quarks and leptons by interacting with both.

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Quantum wells enable record-efficiency two-junction solar cell

Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the University of New South Wales achieved a new world-record efficiency for two-junction solar cells, creating a cell with two light-absorbing layers that converts 32.9% of sunlight into electricity.

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Molecular probes require highly precise calculations

Catalysts are indispensable for many technologies. To further improve heterogeneous catalysts, it is required to analyze the complex processes on their surfaces, where the active sites are located. Scientists at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), together with colleagues from Spain and Argentina, have now reached decisive progress: As reported in Physical Review Letters, they use calculation methods with so-called hybrid functionals for the reliable interpretation of experimental data.

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First measurement of single-proton interactions with the MicroBooNE detector

Neutrinos are as mysterious as they are ubiquitous. One of the most abundant particles in the universe, they pass through most matter unnoticed. Their masses are so tiny that so far no experiment has succeeded in measuring them, while they travel at nearly the speed of light.

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Big Data will analyse the mystery of Beethoven's metronome

Data science and physics research at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and UNED has analyzed a centuries-old controversy over Beethoven's annotations about the tempo (the playing speed) of his works, which is considered to be too fast based on these marks. In this study, published in the PLOS ONE journal, it is noted that this deviation could be explained by the composer reading the metronome incorrectly when using it to measure the beat of his symphonies.

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Longest known exposure photograph ever captured using a beer can

A photograph thought to be the longest exposure image ever taken has been discovered inside a beer can at the University of Hertfordshire's Bayfordbury Observatory.

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Information transport in antiferromagnets via pseudospin-magnons

A team of researchers from the Technical University of Munich, the Walther-Meissner-Institute of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim has discovered an exciting method for controlling spin carried by quantized spin wave excitations in antiferromagnetic insulators.

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Characterising cold fusion in 2-D models

Progress towards 'cold fusion,' where nuclear fusion can occur at close to room temperatures, has now been at a standstill for decades. However, an increasing number of studies are now proposing that the reaction could be triggered more easily through a mechanism involving muons—elementary particles with the same charge as electrons, but with around 200 times their mass. Through a study published in EPJ D, researchers led by Francisco Caruso at the Brazilian Centre for Physical Research have shown theoretically how this process would unfold within 2-D systems, without any need for approximations.

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New type of atomic clock could help scientists detect dark matter and study gravity's effect on time

Atomic clocks are the most precise timekeepers in the world. These exquisite instruments use lasers to measure the vibrations of atoms, which oscillate at a constant frequency, like many microscopic pendulums swinging in sync. The best atomic clocks in the world keep time with such precision that, if they had been running since the beginning of the universe, they would only be off by about half a second today.

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Quantum insulators create multilane highways for electrons

New energy-efficient electronic devices may be possible thanks to research that demonstrates the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect—where an electrical current does not lose energy as it flows along the edges of the material—over a broader range of conditions. A team of researchers from Penn State has experimentally realized the QAH effect in a multilayered insulator, essentially producing a multilane highway for the transport of electrons that could increase the speed and efficiency of information transfer without energy loss.

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Ultracold atoms reveal a new type of quantum magnetic behavior

A new study illuminates surprising choreography among spinning atoms. In a paper appearing in the journal Nature, researchers from MIT and Harvard University reveal how magnetic forces at the quantum, atomic scale affect how atoms orient their spins.

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Team's bigger and better 'tweezer clock' is super stable

JILA physicists have boosted the signal power of their atomic "tweezer clock" and measured its performance in part for the first time, demonstrating high stability close to the best of the latest generation of atomic clocks.

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Scientists precisely predict intricate evolutions of multiple-period patterns in bilayers

Surface instability of compliant film/substrate bilayers has raised considerable interests due to its broad applications such as wrinkle-driven surface renewal and antifouling, shape-morphing for camouflaging skins, and micro/nano-scale surface patterning control. However, it is still a challenge to precisely predict and continuously trace secondary bifurcation transitions in the nonlinear post-buckling region. Fundamental understanding and quantitative prediction of morphological evolution and pattern selection are, in fact, crucial for the effective use of wrinkling as a tool for morphological design.

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'Chaotic' way to create insectlike gaits for robots

Researchers in Japan and Italy are embracing chaos and nonlinear physics to create insectlike gaits for tiny robots—complete with a locomotion controller to provide a brain-machine interface.

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New approach can improve COVID-19 predictions worldwide

Methods currently used around the world for predicting the development of COVID-19 and other pandemics fail to report precisely on the best and worst-case scenarios. Newly developed prediction method for epidemics, published in Nature Physics, solve this problem.

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New constraints on alternative gravity theories that could inform dark matter research

While particle theories are currently the most favored explanations for dark mater, physicists have still been unable to detect dark matter particles in ways that would confirm or contradict these theories. Some theorists have thus been exploring new theories of gravity that clearly account for and explain the existence of this elusive type of matter. In order to obviate the need for dark matter, however, these theories should be aligned with cosmological observations gathered so far.

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New constraints on alternative gravity theories that could inform dark matter research

While particle theories are currently the most favored explanations for dark mater, physicists have still been unable to detect dark matter particles in ways that would confirm or contradict these theories. Some theorists have thus been exploring new theories of gravity that clearly account for and explain the existence of this elusive type of matter. In order to obviate the need for dark matter, however, these theories should be aligned with cosmological observations gathered so far.

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Massive underground instrument finds final secret of our sun's fusion

A hyper-sensitive instrument, deep underground in Italy, has finally succeeded at the nearly impossible task of detecting CNO neutrinos (tiny particles pointing to the presence of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen) from our sun's core. These little-known particles reveal the last missing detail of the fusion cycle powering our sun and other stars.

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'Magic' angle graphene and the creation of unexpected topological quantum states

Electrons inhabit a strange and topsy-turvy world. These infinitesimally small particles have never ceased to amaze and mystify despite the more than a century that scientists have studied them. Now, in an even more amazing twist, physicists have discovered that, under certain conditions, interacting electrons can create what are called 'topological quantum states.' This finding, which was recently published in the journal Nature, has implications for many technological fields of study, especially information technology.

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Are primordial magnetic field theories getting in a twist?

In cosmic voids where the density of galaxies is far lower than standard, astronomers have observed weak magnetic fields that may provide a window into the early universe. The fields 10-17-10-10 G in magnitude with large coherence lengths of up to megaparsecs are thought to have their origins in the early universe, but so far it is unclear when or how they were generated. One hypothesis is that an imbalance in the numbers of "left-handed" and "right-handed" fermions may be at the heart of it, as this could give rise to helical magnetic fields. But so far there has been no detailed analysis as to how the evolution of the numbers of left- and right-handed fermions might stack up against this hypothesis. Now a collaboration of researchers in Europe report a more rigorous analysis of this chirality imbalance with surprising results.

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Researchers pinpoint more precise method for atomic-level manufacturing

Quantum computers have the potential to transform fields such as medicine, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence by solving hard optimization problems that are beyond the reach of conventional computing hardware.

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Controlling the speed of light bullets

Though it sounds like something straight out of science fiction, controlling the speed of light has in fact been a long-standing challenge for physicists. In a study recently published in Communications Physics, researchers from Osaka University generated light bullets with highly controllable velocities.

