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.

Newton’s theory of gravity has described the tides accurately for centuries. But could a tiny trace of Einstein’s general relativity also be hidden in them? In a new study, a mathematician at Freie Universität Berlin has outlined how a targeted approach could be used to search for effects of this nature.

The principle “Work smarter, not harder!” apparently also applies to controlling quantum materials with light. Many of their fascinating properties depend on how the atoms are arranged in the crystal. Ultrashort laser pulses can be used to alter these structures in a targeted way—the light first excites electrons, whose changed energy and dynamics exert forces on the atomic nuclei and can thereby set the atoms in motion. Such processes unfold within femtoseconds, a millionth of a billionth of a second.

A recent study published in Nature Electronics and carried out by researchers from nanoGUNE’s Quantum Hardware research group, Quantum Motion, London Center for Nanotechnology, Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge introduces a new superinductor created within a silicon integrated circuit fabricated in a commercial complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) process.