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Images Capture Unusual Quantum Turbulence

Quantum fluids exhibit turbulence in ways both similar to and distinct from their classical counterparts. The most common shared feature is the flow of energy from large to small scales, transferred via vortices. Now Sebastian Morris of the University of Cambridge in the UK and his colleagues have observed a unique form of quantum turbulence that has no classical counterpart [1]. Their experiments in an ultracold gas provide direct evidence of so-called Vinen, or “ultraquantum,” turbulence—a random tangle of vortex rings that unravels without any energy transfer as the fluid settles into equilibrium.

Upon perturbation, quantum fluids such as superfluid helium and Bose-Einstein condensates can swirl around networks of thin vortex lines. Theorists have long predicted how these tangled vortices should unravel and decay while the fluid relaxes. Experimentalists have detected signs of this process in superfluid helium (but only indirectly) and in atomic gases (but only in 2D).

To obtain direct evidence of vortex dynamics in 3D, Morris and colleagues cooled ultracold potassium atoms in a cylindrical optical trap to just above absolute zero. Using a quantum-gas magnifier, they captured snapshots of the particle density in circular slices of the gas. These density maps revealed imprints of random vortex lines entering and exiting the slice. Imaging the gas as it relaxed yielded the fractional area covered by the vortex lines over time, constituting a direct measurement of the density of the tangles.

Probing Strangeness

The strange quark is significantly heavier than the up and down quarks and significantly lighter than the charm, top, and bottom quarks. Calculations within quantum chromodynamics (QCD) that are accurate at either end of the quark mass scale are less accurate for the in-between strange quark. To test their methods, theorists need data. Now the ALICE Collaboration has reported the results of studying interactions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) between charged kaons (K– and K+), which contain a strange quark and an up quark, and deuterons, which contain a proton and a neutron [1]. The measurements could help improve models of dense baryonic matter, including the interiors of neutron stars, where strange quarks are thought to abound.

In 2015 and 2018, the LHC smashed together lead ions at an energy of 5.02 tera-electron-volts per nucleon pair. Copious kaons are produced in such collisions, but the chances of a kaon and a harder-to-produce deuteron interacting are slim. Of the 337 million lead–lead collisions recorded by ALICE, only a few tens of thousands yielded close encounters between charged kaons and deuterons.

ALICE efficiently combed through those encounters for the even rarer ones in which a K– or K+ passed a deuteron (d) within a few femtometers and with a small relative momentum. At that separation, particles influence each other’s final state via the strong and Coulomb interactions. The ALICE researchers could measure the scattering lengths (a quantum generalization of cross section) for K– + d and K+ + d for the first time. Some models of the kaon–nucleon interaction exploit chirality, a useful approximation for up and down quarks, which are light. The new measurements will help establish the conditions under which those models reach their limits for the heavier strange quarks.

After 40 years of searching, physicists find evidence for an ultrarare particle decay

Physicists at CERN report that they’ve detected evidence of a rare meson particle decay (B⁰→ µ⁺µ⁻) that occurs when the meson’s beauty quark annihilates with a down-type quark. The pair decays into a muon and antimuon, which are particles similar to electrons. Because evidence for this decay helps test theoretical predictions from the Standard Model, physicists have been waiting for it since 1984, when it was first theorized.

The team details the measurements along with those of another slightly less rare decay in a recent paper posted to the arXiv preprint server.

Pinning down the structure of quark-gluon plasma, the universe’s first fluid

In the first fraction of a second following the Big Bang, matter existed as a trillion-degree plasma of quarks and gluons—subatomic particles that zinged around at close to the speed of light. This roiling soup lasted for just a few microseconds before the particles coalesced into more stable protons and neutrons.

To study this primordial fluid, scientists recreate quark-gluon plasma in large particle accelerators, where ions are smashed together at close to the speed of light. These collisions create droplets of plasma roughly the size of an atomic nucleus that exist for only tens of septillionths of a second.

