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A new origin story for multicellular life points to physics, not genes alone

How did life make the leap from single cells to coordinated, multicellular organisms? And how do genetically identical cells still perform a version of that feat every time an embryo begins to take shape?

In a new Perspective paper appearing in the journal Nature Biotechnology, Bren Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz and collaborator Qi Chen of the University of Utah ask one of biology’s oldest questions in a new way. The paper is titled “Decoding the origins of cellular self-organization for engineered biology.”

Predicting physics without parameter tuning: A faster computational approach

Numerical simulations in physics often require estimating a multitude of parameters, making the process computationally expensive and complex. Researchers at University of Tsukuba have introduced a new method called the multiparameter eigenvalue-problem emulator, enabling reliable predictions based directly on relationships among known data by eliminating the need for parameter estimation. This innovation considerably reduces computational costs and enables systematic quantification of predictive uncertainty.

Calibrating theoretical models with experimental data is a common practice in physics for predicting previously unobserved phenomena. However, real-world theoretical models are often highly complex, involving numerous numerical quantities, known as parameters, that cannot be directly measured. Researchers must estimate these parameters to compute other observables. This is a process that is computationally demanding and fraught with remarkable challenges in assessing how uncertainties in the parameters affect final predictions.

This study, published in Physical Review Letters, presents a novel fast surrogate model based on a mathematical framework known as the multiparameter eigenvalue-problem emulator. This model directly predicts unknown observables based on relationships among known data, without the need to introduce or estimate parameters.

First direct view tracks planet-forming disk spinning around AB Aurigae

The rotation of a protoplanetary disk (a disk where planets are being formed) has been observed directly for the very first time by mapping the emissions from the dust grains within it. The disk in question surrounds the young star AB Aurigae. Although it appears to generally rotate in accordance with the laws of physics, certain regions close to the star show an unexpected departure from this behavior. A body of evidence suggests that this anomaly is caused by the presence of giant planets in the process of formation.

The study, led by scientists from the CNRS and the University of Bordeaux is published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. It sheds fresh light on the mechanisms of planetary formation and the complex dynamics of protoplanetary disks.

Thanks to the unique near-infrared capabilities of the SPHERE instrument and its exceptional spatial resolution, the team was able to accurately track the disk’s structures and their evolution during three sets of observations, collected over a 4-year period. The scientists identified a bright structure, characteristic of accretion zones where gas and dust accumulate and fall onto an object in the process of formation. This phenomenon is closely linked to the formation of gas giant planets.

Negative Time is Real, Physicists Confirm. Kind Of

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In a new paper, a group of physicists claims to have confirmed the existence of “negative time.” I had never heard of this, but I had a look at the paper. And I think I have figured it out.

Paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.

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Antihydrogen mirrors hydrogen in upgraded spectrum test, narrowing cosmic mystery

University of Calgary researchers are a part of a group who just got one step closer to solving a mystery of the universe. Dr. Timothy Friesen, Ph.D., an associate professor of Physics and Astronomy in the Faculty of Science, and his team led a new measurement comparing the spectrum of hydrogen to its antimatter counterpart—antihydrogen.

The results of this new measurement are published in the journal Nature.

“Fairly core in our theoretical models is the symmetry between matter and antimatter, and if that symmetry is broken there would be a huge impact on how we construct those theories and how we think about our absolute laws in physics,” says Friesen.

Ripples in fire-ant collectives suggest motions are driven by neighbor alignments

Researchers in Spain have discovered that in collectives of moving fire ants, rippling “waves” of density and activity are likely triggered by local regions where ants collectively travel in the same direction as their neighbors.

Described in a new paper published in Journal of Applied Physics, Alberto Fernandez-Nieves and colleagues at the University of Barcelona are hopeful that their predictions could be confirmed in future experiments—potentially leading to deeper insights into the complex motions of active materials.

Astrophysicists strike black gold with treasure trove of gravitational wave detections

Researchers from the University of Glasgow’s Institute for Gravitational Research are celebrating the publication of a vast new treasure trove of gravitational wave detections, hailed as a milestone marking the coming of age of gravitational astronomy.

The Gravitational Wave Transient Catalogue-5.0, or GWTC-5, is released online, with corresponding scientific papers submitted to Astrophysical Journal and Astrophysical Journal Letters.

This latest update details a total of 161 new signals from colliding black holes detected between April 2024 and the end of January 2025 by the gravitational wave detectors LIGO in the United States, Virgo in Italy, and KAGRA in Japan, known as the LVK collaboration. The publication brings the total number of gravitational wave signals detected to date to 390.

Surface design transforms thermal management and enables frictionless systems

A research team led by Professor Steven Wang, Associate Vice President (Resources Planning) and Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and School of Energy and Environment, has designed a revolutionary capillary structure that can trigger the Leidenfrost effect, offering a practical solution for the temperature-regulated Leidenfrost effect without requiring complex surface engineering.

The study, titled “Capillary Leidenfrost Effect”, was recently published in the journal Nature Physics.

The Leidenfrost effect is a physical phenomenon discovered in 1756. It occurs when a liquid droplet touches a surface much hotter than its boiling point, forming a vapor layer that makes it levitate and hover, slowing down evaporation. A simple example is water on a very hot pan: the drops sizzle and disappear quickly, but once it reaches the Leidenfrost point, they bead up, skate and dance around on a steam barrier, and last much longer before evaporating. This effect is ubiquitous in a wide range of laboratory and industrial applications.

Imaginary-time technique speeds X-ray scattering simulations by 50-fold for extreme matter

Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have developed a new procedure, enabling them to speed up elaborate computer simulations that analyze matter under extreme conditions. In particular, this work improves the evaluation of experiments at large-scale research facilities like the European XFEL—and should facilitate substantial progress, among others, in fusion research and laboratory astrophysics.

The team presented the results in the journal npj Computational Materials.

Sometimes, matter is present in extreme states—such as in stars or in the interior of gas giants where enormous pressures and temperatures prevail. Such conditions can also be produced in the lab, in laser fusion experiments, for instance. In order to understand precisely what happens, researchers use X-ray scattering—as at the European XFEL near Hamburg.

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