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How plastic welds retain a molecular ‘memory’ of their former surfaces to strengthen pipe joints

Welding plastic is a critically important part of everyday engineering—especially for preventing leaks in underground water and gas pipes. For decades, engineers have understood that a properly welded joint in polyethylene pipe can be just as strong as the pipe itself, if not stronger. However, the reason for this strength has remained a mystery.

Through new research published in Physical Review Letters, a team led by Michele Valsecchi at Columbia University, New York, has used detailed computer simulations to understand the molecular origins of the phenomenon. Their findings could help industry weld plastic more reliably, including recycled material.

Faint far-infrared radiation drives a correlated insulator-to-metal transition in magic-angle graphene

One of the central ideas in modern physics is the phase transition—a sudden transformation of the state of a material. We encounter phase transitions throughout everyday life: water freezes into ice, wax melts in the warmth of a flame, and water vapor condenses into droplets on a cold window. In these familiar examples, the atoms themselves rearrange into a new structure, giving the material entirely different properties.

But some of the most fascinating phase transitions are invisible to the naked eye. Instead of atomic rearrangement, it is the electrons that collectively reorganize into a new quantum state. A subtle change in external parameters—temperature, magnetic field or even exposure to light—can completely transform how such a material behaves.

Superconductivity is perhaps the most celebrated example of an electronic phase transition. For over a century, the superconducting state—carrying electrical current without any resistance—has captivated physicists. Yet the transition itself is just as remarkable as the state it leads to. Near the transition point, even a tiny external stimulus produces a dramatic change in the material’s properties. This extraordinary sensitivity has made superconductors the foundation of some of the world’s most sensitive detectors, capable of registering individual photons arriving from distant galaxies.

Physicists finally put Feynman’s path integral to the test

For nearly 80 years, physicists have relied on a thought experiment created by Richard Feynman to predict how quantum particles behave. For the first time, researchers in China have tested this trick directly in the lab.

Led by Shi-Liang Zhu at South China Normal University in Guangzhou, China, the team used single particles of light to show that Feynman’s idea holds up in practical experiments.

Their results are published in Science Advances.

‘One-pot’ CRISPR platform delivers lab-like sensitivity in 30 minutes for at-home testing

A research team from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed an innovative “one-pot” testing platform, known as TEMPO, that could transform highly sensitive nucleic acid testing from a laboratory-based procedure into a simple, single-step test that can be performed at home. With a single reaction tube, users can obtain results comparable to those of professional laboratory tests in as little as 30 minutes. The breakthrough has the potential to bridge the technological gap between existing rapid tests and laboratory-based nucleic acid diagnostics, offering a more convenient solution for future infectious disease surveillance and genetic screening.

TEMPO, short for “Thermodynamically Encoded Molecular Programming for One-Pot Diagnostics,” was jointly developed by a research team led by Hsing I-Ming, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at HKUST, and researchers from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The platform has already demonstrated applications in the detection of a range of viral infections, including influenza, COVID-19 and HIV, while also opening new possibilities for the rapid screening of hereditary diseases.

The study, titled “Thermodynamically programmed one-pot CRISPR platform for point-of-care SNP genotyping,” is published in the journal Nature Communications.

JWST reveals likely Type II supernova from when universe was only 2 billion years old

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have identified one of the most distant exploding stars ever confirmed. The supernova, SN 2023aeaf, was found at a redshift of 3.195—so far away that its light has been traveling for roughly 11.7 billion years. The study, published in The Astrophysical Journal on Aug. 13, offers a close-up look at how massive stars die in the young universe’s primitive, metal-poor conditions.

Massive stars exploding in a core-collapse supernova explosion can be used as tracers for actively forming stars and the physical consequences their explosive deaths exert on the surrounding gas cloud. These explosions actively reshape the environment and set the stage for the next generation of stars to form. Their rate of occurrence tells astronomers indirectly about how vigorously stars were forming throughout the universe’s history.