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Righting a wrong, nuclear physicists improve precision of neutrino studies

Led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a new study clears up a discrepancy regarding the biggest contributor of unwanted background signals in specialized detectors of neutrinos. Better characterization of background could improve current and future experiments to detect real signals from these weakly interacting, electrically neutral subatomic particles and understand their role in the universe.

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New computational method validates images without 'ground truth'

A realtor sends a prospective homebuyer a blurry photograph of a house taken from across the street. The homebuyer can compare it to the real thing—look at the picture, then look at the real house—and see that the bay window is actually two windows close together, the flowers out front are plastic and what looked like a door is actually a hole in the wall.

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Physicists observe the emergence of collective behaviour

Phase transitions describe dramatic changes in properties of a macroscopic system—like the transition from a liquid to a gas. Starting from individual ultracold atoms, Heidelberg University physicists were able to observe the emergence of such a transition with an increasing number of particles. The research work was carried out in the field of quantum physics under the direction of Prof. Dr. Selim Jochim from the Institute for Physics.

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Scientists say farewell to Daya Bay site, proceed with final data analysis

The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment collaboration—which made a precise measurement of an important neutrino property eight years ago, setting the stage for a new round of experiments and discoveries about these hard-to-study particles—has finished taking data. Though the experiment is formally shutting down, the collaboration will continue to analyze its complete dataset to improve upon the precision of findings based on earlier measurements.

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Potential extreme condition history detector—recoverable PL achieved in pyrochlore

Photoluminescence (PL) is light emission from a substance after the absorption of photons stimulated by temperature, electricity, pressure, or chemistry doping. An international team of scientists led by Dr. Wenge Yang from Center for High Pressure Science &Technology Advanced Research (HPSTAR) presents a strong tricolor PL achieved in non-PL pyrochlore Ho2Sn2O7 through high pressure treatment. Interestingly the PL can be much enhanced after pressure release and recovered to ambient conditions. Their study is published in the recent issue of Physical Review Letters.

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Near-atomic-scale analysis of frozen water

Advances in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) can allow cryo-imaging of biological and biochemical systems in liquid form, however, such approaches do not possess advanced analytical capabilities. In a new report now published on Science Advances, A. A. El-Zoka and an international team of researchers in Germany, Canada, France, and the U.K., used atom probe tomography to analyze frozen liquids in three-dimensions (3-D) with sub-nanometer scale resolution. In this work, the team first introduced a specimen preparation strategy using nano-porous gold and used ice formed from high-purity deuterated water (hard water) alongside a solution of sodium chloride (50 mM) dissolved in high-purity deuterated water. They then analyzed the gold-ice interface to reveal increased solute concentrations across the interface. The scientists explored a range of experimental conditions to understand atom probe analyses of bulk aqueous specimens. Then they discussed the physical processes associated with the observed phenomena. The study showed the practicality of using frozen water as a carrier for near-atomic-scale analyses of objects in solution via atom probe tomography.

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Search for invisible axion dark matter with a multiple-cell cavity

Despite its vanishingly tiny mass, the existence of the axion, once proven, may point to new physics beyond the Standard Model. Theorized to explain a fundamental symmetry problem in the strong nuclear force associated with the matter-antimatter imbalance in our universe, this hypothetical particle also makes an attractive dark matter candidate. Though axions would exist in vast enough numbers to be able to account for the "missing" mass from the universe, the search for this dark matter has been quite challenging so far.

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Visualization of mechanical waves in a liquid medium

The effect of ultrasound on the liquid phase has been visualized using dynamic electron microscopy. The use of the effect of standing mechanical waves arising in the liquid phase under the action of an external ultrasound source makes it possible to control the structure of liquid reaction media at the micro-level and influence the result of chemical transformations.

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Revolutionary superconducting magnet plate design and analysis

In the production of integrated circuits (computer chips), continuous innovation is essential to remain competitive. A major goal is to increase the productivity of photolithography machines, which is partly determined by their electromagnetic motors. Ph.D.-candidate Bart Koolmees, from the TU/e department of Mechanical Engineering, focused on developing a superconducting alternative for these motors. His work showed that such a design could increase the power of the motor by more than 500%, and he also devised solutions to some of the main technical challenges: thermal insulation and the integrity of the superconducting coils. He will defend his thesis on 9 December.

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'Electronic amoeba' finds approximate solution to traveling salesman problem in linear time

Researchers at Hokkaido University and Amoeba Energy in Japan have, inspired by the efficient foraging behavior of a single-celled amoeba, developed an analog computer for finding a reliable and swift solution to the traveling salesman problem—a representative combinatorial optimization problem.

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Energy-efficient magnetic RAM: A new building block for spintronic technologies

Researchers at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) and Seoul National University in South Korea have demonstrated a new way to enhance the energy efficiency of a non-volatile magnetic memory device called SOT-MRAM. Published in Advanced Materials, this finding opens up a new window of exciting opportunities for future energy-efficient magnetic memories based on spintronics.

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Network isotopy: A framework to study the 3-D layouts of physical networks

The structure and functions of many physical networks, including the human brain, the vascular system and other biological networks, often depend on their three-dimensional and geometrical layout. Distinguishing between physical networks with identical connections but different geometrical layouts, however, can be very challenging.

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Fragments of energy—not waves or particles—may be the fundamental building blocks of the universe

Matter is what makes up the universe, but what makes up matter? This question has long been tricky for those who think about it—especially for the physicists. Reflecting recent trends in physics, my colleague Jeffrey Eischen and I have described an updated way to think about matter. We propose that matter is not made of particles or waves, as was long thought, but—more fundamentally—that matter is made of fragments of energy.

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High-precision measurements of the strong interaction between stable and unstable particles

The positively charged protons in atomic nuclei should actually repel each other, and yet even heavy nuclei with many protons and neutrons stick together. The so-called strong interaction is responsible for this. Prof. Laura Fabbietti and her research group at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now developed a method to precisely measure the strong interaction utilizing particle collisions in the ALICE experiment at CERN in Geneva.

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Scientists model photoluminescence kinetics in semiconductor nanoplatelets for better optoelectronics

Researchers from Skoltech and their colleagues have built two models that accurately explain the light-emitting behavior of semiconductor nanoplatelets, minuscule structures that can become the building blocks for optoelectronics of the future. The paper was published in the journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics.

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'Game changer' perovskite can detect gamma rays

Perovskites are materials made up of organic compounds bound to a metal. Propelled into the forefront of materials' research because of their structure and properties, perovskites are earmarked for a wide range of applications, including in solar cells, LED lights, lasers, and photodetectors.

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Accessing the arches of chaos in the solar system for fast transport

Space manifolds form the boundaries of dynamic channels to provide fast transport to the innermost and outermost reaches of the solar system. Such features are an important element in spacecraft navigation and mission design, providing a window to the apparently erratic nature of comets and their trajectories. In a new report now published on Science Advances, Nataša Todorović and a team of researchers in Serbia and the U.S. revealed a notable and unexpected ornamental structure of manifolds in the solar system. This architecture was connected in a series of arches spreading from the asteroid belt to Uranus and beyond. The strongest manifolds were found linked to Jupiter with profound control on small bodies across a wide and previously unknown range of three-body energies. The orbits of these manifolds encountered Jupiter on rapid time-scales to transform into collisional or escaping trajectories to reach Neptune's distance merely within a decade. In this way, much like a celestial highway, all planets generate similar manifolds across the solar system for fast transport throughout.

