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The protein periostin may promote the spread of pancreatic cancer—and pain—through nerves

A new Brazilian study has revealed the key role of the protein periostin and stellate pancreatic cells in allowing pancreatic cancer to infiltrate nerves and spread early, increasing the risk of metastasis. The research demonstrates how the tumor reprograms part of the surrounding healthy tissue to acquire a high capacity for invasion. This mechanism is associated with the aggressiveness of the disease and the difficulty of treatment. It also points to possible targets for more precise therapies and personalized treatments.

The findings are published in the journal Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology.

The most common type of pancreatic cancer is adenocarcinoma, which originates in the glandular tissue that produces pancreatic juice. It accounts for 90% of diagnosed cases. Although it is not among the most frequent types of cancer, it is considered an aggressive and highly lethal tumor, with a mortality rate almost equivalent to its incidence rate. Globally, there are approximately 510,000 new cases and nearly the same number of deaths each year.

An Accordion Lattice Playing a Soliton Tune

Decades after their experimental realization, wave patterns known as discrete solitons continue to fascinate.

Localized wave patterns in a lattice or other periodic media have been observed using arrays of coupled torsion pendula, chains of Josephson junctions, and arrays of optical waveguides. Joining this diverse repertoire is a recent experiment by Robbie Cruickshank of the University of Strathclyde in the UK and his collaborators [1]. Starting from a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of cesium atoms, the researchers used an ingenious combination of experimental methods to realize, visualize, and theoretically explore coherent wave structures known as discrete solitons. These nonlinear waveforms have long been theorized to exist, and their implications have been extensively studied. In my view, Cruickshank and company’s experiment constitutes the clearest manifestation of discrete solitons so far achieved in ultracold atomic systems, paving the way for a variety of future explorations.

Solitons are localized wave packets that emerge from the interplay of dispersion and nonlinearity. Dispersion tends to make wave packets spread, and nonlinearity tends to localize them. The interplay can be robust and balanced, resulting in long-lived structures. The presence of a lattice introduces a new dimensional unit, the lattice constant, to the interplay, enabling a potential competition between the lattice constant and the scale of the soliton. When the latter is much larger than the former, the soliton is effectively insensitive to the lattice, which it experiences as a continuum. But as the two scales approach one another, lattice effects become more pronounced, and the associated waveforms become discrete solitons. In nonlinear variants of the Schrödinger equation, discreteness typically favors standing waves rather than traveling ones. That’s because the lattice-induced energy barrier known as the Peierls-Nabarro barrier makes discrete solitons less mobile.

Underwater robots inspired by nature are making progress, but hurdles remain

Underwater robots face many challenges before they can truly master the deep, such as stability in choppy currents. A new paper published in the journal npj Robotics provides a comprehensive update of where the technology stands today, including significant progress inspired by the movement of rays.

Underwater robots are not a gimmick. We need them to help us explore the roughly 74% of the ocean floor that still remains a mystery. While satellites, buoys and imaging technology can map the surface and the upper reaches of the ocean, we need underwater drones to explore and gather data from the hidden depths.

New state of matter discovered in a quantum material

At TU Wien, researchers have discovered a state in a quantum material that had previously been considered impossible. The definition of topological states should be generalized.

The work is published in Nature Physics.

Quantum physics tells us that particles behave like waves and, therefore, their position in space is unknown. Yet in many situations, it still works remarkably well to think of particles in a classical way—as tiny objects that move from place to place with a certain velocity.

Researchers solve mystery of universe’s ‘little red dots’

Since the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) went into operation, red dots in its images have puzzled researchers around the world. Now, researchers from the University of Copenhagen have explained these enigmatic findings, revealing the most violent forces in the universe concealed in a cocoon of ionized gas. The discovery is published in Nature.

Since December 2021, when the James Webb super telescope saw first light, some 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, researchers around the world have been scratching their heads over unexplained red dots among stars and galaxies in the images taken by the telescope.

The so-called ‘little red dots’ can be seen when the universe was “only” several hundred million years old, and a billion years later, they seem to disappear again. So what were they?

Neutral-atom arrays, a rapidly emerging quantum computing platform, get a boost from researchers

For quantum computers to outperform their classical counterparts, they need more quantum bits, or qubits. State-of-the-art quantum computers have around 1,000 qubits. Columbia physicists Sebastian Will and Nanfang Yu have their sights set much higher.

“We are laying critical groundwork to enable quantum computers with more than 100,000 qubits,” Will said.

In a paper published in Nature, Will, Yu, and their colleagues combine two powerful technologies— optical tweezers and metasurfaces—to dramatically scale the size of neutral-atom arrays.

Tuning spin waves—using commercially available devices at room temperature

Physicist Davide Bossini from the University of Konstanz has recently demonstrated how to change the frequency of the collective magnetic oscillations of a material by up to 40%—using commercially available devices at room temperature.

“We now have a full picture,” Bossini says. For years, the physicist from the University of Konstanz has studied how to use light to control the collective magnetic oscillations of a material—known as magnons. In the summer of 2025, he was finally able to show how to change the “magnetic DNA” of a material via the interaction between light and magnons.

He now demonstrates how the frequency of oscillations can be controlled quasi instantly and on demand by means of a weak magnetic field and intense laser pulses. In this way, he can increase or decrease frequencies by up to 40%. The effect is due to the interaction of the optical excitation, magnetic anisotropy (directional dependence) and the external magnetic field.

Ultrasound-activated nanoparticles in immune cells trigger targeted inflammatory response

Piezoelectric nanoparticles deployed inside immune cells and stimulated remotely by ultrasound can trigger the body’s disease-fighting response, according to an interdisciplinary team of Boston College researchers.

The paper is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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