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Physics news
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 ...
Optics & Photonics
15 hours ago
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111
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 ...
Soft Matter
12 hours ago
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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 ...
Optics & Photonics
14 hours ago
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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 ...
General Physics
May 14, 2026
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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 ...
Optics & Photonics
May 14, 2026
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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, ...
General Physics
May 13, 2026
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Liquid crystals enable on‑demand skyrmion formation 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 ...
Atomic bands in two transition metal dichalcogenides hint at long-theorized quantum state
Insulators are materials in which electrons cannot move freely. Past theoretical studies predicted the existence of an unusual insulating state dubbed obstructed atomic insulator (OAI), in which electrons are localized inside ...
Mostly empty foam overturns assumptions of electron beam stopping
When physicists fire beams of fast electrons at materials, they often need to know exactly how much energy those electrons will lose as they travel through. Through new research published in Physical Review Letters, a team ...
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 ...
Condensed Matter
May 13, 2026
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3D atomic rearrangement creates 40,000 quantum defects in 40 minutes
It's been 37 years since scientists first demonstrated the ability to move single atoms, suggesting the possibility of designing materials atom by atom to customize their properties. Today there are several techniques that ...
Condensed Matter
May 13, 2026
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36
Torpedo bats may shift baseball's sweet spot, acoustic analysis shows
In the spring of 2025, baseball fans were treated to a surprise when the New York Yankees began the season with a unique style of bat. Termed "torpedo bats," these new designs tapered slightly toward the end, so the widest ...
General Physics
May 13, 2026
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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, ...
General Physics
May 13, 2026
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Barbell 'whip' may shape Olympic lifts more than lifters realize
In Olympic weightlifting, a single kilogram plate can be the difference between gold and silver. As much as possible, elite athletes must use everything they can to their advantage.
General Physics
May 13, 2026
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Largest-ever survey of physicists puts Standard Model of cosmology under scrutiny
The largest-ever survey of physicists from around the world—released today—shows a distinct lack of consensus across many of physics's most important questions, from the nature of black holes and dark matter, to the still-incomplete ...
General Physics
May 12, 2026
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Atoms vibrate on circular paths—with an unexpected twist
An international team of researchers, including scientists from HZDR and Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, for the first time directly observed how angular momentum is transferred and conserved within a crystal ...
Condensed Matter
May 12, 2026
2
371
80 years after the Trinity nuclear test, scientists identify new molecule-trapping crystal formed in the blast
Matter behaves strangely under extreme conditions, and often, remnants of these behaviors are left behind even when conditions return to normal. The Trinity nuclear test in 1945 left behind such remnants, and now, 80 years ...
How temperature changes light: New model could guide smarter LEDs, sensors and photonic devices
Technion researchers have developed, for the first time, a comprehensive physical model explaining how the properties of a radiating material, including absorption, emission, and quantum efficiency, affect the fundamental ...
Optics & Photonics
May 12, 2026
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Quantum circuit test finally exposes what has been warping performance
Quantum computers could someday solve pressing problems that are too convoluted for classical computers, such as modeling complex molecular interactions to streamline drug discovery and materials development.
Superconductivity
May 12, 2026
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Method for measuring energy amounts less than a trillionth of a billionth of a joule could boost quantum computing
The fundamentals of quantum mechanics are minuscule. Scientists constantly home in on finer resolutions to measure, quantify, and control these fundamentals, like photons that carry light and have no mass unless they are ...
Optics & Photonics
May 12, 2026
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More news
AI surrogate accelerates nonlinear optics simulations by orders of magnitude
New quantum protocol breaks distance and speed barriers in fiber networks
Giving X-ray vision a sense of direction
Lab-grown diamond device could change how radiation doses are measured
The first direct observation of laser-created isolated hopfions
Photonics advance could enable compact, high-performance lidar sensors
Quantum metallurgy: Electron crystals deform and melt
Team steers electron spin ballistically in graphene
LED light unlocks 3D optical fingerprints inside materials without lasers
A persistent quantum computing error finally explained
Other news
RNA's first letter may shape antiviral alarms, with A outpacing G
Scientists identify hidden accelerant in Antarctic ice loss
Sustainable chemistry: Iron substitutes noble metals in catalytic reactions
New species of venomous box jellyfish discovered in Singapore
Mathematical method calculates most efficient Earth-moon route yet
