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Helium-3 lifts new quantum computing concept with faster tunneling rates

Helium—the lightest atom that can be laser-cooled and controlled—powers a new design for high-powered, stable quantum computers.

In a paper published in PRX Quantum, a team led by University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and Physics Department Associate Professor Jacob Covey outlined a new concept that could turn helium’s light weight into the next generation of quantum computers.

Once built, the computer could use high-powered lasers as “optical tweezers” to capture and control individual helium atoms, the second-lightest element overall and the lightest that can be trapped with current technology. This offers a major advance over designs based on lithium, the third-lightest element.

How one RNA nucleotide switch activates fluorescent dyes

RhoBAST is a tiny RNA molecule that activates fluorescent dyes, enabling researchers to track RNA molecules in living cells with super-resolution. An international collaboration, which includes Ronald Micura and his team from the Institute of Organic Chemistry, has now shown that a small, local “nucleotide flip” within the RNA controls this fluorescence activation.

Fluorescent light-up aptamers (FLAPs) are short RNA sequences that bind and activate small dye molecules that otherwise exhibit only weak fluorescence. This enables genetic tagging of RNAs for live-cell imaging without the need for protein fusion markers. Because the dye is only “switched on” upon binding to the RNA, background fluorescence remains low.

Systems such as Spinach, Broccoli, Mango and Pepper have continuously advanced this principle over the past years. RhoBAST additionally enables high-resolution imaging of individual RNA molecules in living cells.

Single nanostructure enables independent control of two light resonance modes

Metallic nanostructures are exceptionally effective at concentrating light into tiny volumes, while dielectric nanostructures excel at storing light with minimal energy loss. Combining these complementary properties has traditionally required complicated hybrid structures in which the two optical modes become mixed, making them difficult to control independently.

Achieving both resonance types within a single nanostructure without mode interference has therefore remained a major challenge in nanophotonics, limiting the development of compact, multifunctional optical devices.

AI helps find hidden human proteins and reveals what they do

New research shows how artificial intelligence, combined with advanced experimental science, can help find “hidden” and unexplored proteins in the human body and reveal what they actually do, according to a new study published in Nature.

The discovery suggests a new way to study how cells communicate, survive stress and possibly contribute to disease.

Compost microbe yields enzyme that tackles polyurethane foam and nylon

Researchers from Aarhus University and the Danish Technological Institute have taken a new approach in the search for enzymes capable of breaking down some of the most difficult types of plastic to recycle. They collected millions of bacteria from a landfill in Kenya, Randers Regnskov Tropical Zoo, the guts of larvae and a compost heap near Aarhus—and examined their enzymes. They found 12 that work.

We might as well jump straight to the conclusion: The best candidate came from the compost heap.

And the researchers are now busy improving the enzyme’s ability to break down polyurethane and nylon.

Brain aging may be detected decades before symptoms appear, with links to gut health

A new UCLA study has found a connection between how quickly the brain ages and the bacteria and chemical byproducts found in the gut, offering a clue to what drives brain aging long before symptoms appear.

Researchers have long used brain scans to estimate a person’s “brain age,” a measure that can differ from someone’s actual age in years. When a brain looks older than expected on a scan, prior research has linked it to poorer memory, thinking skills and mood. However, most of these studies involved older adults or people with existing brain diseases. Whether this gap between brain age and chronological age means anything in younger, generally healthy people has been unclear.

In a new study published in the journal eBioMedicine, UCLA Health researchers analyzed brain scans from nearly 1,500 adults across three separate groups using a method that measures how different regions of the brain communicate with one another while at rest.

AI extracts interpretable constitutive laws directly from solid-mechanics data

Researchers at the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), Ningbo, have developed a graph-based approach that directly extracts concise, accurate constitutive equations from solid-material experimental data. The study, published in Science Advances, describes a method for discovering constitutive models for alloy steels, lithium metal and filled rubbers. It outperforms mainstream empirical models in predictive accuracy while preserving explicit, physically interpretable mathematical formulations.

This breakthrough addresses a longstanding limitation in solid mechanics: the conventional reliance on predefined empirical formulas to characterize the complex mechanical responses of metallic and nonmetallic materials. “Constitutive models are foundational to solid mechanics. Traditionally, researchers derive mathematical forms based on physical intuition and subsequently calibrate model parameters using experimental data,” said Hao Xu, EIT postdoctoral researcher and lead author of the study.

“Although this paradigm has achieved great success in mechanics research, predetermined equation structures inherently restrict the model’s descriptive and predictive capability. Our framework shifts the research paradigm: it starts purely from experimental data and employs artificial intelligence to autonomously search for and identify optimal constitutive equations.”

Unusual bonds reorganize structure and magnetism in vanadium material

While chemical bonds usually determine the structure and properties of a material, bonds between neighboring metal atoms can also change as temperature or other conditions change. These changes can lead to unusual electronic and magnetic behaviors.

A new study on Li₀.₅VS₂ shows that bonding between vanadium atoms can reorganize as the material passes through successive structural changes. The study was led by assistant professor Keita Kojima from the Graduate School of Environment, Life, Natural Science and Technology at Okayama University in Japan, along with professor Naoyuki Katayama from Okayama University.

The study is published in the journal Chemistry of Materials.

New video game could help reveal how people with autism perceive the world

People with autism often come at life from a different angle—seeing details others miss, focusing on patterns rather than faces, experiencing heightened or dimmed physical sensations. Although researchers have tracked some of the many ways the neurodevelopmental disorder alters perception of the world, the precise brain mechanisms involved remain obscure, says Boston University researcher Benjamin Scott. One reason: Research often excludes people with more severe symptoms.

Scott and his colleagues have created a more inclusive approach: a video game that measures how people with autism understand and interpret information—and that can be played by people across the disorder’s spectrum of symptom severity, including those who are nonverbal. The researchers say it could spur fresh insights into how the autistic brain works and help refine the development and testing of new drugs and therapies.

Around 1 in 31 children in the United States have autism, according to the nonprofit Autism Speaks, with symptoms that affect communication and other social skills and include restricted and repetitive behaviors. At the moment, scientists studying these issues often rely on subjective assessments from family members—particularly of people with significant communication issues—rather than input from the patients themselves. The game changes that.

New ‘smart’ nanoparticles help the immune system better attack tumors

Adelaide University researchers have developed a new way to use mRNA technology to reprogram tumor-supporting immune cells and strengthen the body’s anticancer immune response.

The scientific team, spanning engineering, biomedical, oncology and immunology experts, has developed tiny, targeted particles that could help the immune system fight cancer by reprogramming immune cells within the tumor environment.

The findings have been published in Science Advances today.

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