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Unusual quantum states in six-layer graphene offer clues to superconductivity

Graphene, a material consisting of a sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb pattern, has proved promising for various technological applications. Materials in which several layers of graphene are stacked together can exhibit different advantageous properties.

Researchers at Cornell University in the U.S., the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan and the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter in Germany investigated the properties of rhombohedral hexalayer graphene, which includes six graphene layers shifted sideways in a repeating pattern.

Their paper, published in Nature Physics, reports various quantum states in this material under different conditions.

JWST reveals a distant galaxy that may let most of its ionizing radiation escape

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have found evidence that a distant, exceptionally blue galaxy may allow most of its ionizing radiation to escape into space. Known as EBG-1, the gravitationally lensed galaxy is seen at a redshift of 9.244, about 530 million years after the Big Bang. The paper was posted to the arXiv preprint server on Oct. 16.

Scientists estimate that cosmic reionization happened roughly between 600 million and a billion years (around redshifts 6 to 8) after the Big Bang and was complete by redshift 5.5. During this epoch, ionizing ultraviolet radiation from early stars and galaxies converted the universe’s neutral hydrogen gas into the ionized state we see today.

The ultraviolet radiation driving this transition is mainly made up of Lyman continuum (LyC) photons with wavelengths less than 912 Å. Much of this light is absorbed by gas and dust inside a galaxy, so the fraction that escapes into intergalactic space, called the escape fraction, is key to estimating how much a galaxy contributed.

UTe₂ reveals two flavors of superconductivity under extreme pressure

Quantum researchers are searching for a topological superconductor—a material that, if discovered, would allow major advances in quantum computing by combining two distinct “flavors” of superconductivity.

This material remains elusive, but Cornell researchers have demonstrated that uranium ditelluride can exhibit both flavors at once, setting it apart as the leading candidate.

“No one has yet convincingly demonstrated a topological superconductor, but now we know that uranium ditelluride at least has the right ingredients to make it happen,” said Brad Ramshaw, associate professor of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences and director of the Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics.

Figuring out where cosmic neutrinos come from is tricky—radio telescopes could help find ‘ghost particles’ origin

Neutrinos are funny little particles that weigh almost nothing, making them one of the universe’s most elusive building blocks. They can come from objects as mundane as bananas and as exotic as supernovas —the exploding death throes of massive stars. Most neutrinos stream through space and pass through the Earth without interacting with anything.

An experiment called IceCube, built to detect these “ghost particles” emitted from astrophysical events, just won a Nobel Prize. As a physicist, I’m interested in figuring out where the neutrinos IceCube detects come from. A study that my colleagues and I published in October 2026 suggests that we could potentially use radio telescopes to answer this question. The study is published in The Open Journal of Astrophysics.

Even though these telescopes can’t see neutrinos, we can use their data to match up IceCube’s detections with their potential sources out in space. Knowing which types of objects produce neutrinos can tell astronomers about the physics occurring within those objects.

A gamma-ray powerhouse’s smoking gun? Gas trail points to microquasar jets

In 2016, a binary star system emitting unusually strong gamma rays was discovered in our galactic neighborhood. Now, astronomers have found the smoking gun, or rather, a smoking trail of cool molecular gas that suggests jets emanating from a microquasar—one of the few known outside the Milky Way—are responsible.

Unlike the Milky Way, which shrouds objects behind dust when looking toward the galactic core, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a dwarf satellite galaxy to our own, offers unhindered views of interesting and relatively nearby astrophysical phenomena.

LMC P3 is one such stellar puzzle. It is the most luminous gamma-ray binary star system, composed of a compact object—either a black hole or a neutron star—alongside a massive star that is more than 30 times heavier than the sun. The two stars take roughly 10 days to orbit each other.

Supercharged ‘molecule highway’ membrane that speeds water transport could transform industrial processing

New membrane technology delivering faster and more precise molecule separation could improve the efficiency and sustainability of energy-intensive industrial processes—from purifying chemicals and recovering valuable resources to producing sustainable fuels.

University of Queensland chemical engineering researchers have developed technology that makes molecules move efficiently through membranes without impacting separation performance. The paper is published in the journal Science.

Quantum skyrmions outlast entanglement, hinting at more resilient networks

Quantum networks could one day connect quantum computers into more powerful systems and enable new forms of secure communication. But a fundamental obstacle stands in the way: Quantum information is extraordinarily fragile, and the entanglement between particles of light on which such networks would depend is easily disrupted.

Now, in a new paper in Nature Physics, engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated a potential workaround using topology, the branch of mathematics that famously considers a doughnut and a coffee mug equivalent because they both have a single hole that remains unchanged even when their shapes are distorted.

To explore whether topology’s focus on properties that persist under deformation could lend resilience to quantum systems, the researchers built a chip that generates a pair of entangled photons, then gives one of them a distinctive pattern, known as a skyrmion, by polarizing its light in a particular way.

Confirming altermagnetism: A geometric twist offers experimental proof

For decades, physicists recognized only two types of magnetism that occur in materials without external influence: ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism. In findings published in Science, a team led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has delivered conclusive experimental proof of a third magnetic phase called altermagnetism.

“In the past few years, scientists have observed phenomena that don’t fit neatly into the ferromagnetism-antiferromagnetism dichotomy,” explained lead author Daniel Jost, associate scientist at SLAC and Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences.

“Researchers have been compiling evidence of a third type of magnetism that bridges the qualities of these two classes. We believe our results provide robust experimental confirmation that this third phase—altermagnetism—is real.”

Scientists find that a 10-millisecond flash could help build more sensitive gas sensors

Nitrogen dioxide is a harmful gas that requires sensitive detection. Researchers used intense light pulses lasting 10 milliseconds to make molybdenum disulfide flakes and anchor isolated metal atoms in one step. Adding platinum improved the material’s room-temperature response to nitrogen dioxide, reaching 100.8% at 400 parts per billion and a detection limit of 17.2 parts per billion. This approach could support advanced gas sensors and applications in catalysis and energy technologies.

Many gas sensors detect gases through changes in a material’s electrical properties. Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) is promising, but much of its surface is inactive. Its more reactive edges can be difficult to preserve during conventional heating, while added catalyst metals may clump together instead of remaining as individual atoms.

The research was jointly led by Professor Il-Doo Kim from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and Assistant Professor Dong-Ha Kim from Hanyang University-ERICA as co-corresponding authors, with Dr. Euichul Shin from KAIST serving as the first author.

Scientists Use Light To Build a New Generation of Drug Molecules

A new light-powered chemical technique could give scientists more freedom to design drug molecules with complex three-dimensional shapes. Researchers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have developed a way to produce molecular structures that could serve as alternatives to benzene rings, which are widely used in medicines but can sometimes limit their properties.

Led by Professor Jian He from HKU’s Department of Chemistry, the team developed specialized copper(I) photosensitizers that use visible light to construct bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes, or BCHs. Published in Nature Chemistry, the research addresses two major challenges in producing these structures: the limited range of compatible starting materials and unwanted chemical reactions that interfere with synthesis.