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. Two independent research teams have achieved a longstanding goal in physics: building a working nuclear clock. The devices, developed by Beichen Huang and colleagues at Tsinghua University and by Luca Toscani De Col and colleagues at the Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology in Austria, exploit the nucleus of a thorium-229 atom to keep time with extraordinary precision—possibly surpassing even the best atomic clocks available today. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-nuclear-clocks.html General Physics Fri, 12 Jun 2026 13:00:03 EDT news700484008 Quantum materials, materials with properties that are governed by the laws of quantum mechanics, have proved to be highly promising for the development of ultra-efficient electronic devices, quantum processors, highly precise sensors and various other technologies. Reliably controlling these materials' quantum phases would be highly advantageous, as it would enable engineers to tailor and optimize their properties for specific applications. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-quantum-hall-stripes-2d-materials.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 12 Jun 2026 07:00:03 EDT news700304463 MIT researchers have demonstrated a low-cost design for specialized electronic nozzles, called triaxial electrospray emitters, that could be used to manufacture time-release drug-delivery particles or self-healing materials efficiently and at scale. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-3d-nozzle-array-production-drug.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:20:05 EDT news700222923 A spin qubit, in which quantum information is encoded in the spin state of an electron, is one of the most promising platforms for quantum computing. Spin qubits exhibit long coherence times and are compatible with advanced semiconductor manufacturing technologies. The leading implementation of spin qubits involves confined electrons inside quantum dots, a nanoscale semiconductor architecture that behaves like a controllable artificial atom. Recent advances have enabled high-fidelity operation of single- and two-qubit gates, exceeding the threshold required for certain surface code quantum error correction techniques. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-scientists-noise-qubit-quantum-processors.html Quantum Physics Sat, 06 Jun 2026 09:00:03 EDT news699874934 Waves of light and sound interact to drive electronic and structural changes in a perovskite crystal. At the atomic scale, nothing is ever truly still. Materials that appear perfectly rigid and motionless to the naked eye are in fact swarms of vibrating atoms. This motion is generally random and uncoordinated, but with the right input, the atoms in certain materials will start to move together, vibrating in sync. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-pulses-uncover-higgs-mode-reshapes.html Condensed Matter Fri, 05 Jun 2026 16:00:01 EDT news699875875 Metal cluster molecules are discrete compounds containing multiple metal atoms held together by metal–metal and metal–ligand bonding. They serve as excellent candidates for catalysts, biosensors, and even for drug development. Developing atomic-level molecular editing methods for such metal clusters remains an important challenge and represents a promising strategy for expanding their structural and functional diversity. Such approaches can enable structure-specific properties, high near-infrared (NIR) photoluminescence quantum yields, and unique reactivities and electronic structures. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-asymmetric-alloying-generation-luminescent-materials.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 05 Jun 2026 05:00:04 EDT news699791041 Applying an external magnetic field during the synthesis of CoFe2O4 electrocatalysts triples the ammonia yield during electrocatalytic conversion. The magnetic field alters the surface states of the spinel oxide thin films, making catalytically active sites more accessible. In the journal Advanced Functional Materials, a team led by Marcel Risch at HZB and Sanjay Mathur at University of Cologne demonstrates a scalable strategy for developing next-generation electrocatalysts for efficient and sustainable chemical production. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-magnetic-field-catalyst-synthesis-triples.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 01 Jun 2026 15:40:02 EDT news699544081 Physicists from Emory University have led work to develop a microscopic, nonlinear light source that can be switched on, off or tuned to a particular intensity by an electrical "knob." The paper is published in the journal Optica, and could aid in the design of smaller, more flexible technologies for communications, sensing and quantum computing. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-electrical-knob-tune-intensity-nanoscale.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 28 May 2026 17:50:01 EDT news699207961 Using finely tuned nanoscale building blocks, researchers from Brown University and the University of Michigan College of Engineering have stabilized a fleeting structural phase of matter that had been predicted theoretically but never before stabilized in a physical material. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-silver-nanoparticles-enable-theorized-previously.html Nanophysics Thu, 28 May 2026 17:30:01 EDT news699201122 Today's computers store information using only two values: 0 and 1. But as electronic devices become smaller and reach their limits, scientists are searching for new ways to pack more information into the same space. One idea is to use magnetism. In some materials, atoms behave like tiny magnets that can arrange themselves in different patterns. If each pattern represents a different value, one memory element could store more than just two possibilities. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ferrotoroidic-material-magnetic-states.html Condensed Matter Tue, 19 May 2026 17:20:04 EDT news698424301 Gold nanoparticles, which are about one-thousandth the width of a human hair, can convert light they receive from a laser into heat. This capacity, known in medicine as photothermal therapy, is effective at destroying cancer cells without harming the surrounding healthy tissue. It's one of the techniques the scientific community is exploring in depth as an alternative chemotherapy, as it is less aggressive. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-shell-gold-nanoparticles-laser-longer.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 19 May 2026 15:00:08 EDT news698415541 In every organism, the regulation of cell populations is a constant process. This balance relies on a continuous interplay between "guardian" proteins that promote cell survival and "killer" proteins that trigger programmed cell death, known as apoptosis. Any disruption of this balance can lead to diseases such as cancer. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-decoding-life-death-proteins.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 19 May 2026 13:00:02 EDT news698408941 Perovskites are a class of materials with a unique crystal structure that suits applications such as fabricating solar cells, light-emitting diodes and transistors. However, molecules in thin layers often cannot arrange themselves properly because the process proceeds too quickly. Now, an international research team led by Tomasz Marszalek from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research has developed a new approach to controlling low-cost solution processing, thereby improving the formation of well-ordered perovskite layers and enabling their broader application in optoelectronic devices. Their paper is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-crystallization-perovskite-layers-transistors.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 18 May 2026 19:20:01 EDT news698340781 Using the second-nearest neighboring atoms to predict metallic glass stability can help researchers more accurately model the disordered solid with strong, elastic properties, according to a recent study led by University of Michigan Engineering researchers. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-machine-reveals-angstrom-sweet-metallic.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 18 May 2026 10:20:01 EDT news698315041 The production of many products used in everyday life and in industry, such as pharmaceuticals, plastics, and coatings, requires chemical catalysts, often expensive noble metals with limited availability. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) are now presenting the first air-stable iron compound, which enables the direct use of iron(I) for catalysis and, unlike previous methods, does not require strong reducing agents. A first test yielded active iron catalysts. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-sustainable-chemistry-iron-substitutes-noble.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 15 May 2026 16:20:01 EDT news698071973 Over the past few decades, some physicists worldwide have been investigating unusual particle-like magnetic structures known as topological solitons. These structures could potentially be leveraged to develop new cutting-edge technologies, such as new magnetic memory devices and computing systems. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-laser-isolated-hopfions.html Condensed Matter Fri, 08 May 2026 08:00:03 EDT news697281397 A research team led by Professor Denver Li Danfeng, Associate Dean (Research and Postgraduate Education) of the College of Science and Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK), has achieved a significant advance in superconducting materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-magnetic-fields-revive-superconductivity-nickelates.html Condensed Matter Tue, 05 May 2026 11:40:09 EDT news697194061 For the first time, a research team has demonstrated, in a metal-wall environment, a plasma regime that simultaneously achieves partial divertor detachment, an edge-localized-mode (ELM)-free high-confinement mode (H-mode), and high pedestal performance. This integrated regime was sustained on a minute scale and the work is published in Physical Review Letters. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-tokamak-regime-sustains-stable-fusion.html Plasma Physics Wed, 29 Apr 2026 19:10:08 EDT news696701401 Recent research led by the University of Trento reveals that fundamental atomic vibrations remain unchanged also in ultra-stable glasses. This discovery advances the decade-long debate on the physics of disorder and opens the way to new applications, from electronics to pharmaceuticals. The research work was carried out by the Department of Physics in collaboration with other European research institutions and published in Physical Review X. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-disordered-heart-glass.html Soft Matter Tue, 28 Apr 2026 17:00:03 EDT news696612421 Researchers in the University of Minnesota Twin Cities have discovered a powerful new way to control the electronic behavior of a metal—by manipulating the atomic properties of materials where they meet. The study, published in Nature Communications, demonstrates that interfacial polarization can tune the surface work function of metallic ruthenium dioxide (RuO2) by more than 1 electron volt (eV)—a tiny amount of energy—simply by adjusting film thickness at the nanometer scale. