Optical skyrmions can control the motion of magnetic skyrmions

Magnetic skyrmions (MSks) are swirling patterns of magnetization that form inside certain magnetic materials. They can behave like actual particles in many ways, exhibiting a stable internal structure and distinct boundaries. Because they are extremely small and can be pushed around with relatively little energy, MSks are regarded as promising information carriers in emerging technologies, including low-power memories and logic circuits. However, a major goal in the field has been to find practical ways to control their motion with high precision.

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Computational model guides lighting design to improve color discrimination in aging eyes

Researchers have developed a new computational model that accounts for the effects of aging on our eyes’ ability to discriminate color. It could help guide lighting designs that make it easier for older adults to perceive colors while preserving the expected appearance for people with typical color vision.

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Could meditation reveal an SU(3) symmetry shared by the observer and the universe?

You sit down to meditate. A conversation returns, then thoughts. You bring your attention back to the breath. Sometimes, after many such returns, the effort eases. Thoughts lose their urgency, while awareness remains clear. Less occupies the mind, yet the moment still feels whole.

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‘Carpet’ growth method yields long-sought 2D quantum material

For decades, physicists have sought a practical two-dimensional topological insulator: an ultrathin material whose interior blocks electricity but whose edges conduct it. In ordinary wires, electrons constantly bounce off imperfections, losing energy. But along the edges of a 2D topological insulator, electrons with opposite spins travel in opposite directions, like cars in one-way lanes, so they rarely scatter and lose energy.

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Faster molecular simulations identify promising diamond defects for quantum computers and sensors

A faster way of finding the best diamond-based materials for quantum computers has been developed by a researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). The new approach has already identified promising materials for practical quantum sensors and computers that could one day transform scientific research as a whole. The research was recently published in the journal ACS Central Science and has already garnered attention from other experts in the field.

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New topological microscope tip reveals evidence of 2D altermagnetism

Researchers have fashioned a layered topological material into a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip that senses spin-related electronic states at atomic resolution.

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Quantum physicists trace a century of controlling spin

A concept from the field of quantum mechanics, spin is a property of particles that has no direct counterpart in everyday experience. Since the early 20th century, researchers have learned to manipulate it deliberately by means of precisely shaped electromagnetic pulses. This has resulted in two technologies that are widespread today: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is commonplace in hospitals, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) is used to determine the structures of proteins and to develop new drugs. The mathematical framework of optimal control theory can be used to improve these technologies.

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NASA JPL testing readies Voyager technologies lander for moon mission

A commercial lander that will be at the forefront of NASA’s efforts to establish a moon base, humanity’s first lunar outpost, has passed a series of critical tests at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The tests simulated the extreme temperatures and vacuum of space, as well as the intense shaking and ear-splitting roar of launch. Results show that Voyager Technologies’ Griffin Mission One (Griffin-1) spacecraft is ready to survive the rigors of space exploration.

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New solar model maps sun more accurately by checking far-side activity

A Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)-led team has developed an improved model for predicting solar events that incorporates activity on the far side of the sun. The team studied near-simultaneous maps of the whole solar surface from 2010 to 2014, combining Earth observations with data from space-based assets showing the opposite side. The resulting framework constructs surface flux transport (SFT) models that are more complete and accurate than any previous model.

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BWC: Ohio officer shot by suspect hiding behind shed, who later died in shootout

Body camera video shows a Youngstown officer struggling to release his handgun from a jam after his partner was shot

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Bodycam video shows fatal OIS of Ga. donkey

One Cedartown officer activated his TASER’s electrical arc in an effort to scare the donkey away, while another officer fatally shot it

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Structure in the unstructured: New phenomenon discovered in the solar wind

Turbulence is ubiquitous and occurs every day, such as when milk is stirred into coffee or in the stormy motions of the ocean and the atmosphere. Media in space and astrophysical systems can also develop turbulence, but the physics is different because the medium is in an ionized state (known as the plasma state) and the flow motion is strongly coupled to electromagnetic fields. Furthermore, space plasma is collisionless because the medium is so dilute that the particles do not collide with each other.

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Webb spots possible early-universe supernova just days after it happened

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected a possible supernova in the early universe just days after the star exploded. Called AT 2026abck, the transient lies in a star-forming galaxy at a redshift of 5.017 and was found without the help of gravitational lensing. JWST observations suggest the event was caught only about four to 10 days after the explosion. The paper was posted to the arXiv preprint server on Sept. 29.

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Planetary systems reveal two distinct families tied to their host stars

Analyzing a sample of 300 of the best-characterized planetary systems among the more than 1,000 known in the Milky Way, an international research team led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) has discovered that the multiplanet systems identified so far belong to two distinct “families.”

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S.D. deputy dies days after shootout with suspect

Minnehaha Sheriff’s Deputy Katherine Frank, 26, died days after she was shot while responding to a call at a residence

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