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Molecular switch links early-life stimulation to lasting memory changes

Researchers have identified a molecular mechanism that helps explain why growing up in a stimulating environment enhances memory. In contrast, a lack of stimulation can impair it. The team from the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint research center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), was led by researcher Ángel Barco.

Their study, conducted in mice and published in Nature Communications, demonstrates that the environment during childhood and adolescence has a lasting impact on the brain by activating or repressing a single transcription factor, AP-1, which regulates the expression of genes involved in neuronal plasticity and learning. This finding identifies a molecular mediator that can translate life experiences into persistent changes in cognitive function.

Scientists rule out fourth neutrino in particle physics mystery

Scientists have taken a major step toward solving a long-standing mystery in particle physics, by finding no sign of the particle many hoped would explain it.

An international collaboration of scientists, including from The University of Manchester, working on the MicroBooNE experiment at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory announced that they have found no evidence for a fourth type of neutrino, known as a sterile neutrino.

For decades, physics experiments have observed neutrinos—sub-atomic particles that are all around us—behaving in a way that doesn’t fit the Standard Model of particle physics. One of the most promising explanations was the existence of a sterile neutrino, named because they are predicted not to interact with matter at all, whereas other neutrinos can. This means they could pass through the universe almost undetected.

Deciphering the heavyweights of the tetraquark world

The CMS collaboration reports the first measurement of the quantum properties of a family of tetraquarks that was recently discovered at the LHC.

To date, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN has discovered 80 particles. The most famous is the Higgs boson, a crucial ingredient in the fundamental laws of the universe. The rest are particles called hadrons made up of quarks, which allow physicists to investigate the intriguing properties of the strong nuclear force.

Of the hadrons discovered so far, most are familiar sets of two or three quarks (so-called mesons and baryons, respectively). But one of the LHC’s most striking discoveries is the confirmation of exotic hadrons composed of four or five quarks.

Smart material instantly changes colors on demand for use in textiles and consumer products

Scientists have developed a revolutionary technique for creating colors that can change on command. These are structural colors that don’t rely on dyes or pigments and can be used for display signage, adaptive camouflage and smart safety labels, among other applications.

Structural colors are not created by pigments or dyes but are colorless arrangements of physical nanostructures. When light waves hit these nanostructures, they interfere with one another. Some waves cancel each other out (they are absorbed) while the rest are reflected (or scattered) back to our eyes, giving us the color we see.

Structural color systems can be engineered to reflect multiple colors from the same colorless material. This is different from pigments, which absorb light and reflect only one color—red pigments reflect red, blue pigments reflect blue and so on.

Interstellar object covered in ‘icy volcanoes’ could rewrite our understanding of how comets formed

Analysis of the second confirmed interstellar comet to visit our solar system suggests that the alien body could be covered in erupting icy, volcano-like structures called cryovolcanoes. Researchers also discovered that the comet has a metal-rich interior, which could challenge our understanding of how comets formed in our own planetary system.

The scientists tracked Comet 3I/ATLAS from July to November 2025 as it hurtled toward our sun. It presented a rare opportunity to study an object formed around another star in interstellar space. What makes it so valuable is that it is pristine, having never passed close enough to a star to be heated, melted, or otherwise altered by radiation. That means it is almost the same as it was when it formed billions of years ago in its home system.

Self-adapting fiber component tackles heat challenges in high-power fiber lasers

Thulium fiber lasers, operating at a wavelength of 2 micrometers, are valued for applications in medicine, materials processing, and defense. Their longer wavelength makes stray light less damaging compared to the more common ytterbium lasers at 1 micrometer.

Yet, despite this advantage, thulium lasers have been stuck at around 1 kilowatt of output power for more than a decade, limited by nonlinear effects and heat buildup. One promising route to break this barrier is inband pumping—switching from diode pumping at 793 nm to laser pumping at 1.9 µm. This approach improves efficiency and reduces heat, but it introduces new challenges for fiber components, especially the cladding light stripper (CLS).

Long-standing puzzle in electron scattering deepens with new measurement

Why does lead behave so differently from every other atomic nucleus when struck by electrons? A team of physicists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has taken an important step toward answering this question, only to find that the mystery is even deeper than previously thought. The findings were published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Electrons usually scatter from atomic nuclei in ways that can be predicted with remarkable accuracy. One well-tested feature is that flipping the spin of the incoming electrons should slightly change the scattering pattern, an effect driven by the exchange of two “virtual photons” between the electron and the nucleus.

For most nuclei, theory predicts exactly how large this tiny effect should be, and decades of experiments have confirmed those predictions. Lead, however, has always stood out. Earlier measurements performed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility showed that, for lead, this spin-dependent effect seemed to vanish entirely, a result that no existing theory could explain.

Terahertz device sets performance record and opens new quantum horizons

A prototype device that has demonstrated record-breaking longevity could help open up new frontiers in next-generation communications and computing technologies.

An international team of researchers from Scotland, the U.S. and Japan are behind the development of the terahertz-wave device, which was fabricated more than 11 years ago and still works as well as it did the day it was made.

The team’s tiny terahertz emitter device, which has elements that are less than the width of a human hair and can be powered by a single volt, could help overcome one of the key challenges holding back the widespread adoption of terahertz-wave technologies.

Tightening the net around the elusive sterile neutrino

Neutrinos, though nearly invisible, are among the most numerous matter particles in the universe. The Standard Model recognizes three types, but the discovery of neutrino oscillations revealed they have mass and can change identity while propagating.

For decades, puzzling experimental anomalies have suggested the presence of a fourth, “sterile” neutrino, one that interacts even more weakly. Finding it would transform our understanding of particle physics.

New look at hidden structure inside subatomic particles

SUNY Poly Professor of Physics Dr. Amir Fariborz recently published a paper in Physical Review D titled “Spinless glueballs in generalized linear sigma model.” The work takes on a central challenge in modern physics: understanding how the strongest force in nature shapes the inner structure of matter, and how it may produce an unusual form of matter made entirely from the carriers of that force.

Here’s the quick background. Everything is made of atoms. Atoms have a nucleus made of protons and neutrons, and those are made of even smaller pieces called quarks. Quarks are held together by gluons, which carry the strong interaction described by quantum chromodynamics (QCD).

Composite subatomic particles—hadrons—are built from quarks and gluons. Hadrons fall into two main groups: mesons and baryons. QCD does a great job explaining what happens when particles collide at very high energies, but at lower energies it becomes much harder to calculate, so researchers use well-tested models that still follow QCD’s rules.

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