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AI helps reveal large-scale quantum effects hidden in stacked atomic sheets

Quantum materials are a class of exotic materials with special properties that are governed by quantum mechanics rather than classical physics. Those properties—like superconductivity, entanglement and unusual forms of magnetism—often originate in the tiny repeating patterns of atoms inside crystals, but through clever engineering, they can be observed and controlled at a more human scale. Quantum materials are helping to power the quickly growing field of quantum computing and could find their way into future generations of energy-efficient electronics.

Designing new materials from the atomic scale up, however, requires intense modeling and simulation. Some materials may appear ordinary when viewed as small clusters of atoms, yet reveal new and useful properties when their atomic building blocks repeat and interact over larger distances. Researchers must be able to accurately predict behaviors at large scales in order to find materials with practical applications—otherwise, designing new materials is a slow and costly trial-and-error process.

In the past 50 years, supercomputers have helped materials scientists solve some of those thorny prediction problems, but two recent studies from the University of Washington demonstrate how newer computing techniques can help researchers sniff out promising quantum materials to pursue.

People are not as dishonest as we expect them to be, finds new study

According to a Pew Research report, Americans trust one another less than they did a few decades ago. Social trust is shaped largely by personal experiences of navigating the world, as well as by how strongly people believe others are likely to act honestly or dishonestly in everyday life.

Cells have a secret power line: How the nucleus gets its own private energy supply from mitochondria

For decades, biologists assumed a cell’s energy simply diffused to wherever it was needed. It turns out the most important destination of all has a private delivery line.

An international team of scientists led by Dr. Ivan Menendez-Montes, assistant professor at the University of Arizona, and Dr. Hesham A. Sadek, director of the Sarver Heart Center at the University of Arizona and group leader at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC), has uncovered a previously unknown mechanism through which mitochondria directly supply energy to the cell nucleus.

Published in Nature, their study demonstrates that mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell, physically dock at the control center of the cell—the nucleus—through its main gate—the nuclear pore complexes. This creates a highly efficient system for delivering energy and metabolites directly into the nucleus.

An underground detector in China unveils its first major findings about mysterious ghost particles

A massive underground detector aimed at understanding the mysterious ghost particles in our universe released its first major results on Wednesday.

The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory in China started collecting data in August with the goal of understanding neutrinos: tiny cosmic particles that date back to the Big Bang and whiz harmlessly through our bodies by the trillions every second. Yet they weigh almost nothing, making them difficult to sniff out.

In a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, the JUNO team unveiled its initial findings from two months of data collection—including some of the most precise measurements to date of how neutrinos switch between three varieties, or flavors, as they zip through space.

Majorana modes withstand disorder in atomic chains, boosting fault-tolerant quantum computing

Quantum computers—systems that process information and perform computations by leveraging the principles of quantum mechanics—could solve some tasks faster and more effectively than classical computers. While some studies have demonstrated the advantages of these computers for specific tasks, ensuring their reliable operation in real-world settings has proved challenging.

This is partly because quantum information units, or qubits, are known to be highly sensitive to environmental disturbances, such as fluctuations in temperature, electromagnetic fluctuations and magnetic fields. These environmental disturbances, collectively referred to as “noise,” can alter the qubit’s delicate quantum states, leading to computational errors.

In recent years, quantum physicists and engineers have proposed various strategies that could protect qubits from environmental disturbances and reduce quantum computing errors. One proposed solution is to rely on Majorana modes.

Quantum witness technique reveals spinons in quantum spin liquid candidate

Physicists at University College Cork have developed a new approach in the search for a quantum spin liquid, a long-sought state of quantum matter resembling a magnetic liquid whose quantum properties mean it never freezes. The work is a key step in the search for quantum silicon, a mineral that could be used to create quantum computers, just as silicon is used in traditional computers. The resulting paper appears in Nature Physics.

Lead author Prof. Seamus Davis said, “By introducing the quantum witness technique we provide a completely new perspective on the physics of quantum spin liquids and access their internal quantum excitations or ‘spinons’ directly for the first time at UCC.”

As liquids cool, they freeze into solids as their atoms cease to move. But some liquids, such as helium, never freeze. Predominant quantum effects mean they flow as superfluids even at absolute zero (the coldest possible temperature).

Open-source FLIM Playground could speed reproducible analysis of complex cell images

Modern fluorescence microscopy can generate images of living cells as stunning to look at as they are informative to study. For techniques like fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), those images provide a window into cell metabolism, helping scientists study cancer treatment, autoimmune disease and more.

But for these researchers, the image is just the beginning. To draw any biological insights, researchers need to guide massive amounts of data through a maze of software analysis tools and scripts, ensuring careful quality checks throughout the journey.

Morgridge Institute for Research scientists in the Melissa Skala Lab are tackling this challenge head-on. They have developed a new open-source, user-friendly data analysis platform, FLIM Playground, designed to make FLIM analysis easier, faster and more reproducible. Their work appears in Cell Reports Methods.

This Quantum Detector Boosts Terahertz Sensitivity by 20 Times

The researchers believe the technology could eventually operate at temperatures higher than those required by many competing detector designs. Similar PETS devices have already demonstrated performance at temperatures reachable using compact cryocoolers rather than liquid helium.

That capability could help fill the gap between highly sensitive cryogenic detectors and lower-sensitivity room-temperature technologies, potentially expanding the range of real-world applications.

The study marks the first demonstration of a quantum metasurface photodetector based on a two-dimensional electron system. By combining efficient light collection with a highly sensitive quantum detection mechanism, the work represents a significant step toward overcoming long-standing challenges in terahertz technology.

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