https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. An old puzzle in particle physics has been solved: How can quantum field theories be best formulated on a lattice to optimally simulate them on a computer? The answer comes from AI. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-ai-quantum-field-theories.html General Physics Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:11:58 EST news688655448 With victims numbering in the millions, malaria is an infectious disease caused by the bite of a mosquito carrying the malaria parasite. After penetrating the skin, the pathogen moves with helical trajectories. It almost always turns toward the right, as a team of physicists and malaria researchers from Heidelberg University recently discovered. The research is published in the journal Nature Physics. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-malaria-parasites-helices-host-tissues.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 24 Nov 2025 15:23:04 EST news683220182 Researchers have demonstrated that the theoretically optimal scaling for magic state distillation—a critical bottleneck in fault-tolerant quantum computing—is achievable for qubits, improving on the previous best result by reaching a scaling exponent of exactly zero. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-optimal-scaling-magic-state-distillation.html Quantum Physics Wed, 12 Nov 2025 07:00:01 EST news682099964 Quantum computers, machines that process information leveraging quantum mechanical effects, could outperform classical computers on some optimization tasks and computations. Despite their potential, quantum computers are known to be prone to errors and their ability to perform computations is easily influenced by noise. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-chip-cryptographic-protocol-quantum-results.html Quantum Physics Tue, 11 Nov 2025 07:10:01 EST news681732364 Imagine industrial processes that make materials or chemical compounds faster, cheaper, and with fewer steps than ever before. Imagine processing information in your laptop in seconds instead of minutes or a supercomputer that learns and adapts as efficiently as the human brain. These possibilities all hinge on the same thing: how electrons interact in matter. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-quantum-crystals-blueprint-future-chemistry.html Condensed Matter Tue, 14 Oct 2025 12:05:03 EDT news679662301 Interstellar objects like 3I/ATLAS that have been captured in planet-forming disks around young stars could become the seeds of giant planets, bypassing a hurdle that theoretical models have previously been unable to explain. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-interstellar-similar-3iatlas-jumpstart-planet.html Astronomy Thu, 11 Sep 2025 08:12:05 EDT news676797116 An international research team led by the University of Vienna has succeeded in developing a new method to directly measure partial charges in molecules. The results, now published in Nature, provide new insights into molecular interactions and offer potential applications in drug development and materials science. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-molecules-communicate-method-quantifies-partial.html Analytical Chemistry Thu, 21 Aug 2025 13:22:04 EDT news675001322 Even the smartest machines can't match young minds at language learning. Researchers share new findings on how children stay ahead of AI—and why it matters. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-brains-bots-toddlers-ai-language.html Social Sciences Tue, 24 Jun 2025 14:10:03 EDT news669989113 The orbital angular momentum of electrons has long been considered a minor physical phenomenon, suppressed in most crystals and largely overlooked. Scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich have now discovered that in certain materials it is not only preserved but can even be actively controlled. This is due to a property of the crystal structure called chirality, which also influences many other processes in nature. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-overlooked-electron-property-avenues-orbitronics.html Condensed Matter Tue, 20 May 2025 12:19:03 EDT news666962341 An avalanche is caused by a chain reaction of events. A vibration or a change in terrain can have a cascading and devastating impact. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-tissues-avalanches-discovery-aid-treatments.html Cell & Microbiology Fri, 25 Apr 2025 09:58:03 EDT news664793881 New three-dimensional (3D) models of objects in space have been released by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. These 3D models allow people to explore—and print—examples of stars in the early and end stages of their lives. They also provide scientists with new avenues to investigate scientific questions and find insights about the objects they represent. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-chandra-3d-cosmic.html Astronomy Thu, 17 Apr 2025 10:14:07 EDT news664103642 A team of Rice University researchers reported the first direct observation of a surprising quantum phenomenon predicted over half a century ago, opening pathways for revolutionary applications in quantum computing, communication, and sensing. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-scientists-exotic-quantum-phase-thought.html Condensed Matter Mon, 14 Apr 2025 09:54:10 EDT news663843243 Quantum critical points are thresholds that mark the transition of materials between different electronic phases at absolute zero temperatures, around which they often exhibit exotic physical properties. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-mechanism-underpinning-intrinsic-strange-metal.html Condensed Matter Sun, 30 Mar 2025 09:40:02 EDT news662373115 Scientists have revealed how tiny swimming cells—such as sperm and bacteria—are able to move faster when traveling as a group, and the research could accelerate the development of microscopic robots that deliver drugs to specific regions of the body. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-scientists-uncover-microswimmers-faster-groups.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 28 Mar 2025 11:43:04 EDT news662380981 A new discovery about how tiny protein clusters form in cells could pave the way for treatments for Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD), a rare genetic disorder that causes muscle weakness and heart problems. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-advanced-imaging-theoretical-physics-clues.html Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 06 Mar 2025 11:42:03 EST news660483721 How does cold milk disperse when it is dripped into hot coffee? Even the fastest supercomputers are unable to perform the necessary calculations with high precision because the underlying quantum physical processes are extremely complex. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-quantum-simulator-combines-digital-analog.html Quantum Physics Thu, 06 Feb 2025 10:50:58 EST news658061453 A collaboration between Nordita, the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics, hosted by Stockholm University, KTH and Google Quantum AI explores how gravitational fields influence quantum computing hardware, laying the foundation for advances in quantum sensing. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-collaboration-uncovers-gravity-qubits.html Quantum Physics Tue, 04 Feb 2025 08:51:04 EST news657881462 A team of researchers has identified a unique phenomenon, a "skin effect," in the nonlinear optical responses of antiferromagnetic materials. The research, published in Physical Review Letters, provides new insights into the properties of these materials and their potential applications in advanced technologies. https://phys.org/news/2024-12-nonlinear-skin-effect-unveiled-antiferromagnetic.html Condensed Matter Wed, 18 Dec 2024 15:49:03 EST news653759341 Researchers Samuel Poincloux (currently at Aoyama Gakuin University) and Kazumasa A. Takeuchi of the University of Tokyo have clarified the conditions under which large numbers of "squishy" grains, which can change their shape in response to external forces, transition from acting like a solid to acting like a liquid. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-framework-uncovers-large-squishy-grains.html Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 25 Nov 2024 15:00:01 EST news651767402 Water and the bad smelling molecule hydrogen sulfide do not seem to have a lot in common at first sight. However, when investing a little energy, some differences disappear. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-high-resolution-ir-spectroscopy-reveals.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 12 Nov 2024 12:05:04 EST news650635502 Physicists share a common interest in understanding how the physical world works. For example, when a particle physicist breaks apart a particle into smaller pieces, they ask themselves: are those the smallest pieces we can find in nature? https://phys.org/news/2024-10-propel-quantum-higher-energy-orbit.html General Physics Wed, 09 Oct 2024 12:10:01 EDT news647596082 Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have managed to enhance the framework of Brownian reservoir computing by recording and transferring hand gestures to the system that then used skyrmions to detect these individual gestures. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-energy-magnetic.html General Physics Mon, 16 Sep 2024 10:57:08 EDT news645703024 Most atoms are made from positively charged protons, neutral neutrons and negatively charged electrons. Positronium is an exotic atom composed of a single negative electron and a positively charged antimatter positron. It is naturally very short-lived, but researchers including those from the University of Tokyo successfully cooled and slowed down samples of positronium using carefully tuned lasers. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-scientists-cool-positronium-absolute-antimatter.html General Physics Wed, 11 Sep 2024 11:00:01 EDT news645264542 Every computing system, biological or synthetic, from cells to brains to laptops, has a cost. This isn't the price, which is easy to discern, but an energy cost connected to the work required to run a program and the heat dissipated in the process. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-thermodynamic-theory.html General Physics Mon, 13 May 2024 15:19:04 EDT news634832342 Researchers from the University of Basel and the NCCR SPIN have achieved the first controllable interaction between two hole spin qubits in a conventional silicon transistor. The breakthrough opens up the possibility of integrating millions of these qubits on a single chip using mature manufacturing processes. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-door-millions-qubits-chip.html Quantum Physics Mon, 06 May 2024 10:48:03 EDT news634211281 For years, scientists have been intrigued by how molecules move across surfaces. The process is critical to numerous applications, including catalysis and the manufacturing of nanoscale devices. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-molecular-moon-lander-insight-motion.html Nanomaterials Thu, 11 Apr 2024 14:27:58 EDT news632064475 A new study by scientists from Japan explores the propagation of quantum information within interacting boson systems like Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), revealing the potential for accelerated transmission unlike previously thought. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-scientists-propagation-interacting-bosonic.html Condensed Matter Sun, 07 Apr 2024 07:30:01 EDT news631501622 Researchers from Aarhus University and the Italian Institute of Technology have discovered how certain proteins can attach to special structures in RNA, called G-quadruplexes. Additionally, they have developed computational tools capable of predicting these protein-RNA interactions. The newfound ability to predict these interactions can help future work in understanding molecular pathways in the cell and pave the way for developing drugs targeting these RNA G-quadruplex binding proteins, that are found to be involved in disease such as cancer. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-tools-reveal-genes-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 03 Apr 2024 12:31:20 EDT news631366278 In 1973, physicist Phil Anderson hypothesized that the quantum spin liquid, or QSL, state existed on some triangular lattices, but he lacked the tools to delve deeper. Fifty years later, a team led by researchers associated with the Quantum Science Center headquartered at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has confirmed the presence of QSL behavior in a new material with this structure, KYbSe2. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-three-pronged-approach-discerns-qualities-quantum.html Condensed Matter Thu, 16 Nov 2023 15:31:47 EST news619371091 Tuberculosis is a severe infectious disease that claims about 1.3 million lives annually world-wide. This dismal toll is caused by the notorious pathogen Mycobacteria tuberculosis, whose bitter success depends on its formidable cellular double barrier, which offers both protection from the host defense system and a terrain that mediates host-pathogen interactions during infection. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-decipher-role-triglycerides-cellular-barrier.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 25 Oct 2023 10:59:42 EDT news617450380