But almost everything astronomers know about how these explosions actually behave comes from nearby, relatively recent examples. Because the early universe had very low metal content, a major question persists over whether these explosions behaved differently far back in the early universe. Testing this requires finding and studying distant supernova candidates, which are extremely faint and therefore hard to detect.

Femtosecond nano-imaging reveals ultrafast optical control of phonon polaritons

A collaborative research team has successfully visualized in real space the ultrafast optical modulation of hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPhPs) in a van der Waals heterostructure composed of hBN and WS2. The research is published in the journal Nano Letters, and was led by Kazuki Kamada of the Institute for Molecular Science (IMS) and Osaka Metropolitan University, along with Dr. Jun Nishida, assistant professor at IMS, and Takashi Kumagai, associate professor at IMS.

HPhPs are hybrid light-matter modes formed through strong coupling between infrared electromagnetic fields and optical phonons in a material. Their hybrid character allows them to coherently transport electromagnetic energy while confining it to spatial scales far below the wavelength of light in free space. These properties make HPhPs promising for nanoscale light manipulation, high-sensitivity spectroscopy and future nanophotonic technologies. Dynamically controlling HPhPs at ultrafast speeds could provide an important foundation for active nanoscale optical devices.

Organic crystal reveals how Joule heating stabilizes resistive switching

Metal-insulator transitions (MITs), in which a material changes from a metallic state with low resistivity to an insulating state because of a change in an external parameter, such as temperature, pressure or an electric field, are a central topic in fundamental physics research.

In materials that undergo MITs, it has also been observed that in the insulating phase, but near the transition point, applying an electric field or current can sometimes trigger a sudden drop in resistance, known as resistive switching.

This volatile resistive switching holds promise for various applications, including resistive memory, optoelectronics and neuromorphic computing, which is key to artificial intelligence implementation.

Physicists take Hall effect in a new direction

Carnegie Mellon University scientists have uncovered a new phenomenon that challenges a longstanding assumption about how electronic materials respond to magnetic fields. The discovery broadens the fundamental understanding of the Hall effect, a principle widely used to measure the magnetic and electronic properties of materials.

Published in Nature Materials, the research could lay the groundwork for simpler, more versatile magnetic sensing technologies used in electronics, transportation and medical imaging.

The Hall effect has been a key tool for studying material properties for more than a century. In 1879, Edwin Hall showed that applying a magnetic field perpendicular to a material deflects moving charges, producing a measurable voltage. By analyzing this signal, scientists can determine whether electric current is carried by negative or positive charges, how many of those charges are moving through the material and how easily they flow.

Hollow-core fiber platform could help different quantum technologies connect

Quantum technologies promise secure communication networks, powerful forms of computing and new sensing tools. One of the major challenges, however, is that different quantum systems often operate at different wavelengths of light. Quantum memories, trapped ions and other quantum devices may work best in the ultraviolet or visible range, while long-distance communication over optical fibers works most efficiently at telecommunications wavelengths.

Building practical quantum networks will require reliable ways to translate quantum information between these different optical bands without losing the information carried by the light.

A new study published in Advanced Photonics Nexus explores a promising route to achieving that goal through a process known as four-wave mixing (FWM).

Scientists Discover a Brain Signal Linked to Severe Suicidal Thoughts

P2RX7 may be linked to severe suicidal thoughts and recovery, but researchers still need to confirm the pattern in living people.

Severe suicidal thoughts may leave a detectable biological signal in the brain, and that signal could also change when people recover. Researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience have identified a receptor that may be linked to these shifts, providing a possible new direction for studying resilience and suicide prevention.

In the Netherlands, nearly five people die by suicide each day, and there may be about twenty suicide attempts for every death. Despite the enormous consequences for individuals and families, scientists still understand relatively little about the biological processes associated with suicidal thoughts. Effective medications specifically targeting suicidal thoughts are also urgently needed.

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