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A technique to sift out the universe's first gravitational waves

In the moments immediately following the Big Bang, the very first gravitational waves rang out. The product of quantum fluctuations in the new soup of primordial matter, these earliest ripples through the fabric of space-time were quickly amplified by inflationary processes that drove the universe to explosively expand.

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Microjets are faster than a speeding bullet

When a shock wave travels through material and reaches a free surface, chunks of material can break away and fly off at high speeds. If there are any defects on the surface, the shock forms microjets that travel faster than a speeding bullet.

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Batteries mimic mammal bones for stability

Sodium-ion batteries are poised to replace lithium-ion batteries for large-scale electrical energy storage. They offer several advantages over lithium-ion batteries, particularly due to the widespread abundance of sodium.

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Sneezes and coughs act like 'mini atomic bombs' and regularly exceed two meters

Keeping two meters apart might not be far enough to stop the spread of coronavirus from sneezes and coughs, according to a new study.

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Elementary particles part ways with their properties

"Spooky action at a distance," Einstein's summation of quantum physics, has been a criticism of quantum mechanics since the field emerged. So far, descriptions of entangled particles to explain their apparently faster-than-light responses, and even explanations for the phase shifts induced by an electromagnetic field in regions where it is zero—the "Aharonov-Bohm" effect—have mostly addressed these concerns. However, recent theoretical and experimental demonstrations of a "counterfactual" quantum communication protocol have proved difficult to explain in terms of physical cause and effect. In this kind of quantum communication, observers on either side of a "transmission channel" exchange information without any particle passing between them—spooky indeed.

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Scientists reveal reaction mechanism of 11Be nucleus

Scientists from the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and their collaborators have lately made new progress in the study of the reaction mechanism of 11Be nucleus. The study will help understand the effect of exotic structures such as the neutron halo on the reaction characteristics.

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Imitation mosquito ears help identify mosquito species and sex

Using an imitation "ear" modeled on the organs that mosquitos use to hear, researchers have identified a mosquito's species and sex using sound—just like mosquitos do themselves.

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Team develops component for neuromorphic computer

Neural networks are some of the most important tools in artificial intelligence (AI): they mimic the operation of the human brain and can reliably recognize texts, language and images, to name but a few. So far, they run on traditional processors in the form of adaptive software, but experts are working on an alternative concept, the 'neuromorphic computer.' In this case, the brain's switching points—the neurons—are not simulated by software but reconstructed in hardware components. A team of researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) has now demonstrated a new approach to such hardware—targeted magnetic waves that are generated and divided in micrometer-sized wafers. Looking to the future, this could mean that optimization tasks and pattern recognition could be completed faster and more energy efficiently. The researchers have presented their results in the journal Physical Review Letters.

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Triple threat: The first observation of three massive gauge bosons produced in proton-proton collisions

The Standard Model, the most exhaustive existing theory outlining fundamental particle interactions, predicts the existence of what are known as triboson interactions. These interactions are processes in which three-gauge bosons are simultaneously produced from one Large Hadron Collider event.

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Research reveals how airflow inside a car may affect COVID-19 transmission risk

A new study of airflow patterns inside a car's passenger cabin offers some suggestions for potentially reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission while sharing rides with others.

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First physics results from prototype detector published

The DUNE collaboration has published their first scientific paper based on data collected with the ProtoDUNE single-phase detector located at CERN's Neutrino Platform. The results show that the detector is performing with greater than 99% efficiency, making it not only the largest, but also the best-performing liquid-argon time projection chamber to date. Scientists now are using their findings to refine their experimental techniques and prepare for the construction of the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment at the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility, a next-generation neutrino experimental program hosted by the Department of Energy's Fermilab in the United States.

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Detecting solar neutrinos with the Borexino experiment

Neutrinos are chargeless particles with about a mass about a millionth that of an electron that are created by the nuclear processes that occur in the Sun and other stars. These particles are often colorfully described as the 'ghosts' of the particle zoo because they interact so weakly with matter. A paper published in EPJ C by the Borexino collaboration—including XueFeng Ding, Postdoc Associate of Physics at Princeton University, United States—documents the attempts of the Borexino experiment to measure low-energy neutrinos from the Sun's carbon-nitrogen-oxygen (CNO) cycle for the first time.

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Electrons falling flat: Germanium falls into a 2-D arrangement on zirconium diboride

Scientists have recently revealed, both theoretically and experimentally, that germanium atoms can arrange themselves into a 2-D "bi-triangular" lattice on zirconium diboride thin films grown on germanium single crystals to form a "flat band material" with an embedded "kagome" lattice. The result provides experimental support to a theoretical prediction of flat bands emerging from trivial atomic geometry and indicates the possibility of their existence in many more materials.

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Anti-gravity: How a boat can float upside down

Here on Earth, everything is subject to gravity—it makes objects fall to the ground and rivers flow from higher ground to the sea. We know what would happen without it, thanks to images of astronauts floating around their spaceship. But could we design an anti-gravity machine, something that would make objects fall upwards, oceans levitate, and boats float upside down?

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Researchers observe what could be the first hints of dark bosons

Extremely light and weakly interacting particles may play a crucial role in cosmology and in the ongoing search for dark matter. Unfortunately, however, these particles have so far proved very difficult to detect using existing high-energy colliders. Researchers worldwide have thus been trying to develop alternative technologies and methods that could enable the detection of these particles.

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Lab study of droplet dynamics advances 3-D printing

A team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists has simulated the droplet ejection process in an emerging metal 3-D printing technique called "Liquid Metal Jetting" (LMJ), a critical aspect to the continued advancement of liquid metal printing technologies.

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How to cool more efficiently: Environmentally friendly refrigeration processes

In the journal Applied Physics Reviews, an international research team from the University of Barcelona, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), and TU Darmstadt report on possibilities for implementing more efficient and environmentally friendly refrigeration processes. For this purpose, they investigated the effects of simultaneously exposing certain alloys to magnetic fields and mechanical stress.

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China turns on nuclear-powered 'artificial sun'

China successfully powered up its "artificial sun" nuclear fusion reactor for the first time, state media reported Friday, marking a great advance in the country's nuclear power research capabilities.

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Research leads to better modeling of hypersonic flow

Hypersonic flight is conventionally referred to as the ability to fly at speeds significantly faster than the speed of sound and presents an extraordinary set of technical challenges. As an example, when a space capsule re-enters Earth's atmosphere, it reaches hypersonic speeds—more than five times the speed of sound—and generates temperatures over 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit on its exterior surface. Designing a thermal protection system to keep astronauts and cargo safe requires an understanding at the molecular level of the complicated physics going on in the gas that flows around the vehicle.

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Physicists capture the sound of a 'perfect' fluid

For some, the sound of a "perfect flow" might be the gentle lapping of a forest brook or perhaps the tinkling of water poured from a pitcher. For physicists, a perfect flow is more specific, referring to a fluid that flows with the smallest amount of friction, or viscosity, allowed by the laws of quantum mechanics. Such perfectly fluid behavior is rare in nature, but it is thought to occur in the cores of neutron stars and in the soupy plasma of the early universe.

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Researchers pioneer a revolutionary new method to directly observe dark excitons

Heralding the end of a decade-long quest, in a promising new class of extremely thin, two-dimensional semiconductors, scientists have for the first time directly visualized and measured elusive particles, called dark excitons, that cannot be seen by light.

