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New high-frequency method boosts 2D material readout for next-gen quantum computers

Quantum computers represent a next step in the fast-paced evolution of technology. Using quantum bits (qubits), they have the potential to run certain calculations exponentially faster than conventional computers. However, developing and fine-tuning quantum computers requires an enormous number of repetitive tests. To accelerate quantum technology development, we need a method that can read quantum states at ultrafast speeds.

A research team from Tohoku University and the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) has developed a method that enables ultrasensitive, high-speed charge detection in 2D-material-based quantum devices necessary to accelerate this development. It brings us one step closer to the realization of next-generation quantum computers, which could eventually revolutionize industries like medicine, logistics and cybersecurity.

A highway instead of a racetrack: Strong coupling of light and sound in an optical fiber

For the first time, scientists have achieved strong coupling between light and long-lived acoustic vibrations in an optical fiber. Optical fibers are used in both classical telecommunications and quantum communication and could serve not only as connections between computing nodes but also as quantum processors themselves in the future. The results, published in Nature Physics, pave the way for new technologies in quantum signal processing.

Mechanical and acoustic vibrations can be used to convert signals across various frequency ranges, from optical frequencies (terahertz) to microwaves (gigahertz) and even lower frequencies (megahertz or kilohertz). For instance, this capability is essential to connect multiple quantum computers operating at gigahertz frequencies via optical links. Furthermore, acoustic waves propagate at speeds significantly lower than the speed of light. So, they provide a medium capable of transporting slowly moving information—which is of great interest for data storage and the temporary buffering of information.

However, to utilize one of these processing capabilities for quantum information via mechanical vibrations, one prerequisite is needed: the strong coupling regime. This regime ensures that quantum information is exchanged before it is lost due to losses and decoherence. Decoherence describes the state in which the waves no longer oscillate in unison. In the strong coupling regime, quantum information can be processed more quickly—faster than the rate at which noise enters the system—without losing quantum properties.

World-record intensity in attosecond hard-X-ray pulses could unlock closer study of electrons in atoms and molecules

Researchers used the European XFEL to create X-ray flashes that were not only extremely short but also reached record intensity for this type of pulse. The researchers focused the X-rays to an area roughly 100,000 times smaller than the cross section of a typical human hair. This concentrated the X-ray light into a tiny but extremely powerful spot. The method could enable detailed studies of how electrons behave in atoms and molecules and, in the long term, could even allow researchers to control electrons during chemical reactions. The team has now published the results of the experiment, carried out in April 2026, in the journal Optica.

“This is a world record in intensity and fluence for a hard-X-ray attosecond pulse,” says Ichiro Inoue from the University of Tokyo, first author of the publication. Hard X-rays are light waves with a particularly short wavelength. Fluence measures how much energy this light delivers to a certain area. Intensity also takes into account how quickly that energy arrives.

New drug-delivery method offers promise in fight against neurodegenerative diseases

For patients battling neurodegenerative diseases like ALS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other dementias, delivering disease-fighting antibody drugs directly to the brain has proven to be a difficult task. Our bodies set up tight walls to prevent infections from spreading to the brain, where they often become fatal.

Unfortunately, this protective feature also prevents us from getting drugs into the brain. Approximately 1 in 10,000 antibodies injected into patients actually makes it to the brain, with these cellular fighters trapped in the blood rather than escaping through cracks in the blood vessels into the brain.

Now, researchers have mapped out a new transit process to enable drugs to reach the brain using extracellular vesicles—tiny bubbles naturally produced by cells in our bodies.

Maxwell’s demon learns to turn concealed information into usable energy for microscopic systems

Since its introduction more than 150 years ago, the thought-provoking idea of Maxwell’s demon has profoundly shaped our understanding of the relationship between information and energy. Maxwell’s demon is an imagined microscopic gatekeeper that exploits information at the microscopic scale to produce macroscopic work.

Initially controversial, the demon appeared to challenge a fundamental law of thermodynamics by suggesting that work could be extracted from a system in thermal equilibrium.

Today, this apparent paradox is resolved by recognizing the thermodynamic value of information: Information itself is a physical resource that can be converted into work. This insight has inspired growing interest in information engines—microscopic machines that, unlike conventional heat engines, are powered by information rather than by temperature differences.

Physics-guided AI reconstructs hidden patterns inside ultrathin magnets from external fields

To build faster and more energy-efficient computers, researchers need to understand nanoscale magnetic materials. But looking inside these tiny magnets is surprisingly difficult: Modern microscopes only measure the magnetic field outside the material, not the magnetic pattern inside. Because many different internal patterns can produce the exact same field, working backwards has long been a challenge.

Physicists at the University of Vienna, together with colleagues in Dresden, Singapore, and Ulsan, have now solved this problem by building the laws of physics directly into modern machine learning methods. Their method reveals the realistic magnetic structure and even determines the precise distance between the sensor and the sample. The study is published in Physical Review Letters, and the software is freely available as open source.

Even or odd numbers: A single molecule makes all the difference in the quantum world

The researchers in the Quantum Detection Microscopy group at CIC nanoGUNE, in collaboration with chemists at CiQUS of the University of Santiago de Compostela, have demonstrated that adding or removing a single molecule from a quantum chain can fundamentally change its interaction with a superconductor.

The key lies in a property as simple as parity—that is, whether the chain contains an even or odd number of units. While chains with an odd number interact magnetically with the superconductor, those with an even number do not. The results of this study have been published in the journal Nature.

A Virus Gives Itself Away the Moment It Attacks

Researchers have found the trigger behind a powerful bacterial defense against viruses.

Viruses that prey on bacteria could become an increasingly important tool for treating bacterial infections, particularly as antibiotic resistance makes some infections harder to control. These viruses, known as bacteriophages (phages), can infect and destroy harmful bacteria without damaging human cells.

Using phages as treatments, however, comes with a major challenge. Bacteria are not defenseless against viruses. They possess their own immune systems, and understanding those defenses could help scientists design phage therapies that are better able to overcome them.

This “Lightsaber” Beam Is Actually a Working Radio Antenna

A plasma antenna resembling a lightsaber has transmitted radio waves and could let future spacecraft retune and redirect their antennas by adjusting a laser.

Changing a radio antenna’s length can be difficult in space exploration equipment, even though that dimension helps determine which frequencies it can transmit and receive. Researchers have now demonstrated a possible alternative by transmitting radio waves with an antenna made from a laser-generated column of plasma.

“One of the questions we wanted to explore with this work was whether it would be possible to create plasma antennas using lasers, which would allow us to generate antennas at whatever length was needed,” says Prya Darshni, corresponding author of the journal article describing the work and a Ph.D. student at North Carolina State University. “And we have now shown that it is possible.”

NASA Captures a Strange Formation on Earth With a Surprising Lunar Connection

A NASA astronaut captured a stunning 600-million-year-old rock formation in Madagascar that shares a surprising geological connection with the Moon.

A striking patch of bright rock in southern Madagascar has an unexpected connection to the Moon. Surrounded by rocks that were twisted and stretched by ancient geological forces, the formation contains anorthosite, the same type of rock that makes up much of the Moon’s bright highlands.

Viewed from space, the unusual formation stands out against Madagascar’s dry, rugged landscape. Anorthosite is an igneous rock found in abundance on the Moon, where it forms the highly reflective regions known as the lunar highlands. These pale regions are so prominent that they can be distinguished from Earth without a telescope.