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How wasted infrared light could boost solar panels, night vision and 3D printing

Researchers at UNSW Sydney have developed a nanoscale device that converts low-energy infrared and red light into higher-energy visible light, a breakthrough that could eventually improve solar panels, sensing technologies, and advanced manufacturing systems.

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Behold the neuron, a complicated cell with a simple mission

Neurons, the uber-connected nerve cells that act as a main switchboard for the brain, are central to some incredibly complicated processes. They make it possible to think, walk, speak, and breathe. They even have built-in backup batteries to use in emergencies.

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Twisted WSe₂ reveals elusive charge-neutral quantum modes

Quantum materials, materials with properties that are influenced by the laws of quantum mechanics, have attracted considerable attention over the past few decades. Their unique properties make these materials advantageous for the development of numerous cutting-edge technologies, including quantum computers, highly sensitive sensors and energy-efficient electronics.

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Bilayer antiferromagnet reveals photocurrent that flips with magnetic state

In recent years, atomically thin materials—crystals only a few atoms thick—have attracted growing attention because they can exhibit physical properties that do not appear in conventional bulk materials. Among them, atomically thin magnetic materials are particularly intriguing, as they can host unconventional magnetic states and offer new possibilities for spin-based electronic technologies.

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Roadmap charts three paths to room-temperature quantum materials for cooler computing

Imagine a laptop that never gets hot, a phone that holds its charge for days, or a computer memory chip designed to permanently retain data, even when the power goes out. This is the possibility sitting inside a remarkable family of materials that a team of researchers from the University of Ottawa and the Massachusetts […]

We tested the new World Cup ball. This is what you need to know about how it will fly, dip and swerve

Every four years, the men’s World Cup delivers some certainties. The pitch dimensions are tightly regulated, offside is signaled with a flag, and referees end the match with a blast of a whistle. But one key piece of equipment is changed on purpose: the ball.

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A hidden threshold enables tunable control of liquid crystal helices for energy-efficient technologies

Liquid crystals are an integral part of modern technology, ranging from displays to advanced sensory systems. In a study published in Scientific Reports, researchers from the Institute of Experimental Physics of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (IEP SAS) in Košice, in collaboration with international partners, have demonstrated how minute changes in material composition can achieve […]

Sunlight-powered generation of correlated photon pairs

Pairs of correlated or entangled photons are a foundational resource in quantum optics. They are most commonly produced through spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC), a nonlinear optical process that typically relies on a stable, coherent laser to pump a nonlinear crystal. Because of this requirement, SPDC has long been viewed as impractical without laboratory-grade laser systems. […]

Physicists create hybrid light-matter particles that interact strongly enough to compute

Eighty years ago, Penn researchers J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly launched the age of electronic computing by harnessing electrons to solve complex numerical problems with ENIAC, the world’s first general-purpose electronic computer. Today, that same architecture still underlies general computing, but electrons are beginning to show their limits. Because they carry a charge, they […]

Seeing the invisible: The limits of two-photon vision

Near-infrared light is invisible to humans. And yet, under the right conditions, the human eye can perceive it. Researchers from Poland’s International Center for Translational Eye Research (ICTER) have now shown that the efficiency of this phenomenon depends not only on the laser pulse itself, but also on two highly specific factors: the beam diameter […]

String theory is uniquely derived from basic assumptions about the universe, physicists show

If you could take an apple and break it into smaller and smaller parts, you would find molecules, then atoms, followed by subatomic particles like protons and the quarks and gluons that make them up. You might think you hit the bottom, but, according to string theorists, if you keep going to even smaller scales—about […]

In quantum gravity, the cosmological constant may behave similar to the quantum Hall effect

Trying to solve quantum gravity is frustrating. We have made tremendous progress in quantum theory, but it seems that every time we find a new quantum technique, there’s a reason it doesn’t quite work with gravity. Take, for example, the case of quantum fluctuations and renormalization.

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Quantum geometry provides theoretical limits on measurable properties of solids

Two RIKEN physicists have established new theoretical limits for experimentally measurable quantities by viewing solids through a lens of quantum geometry. Their results shed light both on the physics of solids and on quantum mechanics.

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Twisted liquid-crystal structures unlock on-demand skyrmions at room temperature

Researchers have recently found a new way to summon useful structures in magnetic materials using light, heat, and electric fields. This new method, described in a new study published in Physical Review Letters, may lead to more energy-efficient and flexible technologies for data storage and optical devices.

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Tiny forces, big effects: How particle interactions control the flow of soft materials

Sitting in a restaurant, you reach for the ketchup bottle, eyeing the basket of fries in front of you. You give the bottle a shake, then a tap. For a moment, nothing happens—the ketchup clings stubbornly to the glass. Then, all at once, it lets go and rushes out, sometimes in a steady stream, sometimes […]