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Searching for sub-eV sterile neutrinos using two highly sensitive detectors

The standard model of particle physics only accounts for 20% of matter in the universe. Physicists have theorized that the remaining 80% is made up by so-called dark matter, which consists of particles that do not emit, absorb or reflect light and thus cannot be directly observed using any existing instruments.

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Supernova surprise creates elemental mystery

Michigan State University (MSU) researchers have discovered that one of the most important reactions in the universe can get a huge and unexpected boost inside exploding stars known as supernovae.

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Researchers improve the measurement of a fundamental physical constant

The validation and application of theories in physics require the measurement of universal values known as fundamental constants.

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Biomedical engineers find active particles swim against the current

Researchers are beginning to understand the behavior of so-called "active" particles, which, if it can be controlled, has potential implications for engineered drug delivery systems and smart 3-D printing, according to an interdisciplinary Penn State research team.

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Curtin collision models impact the future of energy

A new Curtin University-created database of electron-molecule reactions is a major step forward in making nuclear fusion power a reality, by allowing researchers to accurately model plasmas containing molecular hydrogen.

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Scientists solve big limitation of stratospheric balloon payloads

Nearly all photons emitted after the Big Bang are now visible only at far-infrared wavelengths. This includes light from the cold universe of gas and dust from which stars and planets form, as well as faint signals from distant galaxies tracing the universe's evolution to today.

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A new lesson about phase transitions and criticality

NUS physicists have discovered a theoretical behavior known as the "critical skin effect" influencing how changes between different phases of matter occur.

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A possible way to measure ancient rate of cosmic ray strikes using 'paleo-detectors'

An international team of researchers has proposed a way to indirectly measure the rate of cosmic rays striking the Earth over millions of years. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, they suggest using the imprints made by atmospheric neutrinos in so-called "paleo-detectors"—natural minerals expressing damage tracks resulting from nuclear recoils.

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Next step in simulating the universe

Computer simulations have struggled to capture the impact of elusive particles called neutrinos on the formation and growth of the large-scale structure of the universe. But now, a research team from Japan has developed a method that overcomes this hurdle.

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Math enables custom arrangements of liquid 'nesting dolls'

While the mesmerizing blobs in a classic lava lamp may appear magical, the colorful shapes move in response to temperature-induced changes in density and surface tension. This process, known as liquid-liquid phase separation, is critical to many functions in living cells, and plays a part in making products like medicines and cosmetics.

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A new hybrid X-ray detector goes toe-to-toe with state-of-the-art rivals

A new hybrid X-ray detector developed by the University of Surrey outperforms commercial devices—and could lead to more accurate cancer therapy.

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In search for dark matter, new fountain design could become wellspring of answers

You can't see it. You can't feel it. But the substance scientists refer to as dark matter could account for five times as much "stuff" in the universe as the regular matter that forms everything from trees, trains and the air you breathe, to stars, planets and interstellar dust clouds.

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Unprecedented accuracy in quantum electrodynamics: Giant leap toward solving proton charge radius puzzle

Physicists at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics have tested quantum mechanics to a completely new level of precision using hydrogen spectroscopy, and in doing so they came much closer to solving the well-known proton charge radius puzzle.

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A hint of new physics in polarized radiation from the early universe

Using Planck data from the cosmic microwave background radiation, an international team of researchers has observed a hint of new physics. The team developed a new method to measure the polarization angle of the ancient light by calibrating it with dust emission from our own Milky Way. While the signal is not detected with enough precision to draw definite conclusions, it may suggest that dark matter or dark energy causes a violation of the so-called "parity symmetry."

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Neutrinos yield first experimental evidence of catalyzed fusion dominant in many stars

An international team of about 100 scientists of the Borexino Collaboration, including particle physicist Andrea Pocar at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, report in Nature this week detection of neutrinos from the sun, directly revealing for the first time that the carbon-nitrogen-oxygen (CNO) fusion-cycle is at work in our sun.

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Minimal waste production is a fundamental law for animal locomotion

Is there a unifying principle underpinning animal locomotion in its rich diversity? A thermodynamic analysis performed by a Skoltech professor and his French collaborators at Université Paris Diderot, Université Paris Saclay, and the Muséum national d'Histoire Naturelle, shows why and how waste minimization prevails on efficiency or power maximization when it comes to free locomotion irrespective of the available mode and gaits. The research is published in the Physical Review Letters.

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Attosecond interferometry in time-energy domain

The space-momentum domain interferometer is a key technique in modern precision measurements, and has been widely used for applications that require superb spatial resolution in engineering metrology and astronomy. Extending such interferometric techniques to the time-energy domain is a significant complement to spatial domain measurements and is anticipated to provide time resolving capability for tracing ultrafast processes. However, such applications for high precision time domain measurement, especially state of the art attosecond time resolved measurement, is less explored despite its great significance.

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New physical picture leads to a precise finite-size scaling of (3+1)-dimensional O(n) critical system

Since the establishment of the renormalization group theory, it has been known that systems of critical phenomena typically possess an upper critical dimension dc (dc=4 for the O(n) model), such that in spatial dimensions at or higher than the dc, the thermodynamic behavior is governed by critical exponents taking mean-field values. In contrast to the simplicity of the thermodynamic behavior, the theory of finite-size scaling (FSS) for the d>dc O(n) model was surprisingly subtle and had remained the subject of ongoing debate till recently, when a two-length scaling ansatz for the two-point correlation function was conjectured, numerically confirmed, and partly supported by analytical calculations.

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Tracking and fighting fires on earth and beyond

Mechanical engineer Michael Gollner and his graduate student, Sriram Bharath Hariharan, from the University of California, Berkeley, recently traveled to NASA's John H. Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. There, they dropped burning objects in a deep shaft and study how fire whirls form in microgravity. The Glenn Center hosts a Zero Gravity Research Facility, which includes an experimental drop tower that simulates the experience of being in space.

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Supersized wind turbines generate clean energy—and surprising physics

Twenty years ago, wind energy was mostly a niche industry that contributed less than 1% to the total electricity demand in the United States. Wind has since emerged as a serious contender in the race to develop clean, renewable energy sources that can sustain the grid and meet the ever-rising global energy demand. Last year, wind energy supplied 7% of domestic electricity demand, and across the country—both on and offshore—energy companies have been installing giant turbines that reach higher and wider than ever before.

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Flow physics could help forecasters predict extreme events

About 1,000 tornadoes strike the United States each year, causing billions of dollars in damage and killing about 60 people on average. Tracking data show that they're becoming increasingly common in the southeast, and less frequent in "Tornado Alley," which stretches across the Great Plains. Scientists lack a clear understanding of how tornadoes form, but a more urgent challenge is to develop more accurate prediction and warning systems. It requires a fine balance: Without warnings, people can't shelter, but if they experience too many false alarms, they'll become inured.

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How moving slower allows groups of bacteria to spread across surfaces

Scientists have found that bacterial groups spread more rapidly over surfaces when the individuals inside them move slowly, a discovery that may shed light on how bacteria spread within the body during infections.

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Social bacteria build shelters using the physics of fingerprints

Forest-dwelling bacteria known for forming slimy swarms that prey on other microbes can also cooperate to construct mushroom-like survival shelters known as fruiting bodies when food is scarce. Now a team at Princeton University has discovered the physics behind how these rod-shaped bacteria, which align in patterns like those on fingerprint whorls and liquid crystal displays, build the layers of these fruiting bodies. The study was published in Nature Physics.

