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Uncovering the mysteries of high-temperature cuprate superconductors

In their quest to explore and characterize high-temperature superconductors, physicists have mostly focused on a material that is not the absolute highest. That’s because that crystal is much easier to split into uniform, easily measurable samples. But in 2024, researchers found a way to grow good crystals that are very similar to the highest temperature superconductor.

Now, many from the same group have analyzed these new crystals and determined why the highest temperature superconductor is indeed higher and what details were missed by looking at the more popular crystal. Their work is published in Physical Review Letters.

The cuprate Bi2223, which at (about 100,000 pascals) superconducts at 110 Kelvin (−163°C), has proven easier to study and specify, even though the similar cuprate Hg1223 superconducts at 134 K.

MARATHON experiment offers most precise measurement of nucleon structure yet

Nucleons, which include protons and neutrons, are the composite particles that make up atomic nuclei. While these particles have been widely studied in the past, their internal structure has not yet been fully elucidated.

These particles are known to consist of three smaller building blocks known as quarks, held together by strong nuclear force carriers called gluons. While a proton is made of two “up” quarks and one “down” quark, a neutron is made of one “up” quark and two “down” quarks.

Inside nucleons, however, one can also find many quark-antiquark pairs that continuously appear and disappear. The distribution of momentum and spin across all the different building blocks of nucleons has not yet been uncovered.

Probability theorem gets quantum makeover after 250 years

How likely you think something is to happen depends on what you already believe about the circumstances. That is the simple concept behind Bayes’ rule, an approach to calculating probabilities, first proposed in 1763. Now, an international team of researchers has shown how Bayes’ rule operates in the quantum world.

“I would say it is a breakthrough in ,” said Professor Valerio Scarani, Deputy Director and Principal Investigator at the Center for Quantum Technologies, and member of the team. His co-authors on the work published on 28 August 2025 in Physical Review Letters are Assistant Professor Ge Bai at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in China, and Professor Francesco Buscemi at Nagoya University in Japan.

“Bayes’ rule has been helping us make smarter guesses for 250 years. Now we have taught it some quantum tricks,” said Prof Buscemi.

Scientists move toward developing vaccine against pathogenic Staphylococcus aureus

Antibiotics are the old medicine cabinet standby for treating infections caused by multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, but as antimicrobial resistance continues to mount globally, scientists say there’s a need for new strategies.

While vaccines are a potential answer, achieving an effective way to immunize against multidrug-resistant S. aureus has led scientists down dozens of blind alleys. Ten that looked promising in in recent years failed miserably in human clinical trials.

Now, scientists in China are investigating a way to sidestep the myriad problems that plagued vaccine investigators in the past by choosing not to target a whole antigen. Instead, they say, it’s time to home in on a critical “surface loop” as a vaccine target. The infinitesimal loop is located on the S. aureus antigen known as MntC.

Two distinct microglia populations linked to autism-like and depression-like behaviors in mice

The anterior insular cortex (aIC) is an important brain region known to contribute to the regulation of emotions, the integration of bodily sensations, decision-making and some other functions. Past studies have linked this brain region to some neuropsychiatric disorders characterized by unusual patterns of thinking and behavior, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and depression.

However, the precise cellular and neurobiological processes via which the aIC might contribute to ASD and have not yet been clearly elucidated. Some neuroscientists have been exploring the possibility that , that play a role in eliminating damaged cells and pathogens, could play a role in some of the behaviors linked with these two neuropsychiatric disorders.

Researchers at Tsinghua University recently carried out a study involving mice, aimed at investigating the possibility that microglia in the aIC play a part in some of the symptoms of ASD and depression. Their paper, published in Molecular Psychiatry, identifies two distinct subtypes of microglia that appear to contribute to autism-like and depression-like behavior in mice.

Scientists create realistic brain-wide connection maps through digital modeling

EPFL researchers have developed a powerful method to generate brain-wide, biologically realistic wiring maps of the mouse brain. Their approach bridges experimental data with mathematical and computational modeling to simulate how neurons connect across the entire brain.

The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.

One of neuroscience’s greatest challenges is understanding how the brain is wired. Even with modern imaging tools, it has been a challenge to create detailed maps that show how the brain’s billions of cells () connect, not just with their local “neighbors” but also to other, more distant cells in the brain.

How the distinctive folds in the brain cortex, seen in humans, whales, other animals, form

One of the defining features of humans is our brain’s remarkable capacity for language, planning, memory, creativity, and more. These abilities stem not just from our large brain size, but also from the folded structure of the brain’s outer layer, the cerebral cortex.

A new study, published in the journal Nature Communications, offers insight into how these wrinkles form, pointing to a range of contributing factors—including the number of early-stage , how they migrate during development, and the specific types of cells involved.

These findings may help guide future research into brain development, evolution, and health.

Interface-controlled antiferromagnetic tunnel junctions offer new path for next-gen spintronics

A research team led by Prof. Shao Dingfu at the Institute of Solid State Physics, the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has unveiled a new mechanism for achieving strong spin polarization using antiferromagnetic metal interfaces.

Their findings, published in Newton recently, propose a third prototype of antiferromagnetic tunnel junction (AFMTJ), paving the way for faster and denser spintronic devices.

As electronics demand smaller size, higher speed, and lower energy use, spintronics—using both electron charge and spin—offers a strong alternative to traditional devices. Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), a key spintronics technology, are already used in but face limits due to slow response speeds and unwanted magnetic fields from their ferromagnetic parts.

Toward new physics: First-ever double crystal channeling observed

Might two bent crystals pave the way to finding new physics? The Standard Model of particle physics describes our world at its smallest scales exceptionally well. However, it leaves some important questions unanswered, such as the imbalance between matter and antimatter, the existence of dark matter and other mysteries.

One method to find “new physics” beyond the Standard Model is to measure the properties of different particles as precisely as possible and then compare measurement with theory. If the two don’t agree, it might hint at new physics and let us slowly piece together a fuller picture of our universe—like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

An example of particles that physicists wish to study more closely are “charm baryons” such as the “Lambda-c-plus” (Λc+) which is a heavier “cousin” of the proton, consisting of three quarks: one up, one down and one charm. These particles decay after less than a trillionth of a second (10-13 s), which makes any measurement of their properties a race against time. Some of their properties have not yet been measured to high precision, leaving room for new physics to hide.

Optoelectronics research could bring holograms to your smartphone and closer to everyday use

New research from the University of St Andrews paves the way for holographic technology, with the potential to transform smart devices, communication, gaming and entertainment.

In a study published in Light: Science & Applications, researchers from the School of Physics and Astronomy created a new optoelectronic device from the combined use of holographic metasurfaces (HMs) and (OLEDs).

Until now, holograms have been created using lasers. However, researchers have found that using OLEDs and HMs gives a simpler and more compact approach that is potentially cheaper and easier to apply, overcoming the main barriers to hologram technology being used more widely.

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