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Butterfly wings inspire solution to impossible optics problem

The iridescent blue of butterfly wings has inspired researchers to find a solution to a challenge previously considered insurmountable—dynamically tuning advanced optical processes at visible wavelengths.

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Physicists demonstrate controlled expansion of quantum wavepacket in a levitated nanoparticle

Quantum mechanics theory predicts that, in addition to exhibiting particle-like behavior, particles of all sizes can also have wave-like properties. These properties can be represented using the wave function, a mathematical description of quantum systems that delineates a particle’s movements and the probability that it is in a specific position.

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‘Optical sieve’ detects the smallest pieces of plastic in the environment more easily than ever before

Plastic pollution is everywhere: in rivers and oceans, in the air and the mountains, even in our blood and vital organs. Most of the public attention has focused on the dangers of microplastics. These are fragments smaller than 5 millimeters.

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Research reveals hidden damage caused by heat

Heat affects not only our well-being, but also the performance and lifespan of systems and devices. However, it is often difficult to measure these effects accurately.

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Our understanding of lightning has been driven by fear and shaped by curiosity

Playwright Tom Stoppard, in “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead,” provides one of the best definitions of science: “The scientific approach to the examination of phenomena is a defense against the pure emotion of fear.”

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Physicists devise an idea for lasers that shoot beams of neutrinos

At any given moment, trillions of particles called neutrinos are streaming through our bodies and every material in our surroundings, without noticeable effect. Smaller than electrons and lighter than photons, these ghostly entities are the most abundant particles with mass in the universe.

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A new way to control terahertz light for faster electronics

In a breakthrough for next-generation technologies, scientists have learned how to precisely control the behavior of tiny waves of light and electrons, paving the way for faster communications and quantum devices.

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Shedding light on insulators: How light pulses unfreeze electrons

Metal oxides are abundant in nature and central to technologies such as photocatalysis and photovoltaics. Yet, many suffer from poor electrical conduction, caused by strong repulsion between electrons in neighboring metal atoms.

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The Hofstadter butterfly: Twisted bilayer graphene reveals two distinct strongly interacting topological phases

Magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) is a material created by stacking two sheets of graphene onto each other, with a small twist angle of about 1.1°. At this “magic angle,” electrons move very slowly, which can lead to the emergence of highly correlated electron states.

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Super-X’ design shows major advantages in handling hot exhaust of fusion energy

Temperatures of more than 10,000°C and a hail of charged particles from the fusion fuel (plasma): These are extreme conditions that the exhaust wall (divertor) of future fusion power plants will need to withstand. It makes handling the exhaust stream one of the main challenges to realizing clean, safe and affordable commercial fusion power plants. […]

What is a quantum computer’s speed limit? Entanglement can provide an answer

Since the 1990s, evidence has been growing that quantum computers should be able to solve a range of particularly complex computational problems, with applications in everything from supply chain management to medicine and beyond.

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Hidden mechanisms that prevent bridge collapse under catastrophic events uncovered

A team from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and the University of Vigo (UVigo) has just published in Nature the results of a study in which they have uncovered why bridges—specifically steel truss bridges—do not collapse when affected by a catastrophic event such as an impact or an earthquake. And their conclusions are similar […]

‘Atoms, ja, atoms’: Physics pioneer key to microscopy ‘revolution in resolution’

Seventy years ago, in Osmond Laboratory on Penn State’s University Park campus, Erwin W. Müller, Evan Pugh Research Professor of Physics, became the first person to “see” an atom. In doing so, Müller cemented his legacy, not only at Penn State, but also as a pioneer in the world of physics and beyond.

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Physicists create a new kind of time crystal that humans can actually see

Imagine a clock that doesn’t have electricity, but its hands and gears spin on their own for all eternity. In a new study, physicists at the University of Colorado Boulder have used liquid crystals, the same materials that are in your phone display, to create such a clock—or, at least, as close as humans can […]

Floquet effects unlock graphene’s potential for future electronics

Graphene is an extraordinary material—a sheet of interlocking carbon atoms just one atom thick that is stable and extremely conductive. This makes it useful in a range of areas, such as flexible electronic displays, highly precise sensors, powerful batteries, and efficient solar cells.

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