Laser-cooled atomic gases, gases of atoms chilled to temperatures around absolute zero using laser technologies, have proved to be versatile physical platforms to study and control quantum phenomena. When these atomic gases interact with light inside an optical cavity (i.e., a structure designed to trap and enhance light), they can give rise to effects that can be leveraged to realize quantum sensing or simulate complex quantum systems.

Using atomic gases loaded in optical cavities, physicists have observed various intriguing effects, including self-organization phase transitions, characterized by the spontaneous arrangement of the gas atoms into ordered patterns, lasing and the preservation of quantum coherence. Generally, however, these effects are only observed for short times, as new atoms need to be reloaded in the cavity for them to be produced again.

Researchers at JILA, a joint research institute of the University of Colorado-Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, recently demonstrated continuous lasing that lasted hours using laser-cooled strontium-88 (⁸⁸ Sr) atoms loaded into a ring (i.e., circular) optical cavity. Their paper, published in Nature Physics, could open new possibilities for the development of ultra-quiet lasers, as well as quantum computers and sensing technologies.

A team of evolutionary scientists, dermatologists and wildlife specialists affiliated with several institutions in Japan, Kenya and France has found that human skin wounds take nearly three times as long to heal as they do in other primates. In their study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, the group conducted experiments involving skin healing speed in humans and several other primates.

Prior research and anecdotal evidence suggest that other animals recover from skin wounds faster than humans. In this new effort, the research team sought to measure such differences.

The experiments involved comparing skin wounds in humans—courtesy of volunteers at a hospital undergoing skin tumor removal—and several primates. Wound healing pace in chimpanzees was measured by studying chimps housed at a sanctuary who endured skin wounds periodically due to fighting between males.

Managing complex medication schedules could soon become as simple as taking a single capsule each day. Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a capsule that can be packed with multiple medications and release them at designated times throughout the day.

The advance, published in Matter, could help improve medication adherence and health outcomes by eliminating the need for patients to remember taking multiple drugs or doses at various times each day. It could potentially reduce the risk of missed doses or accidental overdoses.

“We want to simplify medication management with a single capsule that is smart enough to deliver the right drug at the right dose at the right time,” said study first author Amal Abbas, who recently earned her Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. She spearheaded this work with Joseph Wang, a professor in the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering at UC San Diego.

When an object moves extremely fast—close to the speed of light—certain basic assumptions that we take for granted no longer apply. This is the central consequence of Albert Einstein’s special theory of relativity. The object then has a different length than when it is at rest, and time passes differently for the object than it does in the laboratory. All this has been repeatedly confirmed in experiments.

However, one interesting consequence of relativity has not yet been observed—the so-called Terrell-Penrose effect. In 1959, physicists James Terrell and Roger Penrose (Nobel laureate in 2020) independently concluded that fast-moving objects should appear rotated. However, this effect has never been demonstrated.

Now, a collaboration between TU Wien (Vienna) and the University of Vienna has succeeded for the first time in reproducing the effect using laser pulses and precision cameras—at an effective speed of light of 2 meters per second. The research is published in the journal Communications Physics.

Drugs that eliminate wakefulness, molecules in cannabis and wearable devices that modulate brain activity could help those with the condition.

Solar cells based on perovskites, materials with a characteristic crystal structure first unveiled in the mineral calcium titanate (CaTiO₃), have emerged as a promising alternative to conventional silicon-based photovoltaics. A key advantage of these materials is that they could yield high power conversion efficiencies (PCEs), yet their production costs could be lower.

Perovskite films can exist in different structural forms, also referred to as phases. One is the so-called α-phase (i.e., a photoactive black phase), which is the most desirable phase for the efficient absorption of light and the transport of charge carriers. The δ-phase, on the other hand, is an intermediate phase characterized by a different atom arrangement and reduced photoactivity.

Researchers at the University of Toledo, Northwestern University, Cornell University and other institutes recently introduced a new strategy to control the crystallization process in perovskite-based solar cells, stabilizing the δ-phase while facilitating their transition to the α-phase. Their proposed approach, outlined in a paper in Nature Energy, enables the formation of Lewis bases on perovskites on demand to optimize crystallization, which can enhance the efficiency and stability of solar cells.

A collaborative research team from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has developed an innovative laminated interface microstructure that enhances the stability and photoelectric conversion efficiency of inverted perovskite solar cells. The research is published in the journal Nature Synthesis.

Perovskite solar cells have considerable potential to replace traditional silicon solar cells in various applications, including grid electricity, portable power sources, and space photovoltaics. This is due to their unique advantages, such as high efficiency, low cost, and aesthetic appeal.

The basic structures of perovskite solar cells are classified into two types: standard and inverted. The inverted structure demonstrates better application prospects because the electronic materials used in each layer are more stable compared to those in the standard configuration.

A new study led by a pair of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst turns long-held conventional wisdom about a certain type of polymer on its head, greatly expanding understanding of how some of biochemistry’s fundamental forces work. The study, released recently in Nature Communications, opens the door for new biomedical research running the gamut from analyzing and identifying proteins and carbohydrates to drug delivery.

The work involves a kind of polymer made up of neutral polyzwitterions. Because they have a neutral electrical charge, polyzwitterions are not expected to respond to an electric field. However, the team found not only that certain neutral polyzwitterions behave as if they were charged, but also that the electric field surrounding polyzwitterions, once thought to be uniform, varies in strength.

“My interest is in the proteins and amino acids, which are the building blocks for protein, inside our body’s cells,” says Yeseul Lee, lead author and graduate student in polymer science and engineering at UMass Amherst.

Swarms of earthquakes have been jolting southern Italy with increasing intensity since 2022, threatening hundreds of thousands of people living atop a volcanic area known as Campi Flegrei, where the land experiences slow vertical movements.

While authorities debate disaster responses and evacuation protocols, researchers may have found a way to thwart the cyclic unrest altogether: by managing water runoff or lowering groundwater levels, thus reducing fluid pressure within the geothermal reservoir.

Through subsurface imaging and lab experiments, Stanford scientists have shown how pressure buildup from water and vapor in the reservoir under Campi Flegrei can lead to earthquakes when the caprock, or lid, seals.

What happens when trailblazing engineers and industry professionals team up? The answer may transform the future of computing efficiency for modern data centers.

Data centers house and use large computers to run massive amounts of data. Oftentimes, the processors can’t keep up with this workload because it’s taxing to predict and prepare instructions to carry out. This slows the flow of data. Thus, when you type a question into a search engine, the answer generates more slowly or doesn’t provide the information you need.

To remedy this issue, researchers at Texas A&M University developed a new technique called Skia in collaboration with Intel, AheadComputing, and Princeton to help computer processors better predict future instructions and improve computing performance.