From chaos to ‘intelligent’ soft matter—how tiny chemical differences guide droplets into ordered structures

Disorder can make sense, and understanding its logic can be genuinely useful. A study by a research group at the University of Trento shows how a minimal chemical difference can turn chaotic, disordered motion into a highly coordinated and reproducible structure.

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Wacky magnetic fields of ice giants may stem from conductivity changes in their deep interiors

When NASA’s Voyager 2 robotic probe flew by Uranus and Neptune in the 1980s, it uncovered an anomaly: their magnetic fields are highly disordered, unlike Earth’s, which has well-defined north and south poles.

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Paired but out of step: Why electron pairing alone is not enough for room-temperature superconductivity

Levitating trains, ultra-efficient energy storage, and quantum computers: superconductivity could unlock a wealth of possibilities for the future. New research led by scientists from Utrecht, Leiden, and Munich has now shed light on one of the key requirements for achieving superconductivity at room temperature. Their findings, published in Science, bring scientists a step closer to understanding how this might be achieved.

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1 Colo. officer killed, 3 others wounded in shootout with suspect

Lakewood PD officers fatally shot the suspect, who opened fire as officers boarded an RTD bus; a bystander was also injured

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A galaxy nicknamed Misty Moons offers a glimpse of early star formation

Gravitational lensing is one of astronomy’s best tricks for seeing the early universe. When a massive galaxy cluster sits in between the observer and a distant object, its gravity bends and magnifies the distant object’s light, acting like a giant natural magnifying glass. Galaxies that would otherwise be too faint to spot suddenly come into view because of gravitational lensing.

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Astronomers deliver the sharpest and deepest view yet of the low-frequency radio sky

Using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), an international team led by Leiden University has produced the sharpest and most sensitive radio image of the sky ever made at low radio frequencies. The image reveals almost 63,000 radio sources, such as active galactic nuclei and star-forming galaxies, across a patch of sky about 25 times the area of the full moon. The results have been accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. The paper is currently available on the arXiv preprint server.

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Laser-plasma accelerator could generate bright X-rays for biological imaging, simulations show

X-rays with wavelengths between approximately 2.3 and 4.4 nanometers, i.e., in the so-called water window, are particularly well suited to examining biological samples in their natural, aqueous environment. To date, however, it has been technically difficult to access this type of radiation at an appropriate quality and intensity, as only free-electron lasers in large-scale accelerator systems are capable of generating it.

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Pinning down the structure of quark-gluon plasma, the universe’s first fluid

In the first fraction of a second following the Big Bang, matter existed as a trillion-degree plasma of quarks and gluons—subatomic particles that zinged around at close to the speed of light. This roiling soup lasted for just a few microseconds before the particles coalesced into more stable protons and neutrons.

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Connecting artificial intelligence with the tools of astrophysical research

Investigating a scientific question is often a complex process. As an astrophysicist studying some of the most energetic phenomena in the universe, I know that finding answers requires much more than reading scientific papers or understanding existing theories. Astrophysical research involves collecting observations, analyzing data, building physical models and comparing their predictions with observations. These tasks require different scientific tools, databases and modeling software and can take considerable time even for experienced researchers.

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Electrical control of an unconventional quantum transport state demonstrated in a magnet for the first time

Researchers at Tohoku University and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) have successfully controlled a unique quantum phenomenon—the quantum-geometric nonlinear Hall (QgNLH) state—using electric current for the first time. The breakthrough was achieved by revealing and exploiting the coupling between the spin structure and the QgNLH state in an electrically switchable chiral antiferromagnet.

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How palm orientation shapes spin characteristics in volleyball jump serves

A new biomechanical study has uncovered how elite volleyball players control ball spin during jump serves, offering fresh scientific insight into one of the sport’s most decisive offensive skills.

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Physicist develops detector capable of counting photons for quantum computing

Detecting a single photon is a challenge in itself. But what if you also want to know exactly how many photons arrive at a particular point at the same time? Physicist Erik Baalbergen is working on light detectors that can do just that. They form a key building block for the optical quantum computer of the future.

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Hubble learns galactic history from stars

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image provides a lesson in galactic history. The sparkling collection of stars is named Messier 30 (M30) after the French astronomer Charles Messier, who cataloged M30 and other diffuse objects that might be mistaken for comets in the early telescopes of Messier’s time. M30 lies about 27,500 light-years away in the constellation Capricornus.

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BWC: Suspect swipes at Ariz. officer’s rifle before fatal OIS

Gilbert PD says the man had taken psychedelic mushrooms before attacking three people, swiping at an officer’s rifle and later lunging at an officer with a metal object

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After 40 years of searching, physicists find evidence for an ultrarare particle decay

Physicists at CERN report that they’ve detected evidence of a rare meson particle decay (B⁰→ µ⁺µ⁻) that occurs when the meson’s beauty quark annihilates with a down-type quark. The pair decays into a muon and antimuon, which are particles similar to electrons. Because evidence for this decay helps test theoretical predictions from the Standard Model, physicists have been waiting for it since 1984, when it was first theorized.

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