IN A NUTSHELL Japanese scientists have developed a groundbreaking technique using quantum mechanics to analyze plasma turbulence. The new method, called multi-field singular value decomposition, provides clearer insights into the interactions within fusion plasmas. The research has implications beyond plasma physics, potentially impacting fields like weather dynamics and social systems. By

Rare methanol isotopes were found in young star HD 100453, offering new insights into the chemistry that could seed planets with life.

The harsh interstellar environment ought to destroy these carbon-rich molecules; experiments reveal their secret weapon.

Organic molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) populate interstellar space and represent a major reservoir of carbon, an essential element for life. The smallest of these molecules mysteriously survive the harsh environment of space, and a research team has now explained how they do it [1]. In experiments in space-like conditions, the team showed that the molecules can use a process called recurrent fluorescence to shed some of the potentially destructive vibrational energy they receive from ultraviolet photons and molecular collisions. The results will help theorists model the dissemination of the building blocks of life throughout the cosmos.

PAHs form in dying stars and get ejected via supernovae into the interstellar medium. In 2021 they were detected in cold interstellar clouds (molecular clouds), and the JWST observatory has since confirmed widespread evidence for small PAHs at higher abundance than models predict. Small PAHs somehow survive ultraviolet radiation, molecular collisions, and other processes that trigger internal vibrations that can tear them apart.

“Core season” for the Milky Way has arrived, with our galaxy visible all night as a band of light arching across the sky. Here’s where, when, and how to get the best views in June.

In a monumental breakthrough, scientists have measured the speed of quantum entanglement for the first time—an achievement that is set to radically transform the way we understand the quantum world. For years, quantum entanglement was thought to be an instantaneous process, but this new research, published in Physical Review Letters, has pushed the boundaries of our knowledge, providing new insights into the quantum realm and setting the stage for revolutionary advances in data security and computational technologies.

Physicists at the University of Oxford have set a new global benchmark for the accuracy of controlling a single quantum bit, achieving the lowest-ever error rate for a quantum logic operation—just 0.000015%, or one error in 6.7 million operations. This record-breaking result represents nearly an order of magnitude improvement over the previous benchmark, set by the same research group a decade ago.

To put the result in perspective: a person is more likely to be struck by lightning in a given year (1 in 1.2 million) than for one of Oxford’s quantum logic gates to make a mistake.

The findings, to be published in Physical Review Letters, are a major advance towards having robust and useful quantum computers.

Cambridge researchers created a quantum sensor using hBN, offering improved magnetic field detection over diamond-based sensors with new imaging possibilities. A team of physicists at the University of Cambridge has achieved a major breakthrough in quantum sensing by showing that spin defects in

SLC35B1 transports ATP into the ER, and its structure offers potential for targeted therapies in diseases linked to ER stress. A team of scientists has solved a long-standing question in cell biology by uncovering how the cell’s primary energy source, ATP, is transported into the endoplasmic reti

A novel suggestion that complexity increases over time, not just in living organisms but in the nonliving world, promises to rewrite notions of time and evolution.

The researchers identified a stress response that emerges from damaged mitochondria. By interrupting this stress response with a compound known as ISRIB, their results showed a marked improvement in blood sugar handling in mice.

A β-cell in the pancreas is responsible for releasing insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar.

These cells need high energy output from mitochondria to carry out their job. Weak energy conversion can disrupt insulin release, fueling the symptoms associated with type 2 diabetes.