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. Future fusion power plants aim to recreate the heart of a star here on Earth to power our future energy needs. While the core fusion plasma will burn at hundreds of millions of degrees, the surrounding structural components must handle sudden, punishing heat loads that rival the extreme temperatures faced by spacecraft upon reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Copper and its alloys are primary candidates for handling these intense heat fluctuations, making it vital to understand exactly how the metal behaves when pushed to its melting point. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-copper-behavior-insights-future-fusion.html Condensed Matter Thu, 13 Aug 2026 15:20:03 EDT news705842131 All chemistry starts with a push from electrons. In the early moments of a chemical reaction, it's the movement of electrons that initiates the breaking of old chemical bonds and forging of new ones, transforming one molecule into another. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-attosecond-ray-method-early-electron.html General Physics Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:50:01 EDT news705166081 One of the most famous and intriguing results of quantum mechanics is the finding that fundamental particles, such as electrons, cannot be pinned down to one single location. Instead, a particle is described by its "wavefunction," which allows researchers to derive probability distributions—a sort of mathematical map that shows the possibilities—of fundamental properties such as its position and momentum. In particular, the electron wavefunctions within a molecule, known as "molecular orbitals," carry information about how the molecule interacts with its surroundings. For example, they show how it may absorb light or how a chemical reaction might take place. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-molecular-orbitals-imaged-3d-path.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 04 Aug 2026 18:00:01 EDT news705077522 Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have demonstrated a new quantum-dot mechanism that could significantly expand the reach of light-driven chemistry. By introducing magnetic manganese dopants into semiconductor quantum dots, the team created an ultrafast spin-exchange pathway that captures hot-electron energy before it is lost as heat and uses it to drive chemical reduction. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-magnetic-dopants-quantum-dots-chemical.html Nanophysics Tue, 04 Aug 2026 09:40:03 EDT news705054241 Electronic motion sets the stage for virtually every light-induced process in nature, from the first step of a chemical reaction to the flow of charge in a solid. Yet these processes unfold so rapidly that they can be observed only with flashes of light lasting a few hundred attoseconds—billionths of a billionth of a second. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-attosecond-capture-electrons-motion.html General Physics Wed, 29 Jul 2026 10:40:06 EDT news704538601 Imagine a smart bandage that could continuously monitor an infected wound, alerting doctors when bacteria spread or when treatment begins to work. That vision is one step closer to reality with new research from Virginia Tech. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-nanoscale-sensor-personalized-medicine.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 28 Jul 2026 11:20:05 EDT news704450881 Researchers at The University of Manchester have revealed how intense electronic excitation can trigger rapid structural changes in metals—without heating the atomic lattice—offering new insight into ultrafast materials behavior. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-hot-electrons-reshape-metals-billionths.html Condensed Matter Tue, 28 Jul 2026 10:30:01 EDT news704452041 A fleeting photoinduced electronic state and the subsequent formation of a photoinduced hidden state in a metal–organic framework were captured in just 30 femtoseconds by researchers at Science Tokyo, Tohoku University and Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan. By combining ultrafast laser spectroscopy with theoretical analysis, the researchers found that a transient electronic state plays a key role in this process. The findings provide new insights into controlling material properties with light for future applications. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-reveals-transient-electronic-hidden-state.html Condensed Matter Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:30:01 EDT news704386981 A new study published in Nature Physics reports the first direct experimental evidence of a Floquet topological state, a novel light-induced phase of matter that, until now, has existed only on paper and in simulations. Topological insulators can conduct electricity along their surface while remaining insulating throughout their bulk. Physicists have spent years developing Floquet engineering, a technique that uses intense, rapidly oscillating light fields to temporarily reshape a material's electronic structure. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-physicists-capture-evidence-floquet-topological.html Condensed Matter Mon, 27 Jul 2026 08:00:01 EDT news704113591 Photographs can reveal things that are otherwise impossible for the naked eye to see, be they distant galaxies or microscopic cells. Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University have developed a practical and versatile imaging technique that makes another usually invisible phenomenon visible: surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), light waves that travel along metal surfaces. