A geometric reformulation of time-dependent density-functional theory better describes nonequilibrium systems.
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Turning low-value diamond dust into high-performance quantum materials
Diamonds have long been coveted for their beauty. Their dazzling color and clarity make them perfect candidates for luxury jewelry. However, it’s their other unique characteristics, including their hardness, thermal conductivity and chemical resistance, that make diamonds suitable for various applications in industry and advanced technologies.
At the quantum scale, carefully engineered diamonds can behave like tiny sensors—able to ‘feel’ magnetic signals from nearby molecules. In simple terms, they can pick up incredibly faint signals that would otherwise be invisible to conventional instruments. This capability could help us detect contaminants in water, identify disease biomarkers and monitor chemical processes in real time.
The project strengthens one of Australia’s most important international science partnerships, bringing together complementary expertise in quantum materials, advanced manufacturing and characterization to accelerate the development of next-generation sensing technologies.
Laser experiments push helium to record shock pressures
Deep inside gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn, hydrogen and helium coexist under pressures millions of times greater than Earth’s atmosphere. Under those conditions, helium may separate from hydrogen and influence a planet’s internal heat flow, structure and magnetic field. Understanding these processes and how these materials behave under extreme conditions is essential to building accurate models of planetary evolution.
New experimental results, published in Physical Review Research, reveal the behavior of helium at unprecedented pressures. The research, conducted by scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the University of California, Berkeley, the French Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA) and the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE), shows that helium behaves differently from what most broad-range theoretical models predicted.
How longer exciton lifetimes could ease efficiency trade-off in organic solar cells
Although the efficiency of organic solar cells has now risen to more than 20%, there are physical limits that make it difficult to further increase their performance. A research team from Linköping University in Sweden, the University of Potsdam, the Paul-Drude-Institut in Berlin and other collaborators has now demonstrated which physical processes limit a key parameter in the performance of organic solar cells. This opens up the possibility of overcoming the long-standing efficiency limits of organic solar cells.
The work is published in the journal Nature Photonics.
X-ray snapshots reveal how viral shells change shape as they dry out
When viruses travel through the air in tiny droplets, they can quickly start to dry out. Yet many viruses remain infectious after rehydration—something that is still not fully understood. Now, an international team of researchers has directly observed at the European XFEL how the protein shells of viruses can change shape during dehydration, offering new clues to viral resilience and opening new possibilities for virology research. The results, published in Light: Science & Applications, lay the groundwork for potential applications in virology and public health and can, for instance, help develop antiviral strategies.
At the SPB/SFX instrument of the European XFEL, Abhishek Mall from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter in Hamburg (MPSD) and his colleagues explored the structural dynamics of the protein shells—called capsids—that enclose the genetic material of viruses. Specifically, they examined the behavior of capsids of the bacteriophage MS2 under conditions of dehydration. MS2 is an icosahedral, i.e., shaped by 20 triangular surfaces that form a sphere, single-stranded RNA virus that infects the bacterium Escherichia coli and is widely used as a model system in virology.
The capsid’s design is critical for protecting the viral genome and helping the virus interact with host cells. However, viruses are often confronted with environments that challenge their structural integrity, for example through dehydration. Theoretical studies have long suggested that capsids may undergo low-energy “buckling transitions”—sudden changes in shape—to adapt to such stresses, but direct experimental evidence has been lacking.
A magnetic field that kills superconductivity can also bring it back
Magnetic fields are generally known to destroy superconductivity in a material. However, in exceptional cases, they can lead to what is known as “re-entrant superconductivity”—where superconductivity disappears as expected, but then unexpectedly returns when the magnetic field is increased further.
This behavior is sometimes seen in bulk, three-dimensional materials, but now, in a study published in Science Advances, a team led by the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) in Japan has seen the phenomenon in a very thin conducting layer at the boundary between two insulating oxide materials. Because oxide interfaces can be precisely engineered and controlled, the discovery provides a new platform for investigating unconventional forms of superconductivity and the quantum mechanisms that allow it to survive under unusual conditions.
Quantum squeezing sidesteps the limits on mechanical transducers
From detecting the ripples of colliding black holes to imaging individual chemical bonds, mechanical transducers have repeatedly transformed our understanding of the universe. So far, however, the sensitivity of these devices has been intrinsically limited by the laws of quantum mechanics itself.
Through new research published in Physical Review Letters, researchers led by Lukas Novotny at ETH Zurich have found a way to push past that ceiling using a quantum trick called squeezing, opening a new chapter in precision measurement.
Room-temperature laser hits record stability with 68-cm optical cavity
Scientists at NPL have demonstrated the best-reported laser frequency stability achieved with an optical reference cavity operating at room temperature, marking a major advance in ultrastable laser technology. The team’s results have been published in Optica.
Ultrastable lasers produce light of exceptional spectral purity and are a critical enabling technology for optical atomic clocks. These are the next generation of atomic clocks based on atomic transitions in the optical domain. These clocks underpin the most precise timekeeping ever achieved and are central to future technologies ranging from advanced navigation to fundamental physics.
The NPL team measured a fractional frequency instability of 4 × 10⁻¹⁷, achieved for the first time using a room-temperature optical reference cavity. Until now, comparable performance had only been realized internationally using complex cryogenic systems.
Out of darkness, blind Mexican cavefish illuminate brain evolution
Deep within the dark caves of northeastern Mexico lives a fish that has spent hundreds of thousands of years adapting to a world without light. The blind Mexican cavefish (Astyanax mexicanus) has evolved in perpetual darkness, losing its eyes and pigmentation while developing remarkable adaptations that help it survive in nutrient-poor environments.
Now, scientists are using this extraordinary species to uncover how evolution rewires the brain and shapes behavior. Because Astyanax exists both as sighted surface fish and as more than 30 independently evolved cave populations, researchers can directly compare how life in darkness alters sensory systems, neural circuits and behavior.
With new genetic tools and advanced imaging technologies that allow scientists to watch brain activity in real time, this unique fish is providing unprecedented insights into how animals adapt to extreme environments—and how evolution transforms the brain itself.
Synthetic DNA toolkit expands scientists’ ability to recognize genetic targets
A new method for recognizing and targeting DNA that dramatically expands the range of genetic sequences scientists can identify has been developed by experts at the University of Portsmouth. Published this week in Nature Communications, the research opens new possibilities for gene-targeting technologies, molecular diagnostics and DNA nanotechnology.
Dr. David Rusling, associate professor in bioengineering from the University of Portsmouth’s School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, said, Our lab develops synthetic molecules that can recognize and bind to unique gene sequences. By introducing synthetic DNA bases into these molecules, we’ve been able to significantly improve how they recognize their targets.
I’ve worked in this area for around 20 years, and this is the first time we’ve had a system that combines strong recognition under physiological conditions with building blocks that are commercially available to other researchers.