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Biological pattern-forming systems characterized better through geometry than simulations

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich physicists have introduced a new method that allows biological pattern-forming systems to be systematically characterized with the aid of mathematical analysis. The trick lies in the use of geometry to characterize the dynamics.

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Accelerator makes cross-country trek to enable laser upgrade

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility has shipped the final new section of accelerator that it has built for an upgrade of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). The section of accelerator, called a cryomodule, has begun a cross-country road trip to DOE's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, where it will be installed in LCLS-II, the world's brightest X-ray laser.

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Refining the picture of the Higgs boson

To explain the masses of electroweak bosons—the W and Z bosons—theorists in the 1960s postulated a mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking. While this mathematical formalism is relatively simple, its cornerstone—the Higgs boson – remained undetected for almost 50 years.

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Searching for axion dark matter conversion signals in the magnetic fields around neutron stars

According to theoretical predictions, axion dark matter could be converted into radio frequency electromagnetic radiation when it approaches the strong magnetic fields that surround neutron stars. This radio signature, which would be characterized by an ultranarrow spectral peak at a frequency that depends on the mass of the axion dark matter particle in question, could be detected using high-precision astronomical instruments.

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'Search of a lifetime' for supersymmetric particles at CERN

A team of researchers at the University of Chicago recently embarked on the search of a lifetime—or rather, a search for the lifetime of long-lived supersymmetric particles.

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Q&A: Toward the next generation of computing devices

Ever noticed how our smartphones and computing devices become faster within short spans? You can thank Moore's law for that. Back in 1965, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore predicted that the processing power of computers would double about every two years, and incredibly this empirical rule-of-thumb has held on for over five decades.

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Building better diffusion models for active systems

In normal circumstances, particles will follow well-established random motions as they diffuse through liquids and gases. Yet in some types of system, this behavior can be disrupted—meaning the diffusion motions of particles are no longer influenced by the outcomes of chains of previous events. Through research published in EPJ E, Bernhard Mitterwallner, a Ph.D. student in the team of Roland Netz at the Free University of Berlin, Germany, has developed new theories detailing how these unusual dynamics can be reproduced in generalized mathematical models.

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Confirming simulated calculations with experiment results

Dr. Zi Yang Meng from the Division of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Science, the University of Hong Kong (HKU), is pursuing a new paradigm of quantum material research that combines theory, computation and experiment in a coherent manner. Recently, he teamed up with Dr. Wei LI from Beihang University, Professor Yang Qi from Fudan University, Professor Weiqiang YU from Renmin University and Professor Jinsheng Wen from Nanjing University to untangle the puzzle of Nobel Prize-winning theory Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) phase.

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Solving for nuclear structure in light nuclei

In nuclei, all the fundamental forces of nature are at play. The dense region at the center of an atom—where the protons and neutrons are found—is a place where scientists can test their understanding of the fundamental interactions of the smallest building blocks of matter in the universe.

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Surfaces help quantum switches

The quantum dynamics of hydrogen are central to many problems in nature, being strongly influenced by the environment in which a reaction takes place. In their contribution to PRL, members of the Lise Meitner Group at the MPSD address hydrogen transfer within a supported molecular switch, showing that the surface support can play a decisive role in the tunneling reaction.

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Topological mechanical metamaterials go beyond Newton's third law

A change in perspective can work wonders. This has been especially true with respect to the paradigms for explaining material properties using the concept of topology, "ideas that are currently revolutionizing condensed matter physics," according to Tel Aviv University researcher Roni Ilan. While topological physics first emerged in condensed matter physics, the ideas have now spread into many other areas, including optics and photonics, as well as acoustics and other mechanical systems, where things have been getting a little tricky.

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Entropy production gets a system update

Nature is not homogenous. Most of the universe is complex and composed of various subsystems—self-contained systems within a larger whole. Microscopic cells and their surroundings, for example, can be divided into many different subsystems: the ribosome, the cell wall, and the intracellular medium surrounding the cell.

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Going beyond the anti-laser may enable long-range wireless power transfer

Ever since Nikola Tesla spewed electricity in all directions with his coil back in 1891, scientists have been thinking up ways to send electrical power through the air. The dream is to charge your phone or laptop, or maybe even a healthcare device such as a pacemaker, without the need for wires and plugs. The tricky bit is getting the electricity to find its intended target, and getting that target to absorb the electricity instead of just reflect it back into the air—all preferably without endangering anyone along the way.

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Small finlets on owl feathers point the way to less aircraft noise

A recent research study conducted by City, University of London's Professor Christoph Bruecker and his team has revealed how micro-structured finlets on owl feathers enable silent flight and may show the way forward in reducing aircraft noise in future.

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Researchers describe fundamental processes behind movement of magnetic particles

The motion of magnetic particles as they pass through a magnetic field is called magnetophoresis. Until now, not much was known about the factors influencing these particles and their movement. Now, researchers from the University of Illinois Chicago describe several fundamental processes associated with the motion of magnetic particles through fluids as they are pulled by a magnetic field.

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Sensor experts invent supercool mini thermometer

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have invented a miniature thermometer with big potential applications such as monitoring the temperature of processor chips in superconductor-based quantum computers, which must stay cold to work properly.

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In a pandemic, migration away from dense cities more effective than closing borders

Pandemics are fueled, in part, by dense populations in large cities where networks of buildings, crowded sidewalks, and public transportation force people into tighter conditions. This contrasts with conditions in rural areas, where there is more space available per person.

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Time to rethink predicting pandemic infection rates?

During the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Joseph Lee McCauley, a physics professor at the University of Houston, was watching the daily data for six countries and wondered if infections were really growing exponentially. By extracting the doubling times from the data, he became convinced they were.

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Driver behavior influences traffic patterns as much as roadway design, study reports

Urban planners may soon have a new way to measure traffic congestion. By capturing the different routes by which vehicles can travel between locations, researchers have developed a new computer algorithm that helps quantify regions of congestion in urban areas and suggests ways around them.

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Making the best decision: Math shows diverse thinkers equal better results

Whether it is ants forming a trail or individuals crossing the street, the exchange of information is key in making everyday decisions. But new Florida State University research shows that the group decision-making process may work best when members process information a bit differently.

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Does the human brain resemble the Universe?

An astrophysicist at the University of Bologna and a neurosurgeon at the University of Verona compared the network of neuronal cells in the human brain with the cosmic network of galaxies... and surprising similarities emerged

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Understanding astrophysics with laser-accelerated protons

Bringing huge amounts of protons up to speed in the shortest distance in fractions of a second—that's what laser acceleration technology, greatly improved in recent years, can do. An international research team from the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung and the Helmholtz Institute Jena, a branch of GSI, in collaboration with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, U.S., has succeeded in using protons accelerated with the GSI high-power laser PHELIX to split other nuclei and to analyze them. The results have now been published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports and could provide new insights into astrophysical processes.

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Handles and holes in abstract spaces: How a material conducts electricity better

A sphere and a cube can be deformed into one another without cuts or stitches. A mug and a glass cannot because, to deform the first into the second, the handle needs to be broken. Topology is the branch of mathematics that formalizes this difference between mugs and glasses, extending it also to abstract spaces with many dimensions. A new theory developed by scientists at SISSA in Trieste has succeeded in establishing a new relationship between the presence or absence of 'handles' in the space of the arrangements of atoms and molecules that make up a material, and the propensity of the latter to conduct electricity. According to this theory, the insulating materials 'equipped with handles' can conduct electricity as well as metals, while retaining typical properties of insulators, such as transparency.