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quantum-dots-reveal-hidden-metal.html Nanophysics Fri, 24 Jul 2026 14:40:07 EDT news704113602 Researchers have captured how a molecule redistributes energy after absorbing light, differentiating the roles of individual atoms in the process. They used X-ray flashes from the European XFEL to show that different atoms in the same molecule can reveal different aspects of the process. The study provides evidence that excitation by light can enhance an atom's sensitivity to the motion of nearby atoms. The new method for following ultrafast chemical reactions at the atomic scale, in real time, can help researchers understand photostability in DNA, energy flow in light-harvesting materials and other fundamental processes driven by light. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-atoms-stories-molecule-trillionths.html General Physics Mon, 13 Jul 2026 12:00:03 EDT news703155128 Light can carry enormous amounts of information at extreme speeds, making photonic technologies promising for the development of faster communications, more powerful computing systems and more sensitive sensors. But for light to be useful for these purposes, engineers need to be able to control where it goes and redirect it quickly. A new device built by Caltech researchers uses a beam of light to steer another to a different angle in just 74 femtoseconds (74 quadrillionths of a second). That's about the time it takes light to travel the width of a human hair. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-chip-redirects-trillionth.html Nanophysics Tue, 07 Jul 2026 15:40:06 EDT news702648282 In a recent study, Manish Garg, independent group leader at Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research (MPI FKF), succeeded in probing the local properties of bright and dark excitons in the organic superconductor copper naphthalocyanine (CuNc). The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-packet-interferometry-captures-elusive-dark.html Condensed Matter Tue, 23 Jun 2026 18:10:03 EDT news701453702 What would it take to instantly transform a material from an electrical insulator into a conductive state without ever touching it? Using ultrafast laser pulses and powerful X-rays, scientists at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)—a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility at DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory—developed a methodology to generate "hidden" phases and understand why they work. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ultrafast-laser-pulses-reveal-material.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 15 Jun 2026 14:00:03 EDT news700744741 A new AI model has become so good at predicting how molecules evolve over time that, in the future, it could speed up the costly and time-consuming process of testing new drugs. In the long term, this technology could facilitate the development of medicines and new treatments, as promising drug candidates can be identified more quickly and with greater accuracy. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ai-fast-forwards-molecular-simulations.html Biotechnology Thu, 11 Jun 2026 18:20:01 EDT news700410781 Many natural processes, ranging from magnetism to chemical reactions, entail the movement and rotation of particles at very small scales. In quantum mechanics, particles exhibit both particle-like and wave-like behaviors, and their states can be described mathematically using representations known as wavefunctions. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-electron-gain-ultrafast-torque-flips.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 11 Jun 2026 07:00:01 EDT news700225602 An international team of researchers has reported a major advance in understanding quantum dynamics in semiconductor materials. They directly observed how excitons and phonons evolve together in perovskite nanocrystals, revealing a fully coherent quantum dance between light-induced electronic excitations and crystal lattice vibrations. They published their findings in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-physicists-synchronized-quantum-excitons-phonons.html Condensed Matter Tue, 09 Jun 2026 19:40:01 EDT news700242962 Ultrafast lasers emit pulses lasting only a few hundred femtoseconds (quadrillionths of a second). These flashes of light power applications from precision micromachining to eye surgery to optical frequency combs, the Nobel Prize-winning technology behind today's most precise optical atomic clocks. Yet despite more than two decades of effort, ultrafast lasers have largely remained bulky, expensive systems confined to optical tables. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ultrafast-laser-chip-scale-potentially.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 03 Jun 2026 11:00:26 EDT news699637261 The latest production from the "molecular movie" imaging technology developed at Oregon State University is a new, inexpensive way of dealing with a common environmental pollutant. Based on short-pulse lasers, the imaging technology allows chemical and biological actions to be measured as they are occurring, one high-speed frame at a time. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-molecular-movie-technology-reveals-thwart.html Biochemistry Mon, 01 Jun 2026 15:20:07 EDT news699543767 An extremely fast microscopy method to research the interaction of light and matter makes it possible to study optical processes on very short timescales. To this end, a German–Italian research team is combining holographic imaging with ultrafast spectroscopy in an innovative way. In this manner, even extremely short-lived electronic and magnetic phenomena—which play a major role in the development and application of novel energy materials—can be observed. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ultrafast-holographic-imaging-reveals-electron.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 28 May 2026 19:10:02 EDT news699206941 Scientists at the University of California, Riverside are making breakthroughs in understanding how quantum wave functions move across ultra-thin materials—research that could eventually improve solar energy technologies and help lay the groundwork for new forms of quantum computing. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-quantum-vibronics-future-energy-technologies.html Condensed Matter Thu, 28 May 2026 15:00:02 EDT news699191461 New details of how DNA protects itself from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation show a hidden network of ultrafast molecular reactions that help prevent damage before it can trigger mutations that might lead to cancer, according to a study led by the University of Surrey. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-dna-reveals-hidden-uv-defense.html Biochemistry Tue, 26 May 2026 09:40:01 EDT news699000001 Flashes of femtosecond laser light, lasting just a few trillionths of a second, have made it possible to observe new magnetic structures for the first time. By using light as a remote control, researchers were able to switch magnetism into previously unseen three-dimensional states at the nanoscale. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-threedimensional-magnetic-laser.html Condensed Matter Mon, 25 May 2026 17:00:01 EDT news698942462 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 Researchers at European XFEL have developed a way to study liquid samples that are too dilute for many existing X-ray experiments. The method is highly sensitive, and in the first experiment a group of international scientists uncovered new details about how vitamin B12 in water changes after absorbing light. The results, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, open the possibility to investigate a much wider range of chemical and biological systems than before. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-approach-reveals-hidden-vitamin-b12.html Biochemistry Mon, 04 May 2026 11:20:08 EDT news697107661 Spintronic devices enable data processing with significantly lower energy consumption. They are based on the interaction between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic layers. Now, a team from Freie Universität Berlin, HZB and Uppsala University has succeeded in tracking—separately for each layer—how the magnetic order changes after a short laser pulse has excited the system. The researchers were also able to identify the main cause of the loss of antiferromagnetic order in the oxide layer: The excitation is transported from the hot electrons in the ferromagnetic metal to the spins in the antiferromagnet. The findings are published in the journal Physical Review Letters. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-spintronics-bessy-ii-real-analysis.html Condensed Matter Wed, 29 Apr 2026 18:20:01 EDT news696692221 How do photosynthetic organisms harvest light so efficiently? To help answer this question, researchers have developed an ultrafast transient absorption microscope with sensitivity approaching the single-molecule level. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-microscope-reveals-previously-hidden-differences.html Biochemistry Tue, 28 Apr 2026 18:20:02 EDT news696614221 The halomethane compound bromoform (CHBr3) has devastating effects on the ozone layer. In the upper layers of the atmosphere, bromoform reacts with UV radiation, releasing bromine molecules which destroy ozone molecules. This reaction, however, has long puzzled scientists; the molecules involved seem to wander relative to each other in a way that energetically does not make sense. Scientists at European XFEL have now revealed structural evidence for this roaming mechanism for the first time, establishing it as a universal characteristic of photochemical reactions. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-bromoform-ozone-ultrafast-roaming-captured.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 10 Apr 2026 17:40:01 EDT news695047146 Researchers have developed a new imaging technique that captures more information about ultrafast processes in the microscopic world than was previously possible. The technique offers scientists a powerful new tool to observe and analyze a wide range of ultrafast phenomena—which can happen in hundreds of femtoseconds—with unprecedented detail and speed. Writing in Optica, the researchers describe their new ultrafast imaging technique, called compressed spectral-temporal coherent modulation femtosecond imaging (CST-CMFI). https://phys.org/news/2026-04-shot-imaging-captures-ultrafast-microscopic.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 09 Apr 2026 10:00:08 EDT news694882480 Researchers at the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology have, for the first time, measured the temporal duration of individual pulses of an extraordinary form of quantum light known as bright squeezed vacuum (BSV). Their findings are published in Optica. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-ultrafast-quantum-pulses.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 01 Apr 2026 12:20:02 EDT news694258144