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-nanometers-thick-metal-physicists.html Nanophysics Mon, 27 Apr 2026 16:40:04 EDT news696512341 Perovskite quantum dots are considered promising materials for LEDs, photocatalysis, and future quantum light sources. Researchers at LMU Munich have managed to master two major hurdles in working with these quantum dots: their stability in solution and precise control of their growth. The results could open new avenues for the processing and application of the materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-perovskite-quantum-dots-big-barriers.html Nanophysics Tue, 21 Apr 2026 12:20:03 EDT news695986321 Heat is a ubiquitous form of energy that, unlike others, is notoriously difficult to store due to its natural tendency to dissipate. While this property is essential for phenomena like solar energy reaching Earth, it also poses a significant technological challenge. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-prototype-thermal-memory-states-tiny.html Nanophysics Mon, 20 Apr 2026 15:10:01 EDT news695914261 A joint research team led by Professor Park Kyoung-Duck and Associate Director Suh Yung Doug of the Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) has succeeded in realizing a high-efficiency quantum light source that emits bright lights even at room temperature. The study is published in the journal Science Advances. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-bright-quantum-emission-room-temperature.html Optics & Photonics Sat, 18 Apr 2026 09:00:01 EDT news695395962 For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that a laser-plasma accelerator can reliably drive a free-electron laser for more than eight hours. Published in Physical Review Accelerators and Beams, the result was achieved by a team led by Finn Kohrell at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in collaboration with Texas-based company Tau Systems—and could soon make the technology vastly more accessible for a broad range of applications in industry and research. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-laser-plasma-free-electron-hours.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:40:03 EDT news695554789 Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have identified simple rules that explain how complex protein structures assemble correctly and remain functional over time, despite having many theoretically possible configurations. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, focuses on bacterioferritin, a bacterial protein complex responsible for safely storing iron. Unlike simpler protein assemblies made of identical parts, many bacterioferritins are built from two different types of subunits, each with a distinct role. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-simple-proteins-evolve.html Evolution Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:40:06 EDT news695395621 The University of Wyoming's Lauren Kim has solved a persistent problem in the cutting-edge field of high-entropy alloys, a class of materials with great potential in modern engineering, electronics and energy applications—such as jet engines, nuclear reactors, chemical processing systems, batteries and supercapacitors—along with cryogenics systems. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-phd-student-persistent-problem-high.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:30:01 EDT news695403421 A Majorana fermion is a particle that would be identical to its antiparticle. Such an object has not yet been found. However, certain solid materials exhibit analogous behavior as if Majorana fermions were present through collective excitations of the system called quasiparticles. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-poor-majoranas-quantum-probes.html Condensed Matter Sat, 11 Apr 2026 08:00:04 EDT news695029562 Researchers at Koç University have developed a light-driven method to produce porous semiconducting polymers under ambient conditions without the need for metal catalysts. The study, led by Prof. Dr. Önder Metin from the Department of Chemistry, in collaboration with Dr. Melek Sermin Özer, Dr. Zafer Eroğlu, and Prof. Dr. Sermet Koyuncu, was published in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-driven-method-enables-sustainable-production.html Polymers Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:20:03 EDT news694796641 A team of researchers has identified atomic distortions that may be linked with high-temperature superconductivity in a promising class of nickel-based materials, offering new insight into how next-generation superconductors might be designed. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-atomic-distortions-reveal-clues-superconductivity.html Condensed Matter Thu, 02 Apr 2026 16:00:04 EDT news694354637 For the first time, an international team of physicists has successfully harnessed a rare orbital transition in atoms of ytterbium to create a new type of atomic clock that is both highly precise and extremely sensitive to fundamental physical effects. Publishing their results in Nature Photonics, the researchers, led by Taiki Ishiyama at Kyoto University, say their approach could pave the way for some of the most stringent tests yet of predictions made by the Standard Model. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-ytterbium-atomic-clock-window-fundamental.html General Physics Thu, 02 Apr 2026 10:00:01 EDT news694338430