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Dark matter candidate could display stringy effects in the lab

A hypothetical particle that could solve one of the biggest puzzles in cosmology just got a little less mysterious. A RIKEN physicist and two colleagues have revealed the mathematical underpinnings that could explain how so-called axions might generate string-like entities that create a strange voltage in lab materials.

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Japan Nobel laureate Koshiba who found neutrinos dies at 94

Japanese astrophysicist Masatoshi Koshiba, a co-winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in physics for confirming the existence of elementary particles called neutrinos, has died. He was 94.

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In-plane antiferromagnets host a rich class of particle-like spin textures

Compared with the chiral spin textures in ferromagnets, their antiferromagnetic counterparts can be manipulated by spin currents with a more direct approach due to the absence of the skyrmion Hall effect, and much lower power consumption, as well. So far, most research has focused on isolated excitation in perpendicular antiferromagnetic spin systems, for example, skyrmion solitons. Meanwhile, the characteristics and the related physics of its in-plane analog, the bimeron, remain elusive.

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Researchers create MRI-like technique for imaging magnetic waves

A team of researchers from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Leiden University, Tohoku University and the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter has developed a new type of MRI scanner that can image waves in ultrathin magnets. Unlike electrical currents, these so-called spin waves produce little heat, making them promising signal carriers for future green ICT applications.

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New study outlines steps higher education should take to prepare a new quantum workforce

A new study outlines ways colleges and universities can update their curricula to prepare the workforce for a new wave of quantum technology jobs. Three researchers, including Rochester Institute of Technology Associate Professor Ben Zwickl, suggested steps that need to be taken in a new paper in Physical Review Physics Education Research after interviewing managers at more than 20 quantum technology companies across the U.S.

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Advanced atomic clock makes a better dark matter detector

JILA researchers have used a state-of-the-art atomic clock to narrow the search for elusive dark matter, an example of how continual improvements in clocks have value beyond timekeeping.

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New approach to circuit compression could deliver real-world quantum computers years ahead of schedule

A major technical challenge for any practical, real-world quantum computer comes from the need for a large number of physical qubits to deal with errors that accumulate during computation. Such quantum error correction is resource-intensive and computationally time-consuming. But researchers have found an effective software method that enables significant compression of quantum circuits, relaxing the demands placed on hardware development.

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Researchers make most precise measurements of deuterium fusing with a proton to form helium-3

A large team of researchers affiliated with a host of institutions in Italy, the U.K and Hungary has carried out the most precise measurements yet of deuterium fusing with a proton to form helium-3. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the group describes their effort and how they believe it will contribute to better understanding the events that transpired during the first few minutes after the Big Bang.

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The first demonstration of phase-matching between an electron wave and a light wave

While researchers have conducted countless studies exploring the interaction between light waves and bound electron systems, the quantum interactions between free electrons and light have only recently become a topic of interest within the physics community. The observation of free electron-light interactions was facilitated by the discovery of a technique known as photon-induced near-field electron microscopy (PINEM).

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One step closer: Muon-to-electron-conversion program reaches milestone in construction of novel experiment

The construction of the Mu2e experiment at the Department of Energy's Fermilab has reached an important milestone. A crucial section of magnets for the experiment, including components from Italy, Japan and the United States, has passed the rigorous testing necessary to ensure that each individual magnet meets the performance required for the experiment.

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Observation of four-charm-quark structure

The strong interaction is one of the fundamental forces of nature, which binds quarks into hadrons such as the proton and the neutron, the building blocks of atoms. According to the quark model, hadrons can be formed by two or three quarks, called mesons and baryons respectively, and collectively referred to as conventional hadrons. The quark model also allows for the existence of so-called exotic hadrons, composed by four (tetraquarks), five (pentaquarks) or more quarks. A rich spectrum of exotic hadrons is expected just as for the conventional ones. However, no unambiguous signal of exotic hadrons was observed until 2003, when the X(3872) state was discovered by the Belle experiment. In the following years, a few more exotic states were discovered. The explanation of their properties requires the existence of four constituent quarks. Identification of pentaquark states is even more difficult, and the first candidates were observed by the LHCb experiment in 2015. All these known states contain at most two heavy quarks—the beauty or charm quark.

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New tractor beam has potential to tame lightning

Lightning never strikes twice, so the saying goes, but new technology may allow us to control where it hits the ground, reducing the risk of catastrophic bushfires.

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New research explores the thermodynamics of off-equilibrium systems

Almost all truly intriguing systems are ones that are far away from equilibrium—such as stars, planetary atmospheres, and even digital circuits. But, until now, systems far from thermal equilibrium couldn't be analyzed with conventional thermodynamics and statistical physics.

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Black hole or no black hole: On the outcome of neutron star collisions

A new study lead by GSI scientists and international colleagues investigates black-hole formation in neutron star mergers. Computer simulations show that the properties of dense nuclear matter play a crucial role, which directly links the astrophysical merger event to heavy-ion collision experiments at GSI and FAIR. These properties will be studied more precisely at the future FAIR facility. The results have now been published in Physical Review Letters. With the award of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics for the theoretical description of black holes and for the discovery of a supermassive object at the center of our galaxy, the topic currently also receives a lot of attention.

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Physicists produce world's first neutron-rich, radioactive tantalum ions

An international team of scientists have unveiled the world's first production of a purified beam of neutron-rich, radioactive tantalum ions. This development could now allow for lab-based experiments on exploding stars helping scientists to answer long-held questions such as "where does gold come from?"

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Improving high-energy lithium-ion batteries with carbon filler

Lithium-ion batteries are the major rechargeable power source for many portable devices as well as electric vehicles, but their use is limited, because they do not provide high power output while simultaneously allowing reversible energy storage. Research reported in Applied Physics Reviews aims to offer a solution by showing how the inclusion of conductive fillers improves battery performance.

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Blue whirl flame structure revealed with supercomputers

Lightning struck a bourbon warehouse, setting fire to a cache of 800,000 gallons of liquor in the Bardstown countryside of Kentucky in 2003. Some of it spilled into a nearby creek, spawning a massive fire tornado, or 'bourbonado,' as reported locally.

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Antiferromagnets are suitable for dissipationless nanoelectronics, contrary to current theories

Sometimes combinations of different things produce effects that no one expects, such as when completely new properties appear that the two combined parts do not have on their own. Dr. Libor Šmejkal from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) found such an unexpected property: He combined antiferromagnetic substances with non-magnetic atoms and found that, contrary to the current doctrine, a Hall current occurs—which is not the case with either antiferromagnetic or non-magnetic substances individually.

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Electrified magnets: Researchers uncover a new way to handle data

The properties of synthesized magnets can be changed and controlled by charge currents as suggested by a study and simulations conducted by physicists at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and Central South University in China. In the journal Nature Communications, the team reports on how magnets and magnetic signals can be coupled more effectively and steered by electric fields. This could result in new, environmentally friendly concepts for efficient communication and data processing.

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Findings on short-range nuclear interactions will help scientists investigate neutron stars and heavy radioactive nuclei

Atoms in a gas can seem like partiers at a nanoscopic rave, with particles zipping around, pairing up, and flying off again in seemingly random fashion. And yet physicists have come up with formulas that predict this behavior, even when the atoms are extremely close together and can tug and pull on each other in complicated ways.