One way scientists study this plasma is by tracking other particles, such as heavy quarks, that are not part of the plasma but happen to move through it. The way a heavy particle moves through a fluid should tell something about the microscopic structure of the fluid itself. This general relationship was established famously by physicist Albert Einstein in 1905.

Electrical control of an unconventional quantum transport state demonstrated in a magnet for the first time

Researchers at Tohoku University and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) have successfully controlled a unique quantum phenomenon—the quantum-geometric nonlinear Hall (QgNLH) state—using electric current for the first time. The breakthrough was achieved by revealing and exploiting the coupling between the spin structure and the QgNLH state in an electrically switchable chiral antiferromagnet.

The achievements, published in the journal Newton on Nov. 4, 2026, offer a potential approach for developing electrically tunable devices that use quantum-geometric effects to perform nonlinear signal processing functions.

Physicist develops detector capable of counting photons for quantum computing

Detecting a single photon is a challenge in itself. But what if you also want to know exactly how many photons arrive at a particular point at the same time? Physicist Erik Baalbergen is working on light detectors that can do just that. They form a key building block for the optical quantum computer of the future.

“I always enjoyed the experiments with light the most,” says Baalbergen. “And this project brings together the fields of optics, electronics and solid-state physics. It is precisely that intersection that I find incredibly interesting.” During his Ph.D. research at Leiden University, he worked on the development and improvement of specialized light detectors. He defended his thesis, “Photon-Number Resolution with Superconducting Nanowires,” on November 3.

A self-charging toothbrush that generates electricity to kill bacteria while you brush

A lot of time and effort goes into toothbrush technology, whether changing bristle angles or tweaking and improving electric models. No matter the developments, they all essentially still do the same thing to a greater or lesser degree, which is using a mechanical scrubbing motion to clean teeth.

But an upgrade could soon be on the way. Scientists have developed a battery-free toothbrush that generates its own electricity to help kill plaque-causing bacteria as you clean.

Even with scrupulous oral health habits, traditional toothbrushes can still leave some potentially cavity-causing bacteria behind. And regardless of how well you brush before going to bed, by the time morning comes, bacteria have already built back up.

Engineered protein that cuts Alzheimer’s-linked brain deposits opens potential therapeutic avenue

A KAIST-led research team has found that a protein involved in gene regulation can suppress the harmful aggregation of amyloid-beta, a peptide associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The approach also reduced the toxicity of protein aggregates that had already formed.

In experiments using a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, the treatment reduced protein accumulation in the brain and improved memory recognition, suggesting a possible route toward new therapeutics.

The research team led by Professor Mi Hee Lim from the Department of Chemistry identified a new approach to controlling the aggregation and toxicity of amyloid-beta. The findings were published in Advanced Science.

Study Reveals How Brain Function Changes When We Learn Something New

A beginner’s violin lesson may seem worlds apart from dementia research, yet wearable brain scans are revealing signals that could help scientists understand both learning and neurological disease.

Playing a familiar tune on a violin is no simple task for someone who has never held the instrument. Each movement must produce the intended sound, and the brain has to learn how to coordinate those movements. Researchers at the University of Nottingham have now captured changes in brain activity as beginners learned to play, revealing measurable differences after just one violin lesson.

The study, published in the journal Imaging Neuroscience, involved 22 novice violin players. Using a wearable brain scanner, the scientists tracked patterns of neural activity while participants attempted to play “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” They found that those who improved the most also showed the greatest changes in certain brain signals associated with movement and learning.

A New Era of Bionic Vision? AI Helps Scientists Unlock the Brain’s Visual Cortex

Researchers have used artificial intelligence to improve how a brain implant stimulates the visual cortex of a blind person, potentially advancing the development of bionic eyes.

Artificial intelligence could make future bionic eyes more precise and responsive by improving how electrical signals communicate with the brain. In a study published in Neuron, researchers used deep learning to control brain stimulation in a blind man, producing more accurate neural responses with less electrical current.

The findings could advance visual prostheses that bypass damaged eyes and optic nerves, stimulating the visual cortex directly to generate perceptions of light.