Physicists discover an unusual chiral quantum state in a topological material
Credit: Shafayat Hossain and Zahid Hasan Lab Chirality—the property of an object that is distinct from its mirror…
Can quantum computers handle energy’s hardest problems?
Caleb Rotello sketches out the thinking that led him and fellow researchers to devise algorithms that benchmark quantum…
Physicists use machine learning to find out how layered gases and metals melt
Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2502980122 In physics, a phase transition is a…
Astronomers tune into the music of a nearby star to unlock a surprising discovery
Credit: Gabriel Perez Diaz/Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias/W. M. Keck Observatory Astronomers using W. M. Keck Observatory on…
Is exoplanet imaging with the solar gravitational lens feasible?
Conception of a cluster of small satellites at the solar gravitational lens (SGL) point. Credit: NASA The solar…
NASA’s IXPE reveals X-ray-generating particles in black hole jets
This artist’s concept depicts the central region of the blazar BL Lacertae, a supermassive black hole surrounded by…
New protocol paves the way for fault-tolerant computing
Graphical abstract. Credit: Chemical Reviews (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.4c00870 Researchers have developed a new protocol for benchmarking quantum gates,…
SpaceX aims for launch after sunset tonight from Cape Canaveral
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain SpaceX has lined up another launch soon after sunset Tuesday night from Cape Canaveal.…
A snapshot of relativistic motion: Special relativity made visible
Credit: Vienna University of Technology When an object moves extremely fast—close to the speed of light—certain basic assumptions…
Hours-long continuous lasing achieved using laser-cooled strontium atoms
The team’s experimental setup: Atoms are cooled and slowed inside a vacuum chamber, until they can be trapped…