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Study sets the first germanium-based constraints on dark matter

Cosmological observations and measurements collected in the past suggest that ordinary matter, which includes stars, galaxies, the human body and countless other objects/living organisms, only makes up 20% of the total mass of the universe. The remaining mass has been theorized to consist of so-called dark matter, a type of matter that does not absorb, reflect or emit light and can thus only be indirectly observed through gravitational effects on its surrounding environment.

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NOvA turns its eyes to the skies

The NOvA experiment, best known for its measurements of neutrino oscillations using particle beams from Fermilab accelerators, has been turning its eyes to the skies, examining phenomena ranging from supernovae to magnetic monopoles. Thanks in large part to modern computing capabilities, researchers can collect and analyze data for these topics simultaneously, as well as for the primary neutrino program at the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermilab, where it is based.

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Experiments at French particle accelerator probe the properties of supernovae

The action of neutrinos in supernovae is poorly understood. When the core of a massive star at the end of its life collapses on itself under the effect of gravity, the electrons in the atoms combine with the protons in their nuclei, producing protons along with neutrinos. The neutrinos produced in abundance then escape from the neutron star being formed at a speed even faster than light. So much so that 99% of the energy emitted by a supernova is in the form of neutrinos! The explosion characteristic of supernovae that follows this episode is "driven" by neutrinos.

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Anti-hacking based on the circular polarization direction of light

The Internet of Things (IoT) allowing smart phones, home appliances, drones and self-driving vehicles to exchange digital information in real time requires a powerful security solution, as it can have a direct impact on user safety and assets. A solution for IoT security that has been is a physical unclonable function (PUF) that can supplement software-based key security vulnerable to various attack or physical attack.

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Scientists and students publish blueprints for a cheaper single-molecule microscope

A team of scientists and students from the University of Sheffield has designed and built a specialist microscope, and shared the build instructions to help make this equipment available to many labs across the world.

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Scientists work to shed light on Standard Model of particle physics

As scientists await the highly anticipated initial results of the Muon g-2 experiment at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, collaborating scientists from DOE's Argonne National Laboratory continue to employ and maintain the unique system that maps the magnetic field in the experiment with unprecedented precision.

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Physicists suggest mechanism responsible for the neutron drip line is related to deformation

A team of physicists affiliated with several institutions in Japan and one in Belgium has theorized that one of the mechanisms responsible for the neutron drip line is related to deformation. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the group describes their calculations regarding the contributions to binding energy for deformations in nuclei as part of an effort to better understand how many neutrons an atom can hold.

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Why solar axions cannot explain the observed XENON1T excess

For several decades, physicists and astrophysicists have theorized about the existence of dark matter in the universe. This elusive type of matter would be made up of particles that do not absorb, reflect or emit light, and that hence cannot be detected using conventional instruments for observing particles.

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Scientists generate realistic storm turbulence in the laboratory

Turbulence is an omnipresent phenomenon—and one of the great mysteries of physics. A research team from the University of Oldenburg in Germany has now succeeded in generating realistic storm turbulence in the wind tunnel of the Center for Wind Energy Research (ForWind).

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A transportable antiproton trap to unlock the secrets of antimatter

The BASE collaboration at CERN has bagged more than one first in antimatter research. For example, it made the first ever more precise measurement for antimatter than for matter, it kept antimatter stored for a record time of more than a year, and it conducted the first laboratory-based search for an interaction between antimatter and a candidate particle for dark matter called the axion. Now, the BASE team is developing a device that could take antimatter research to new heights—a transportable antiproton trap to carry antimatter produced at CERN's Antimatter Decelerator (AD) to another facility at CERN or elsewhere, for higher-precision antimatter measurements. These measurements could uncover differences between matter and antimatter.

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Squid jet propulsion can enhance design of underwater robots, vehicles

Squids and other cephalopods use a form of jet propulsion that is not well understood, especially when it comes to their hydrodynamics under turbulent flow conditions. Discovering their secrets can help create new designs for bioinspired underwater robots and vehicles that need to operate within this environment.

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A different view of COVID-19

Queen's University researcher Mona Kanso has developed a new and unique way of looking at viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. By sculpting the coronavirus particle from tiny beads, and then applying the laws of fluid physics to each and every bead, Kanso calculates the properties of the coronavirus from its shape. While the full potential of this new method is still being realized, researchers expect it will accelerate the path to developing a treatment and, eventually, finding a cure.

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Higgs boson probes for new phenomena

Physicists at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are on the hunt for physics phenomena beyond the standard model. Some theories predict an as-yet undiscovered particle could be found in the form of a new resonance (a narrow peak) similar to the one that heralded the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012.

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Team achieves first plasma on upgraded MAST, ready to test Super-X divertor

The team at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE) in South East England has notified the press that testing of plasma has begun on an upgrade to the Mega AMP Spherical Tokamak (MAST)—a new approach to creating a working fusion reactor. In their announcement, the team at CCFE noted that the plasma test has come after seven years of work upgrading the original MAST which has cost approximately £55m.

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Rotation of a molecule as an 'internal clock'

Using a new method, physicists at the Heidelberg Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics have investigated the ultrafast fragmentation of hydrogen molecules in intense laser fields in detail. They used the rotation of the molecule triggered by a laser pulse as an 'internal clock' to measure the timing of the reaction that takes place in a second laser pulse in two steps. Such a 'rotational clock' is a general concept applicable to sequential fragmentation processes in other molecules.

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Researchers develop a high-power, portable terahertz laser

Researchers at MIT and the University of Waterloo have developed a high-power, portable version of a device called a quantum cascade laser, which can generate terahertz radiation outside of a laboratory setting. The laser could potentially be used in applications such as pinpointing skin cancer and detecting hidden explosives.

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GRETA, a 3-D gamma-ray detector, gets green light to move forward

The effort to construct GRETA (Gamma-Ray Energy Tracking Array), a cutting-edge spherical array of high-purity germanium crystals that will measure gamma-ray signals to reveal new details about the structure and inner workings of atomic nuclei, has received key approvals needed to proceed toward full build-out.

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New model that describes the organization of organisms could lead to a better understanding of biological processes

At first glance, a pack of wolves has little to do with a vinaigrette. However, a team led by Ramin Golestanian, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, has developed a model that establishes a link between the movement of predators and prey and the segregation of vinegar and oil. They expanded a theoretical framework that until now was only valid for inanimate matter. In addition to predators and prey, other living systems such as enzymes or self-organizing cells can now be described.

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Ultrapure copper for an ultrasensitive dark matter detector

In February and March, three batches of copper plates arrived at Fermilab and were rushed into storage 100 meters underground. The copper had been mined in Finland, rolled into plates in Germany and shipped across land and sea to the lab—all within 120 days. In the quest to detect dark matter, the mysterious substance making up 85% of the matter in the universe, every day that the copper spent above ground mattered.

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Using game-theory to look for extraterrestrial intelligence

Astronomer Eamonn Kerins with the University of Manchester has developed an approach to looking for intelligent extraterrestrial beings on other planets that involves using game theory. He has written a paper describing his ideas and has uploaded it to the arXiv preprint server.

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Scientists repurpose MRI magnet for new discoveries

A limiting factor in modern physics experiments is the precision at which scientists can measure important values, such as the magnetic field within a detector. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and their collaborators have developed a unique facility to calibrate field measurement devices and test their limits inside powerful magnetic fields.

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Assessing the viability of small modular nuclear reactors

Small modular nuclear reactors could provide nuclear power to small communities and rural areas currently served by environmentally damaging fossil fuel energy-sources. Assessing the potential of these reactors means keeping one eye on the past, with another fixed firmly in thefuture.

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Researchers form ultra-strong coupling between photons and atoms

ITMO University researchers have demonstrated that individual atoms can be transformed into polaritons—quantum particles that are a mixture of matter and light, which are transmitted via optical fibers. In this new state of matter, photons and atoms form ultra-strong coupling for the first time. The results of this research can be used to control the properties of light and matter and to create quantum memory. The paper is published in Physical Review Letters.

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Identifying biomolecule fragments in ionising radiation

When living cells are bombarded with fast, heavy ions, their interactions with water molecules can produce randomly scattered 'secondary' electrons with a wide range of energies. These electrons can then go on to trigger potentially damaging reactions in nearby biological molecules, producing electrically charged fragments. So far, however, researchers have yet to determine the precise energies at which secondary electrons produce certain fragments. In a new study published in EPJ D, researchers in Japan led by Hidetsugu Tsuchida at Kyoto University define for the first time the precise exact ranges in which positively and negatively charged fragments can be produced.

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Bumper crop of black holes in new gravitational wave paper

Only a few years ago, scientists the world over celebrated as the first-ever gravitational waves were detected—confirming a long-held scientific theory and opening up an entirely new field of research.

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Physicists circumvent centuries-old theory to cancel magnetic fields

A team of scientists including two physicists at the University of Sussex has found a way to circumvent a 178-year old theory which means they can effectively cancel magnetic fields at a distance. They are the first to be able to do so in a way which has practical benefits.

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Topology gets magnetic: The new wave of topological magnetic materials

The electronic structure of nonmagnetic crystals can be classified by complete theories of band topology, reminiscent of a "topological periodic table." However, such a classification for magnetic materials has so far been elusive, and hence very few magnetic topological materials have been discovered to date. In a new study published in the journal Nature, an international team of researchers has performed the first high-throughput search for magnetic topological materials, finding over 100 new magnetic topological insulators and semimetals.

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Direct observation of a single electron's butterfly-shaped distribution in titanium oxide

The functions and physical properties of solid materials, such as magnetic order and unconventional superconductivity, are greatly influenced by the orbital state of the outermost electrons (valence electrons) of the constituent atoms. In other words, it could be said that the minimal unit that determines a solid material's physical properties consists of the orbitals occupied by the valence electrons. Moreover, an orbital can also be considered a minimal unit of 'shape,' so the orbital state in a solid can be deduced from observing the spatially anisotropic distribution of electrons (in other words, from how the electron distribution deviates from spherical symmetry).

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First-ever evidence of exotic particles in cobalt monosilicide

Anew study provides the first evidence of exotic particles, known as fourfold topological quasiparticles, in the metallic alloy cobalt monosilicide. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, this comprehensive analysis, one that combines experimental data with theoretical models, provides a detailed understanding of this material. These insights could be used to engineer this and other similar materials with unique and controllable properties. The discovery was the result of a collaboration between researchers at Penn, University of Fribourg, French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, and University of Maryland.

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Record neutron numbers at Sandia Labs' Z machine fusion experiments

A relatively new method to control nuclear fusion that combines a massive jolt of electricity with strong magnetic fields and a powerful laser beam has achieved its own record output of neutrons—a key standard by which fusion efforts are judged—at Sandia National Laboratories' Z pulsed power facility, the most powerful producer of X-rays on Earth.

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Random effects key to containing epidemics

To control an epidemic, authorities will often impose varying degrees of lockdown. In a paper in the journal Chaos, scientists have discovered, using mathematics and computer simulations, why dividing a large population into multiple subpopulations that do not intermix can help contain outbreaks without imposing contact restrictions within those local communities.

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A major milestone for an underground dark matter search experiment

Crews working on the largest U.S. experiment designed to directly detect dark matter completed a major milestone last month, and are now turning their sights toward startup after experiencing some delays due to global pandemic precautions.

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Solid-state technology for big data in particle physics

At CERN's Large Hadron Collider, as many as 40 million particle collisions occur within the span of a single second inside the CMS particle detector's more than 80 million detection channels. These collisions create an enormous digital footprint, even after computers winnow it to the most meaningful data. The simple act of retrieving information can mean battling bottlenecks.

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The experimental demonstration of entanglement between mechanical and spin systems

Quantum entanglement is the basic phenomenon underlying the functioning of a variety of quantum systems, including quantum communication, quantum sensing and quantum computing tools. This phenomenon results from an interaction (i.e., entanglement) between particles. Attaining entanglement between distant and very different objects, however, has so far proved highly challenging.

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Estimating risk of airborne COVID-19 with mask usage, social distancing

The continued increase in COVID-19 infection around the world has led scientists from many different fields, including biomedicine, epidemiology, virology, fluid dynamics, aerosol physics, and public policy, to study the dynamics of airborne transmission.

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Precision metrology closes in on dark matter

Optical clocks are so accurate that it would take an estimated 20 billion years—longer than the age of the universe—to lose or gain a second. Now, researchers in the U.S. led by Jun Ye's group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Colorado have exploited the precision and accuracy of their optical clock and the unprecedented stability of their crystalline silicon optical cavity to tighten the constraints on any possible coupling between particles and fields in the standard model of physics and the so-far elusive components of dark matter.

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Pump down the volume: Study finds noise-cancelling formula

Noisy, open-plan offices full of workers hunched over desks while wearing noise canceling headphones could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to new research from The Australian National University (ANU).

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Timekeeping theory combines quantum clocks and Einstein's relativity

A phenomenon of quantum mechanics known as superposition can impact timekeeping in high-precision clocks, according to a theoretical study from Dartmouth College, Saint Anselm College and Santa Clara University.

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Do the twist: Making two-dimensional quantum materials using curved surfaces

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered a way to control the growth of twisting, microscopic spirals of materials just one atom thick.

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Shedding light on moiré excitons: A first-principles perspective

Moiré superlattices that are located within van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures can trap long-lived interlayer excitons to form ordered quantum dot arrays, paving the way for unprecedented optoelectronic and quantum information applications. Excitons are an electrically neutral quasiparticle that can transport energy without transporting net electric charge. They form when a material absorbs a photon of higher energy than its bandgap and the concept can be represented as the bound state of an electron and an electron hole that are attracted to each other by an electrostatic Coulomb force. In a new report now published on Science Advances, Hongli Guo and a team of scientists in the department of physics and astronomy at the California State University, Northridge, U.S., performed first-principles simulations to shed light on moiré excitons in twisted molybdenum disulfide/ tungsten disulfide (MoS2/WS2 ) heterostructures. The team showed direct evidence of localized interlayer moiré excitons in vdW heterostructures and mapped out the interlayer and intralayer moiré potentials based on energy gaps. They noted nearly flat valence bands in the heterostructures while exploring how the vertical field could be tuned to control the position, polarity, emission energy and hybridization strength of the moiré excitons. The scientists then predicted that the alternating electric fields could control the dipole moments of hybridized moiré excitons, while suppressing their diffusion in moiré lattices.

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