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Quantum systems are known to be prone to dissipation, a process that entails the irreversible loss of energy and that is typically linked to decoherence. Decoherence, or the loss of coherence, occurs when interactions between a quantum system and its environment cause a loss of coherence, which is ultimately what allows quantum systems to exist in a superposition of states.

While dissipation is generally viewed as a source of decoherence in , researchers at Tsinghua University recently showed that it could also be leveraged to study strongly correlated quantum matter.

Their paper, published in Nature Physics, introduces a new method to intrinsic quantum many-body correlations and demonstrates its potential for studying the dissipative dynamics in strongly correlated one-dimensional (1D) quantum gases.

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UTSA researchers recently completed one of the most comprehensive studies to date on the risks of using AI models to develop software. In a new paper, they demonstrate how a specific type of error could pose a serious threat to programmers that use AI to help write code.

Joe Spracklen, a UTSA doctoral student in computer science, led the study on how (LLMs) frequently generate insecure code.

His team’s paper, published on the arXiv preprint server, has also been accepted for publication at the USENIX Security Symposium 2025, a cybersecurity and privacy conference.

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What makes people think an AI system is creative? New research shows that it depends on how much they see of the creative act. The findings have implications for how we research and design creative AI systems, and they also raise fundamental questions about how we perceive creativity in other people.

The work is published in the journal ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction.

“AI is playing an increasingly large role in creative practice. Whether that means we should call it creative or not is a different question,” says Niki Pennanen, the study’s lead author. Pennanen is researching AI systems at Aalto University and has a background in psychology. Together with other researchers at Aalto and the University of Helsinki, he did experiments to find out whether people think a robot is more creative if they see more of the creative act.

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Scientists have transformed RNA, a biological molecule present in all living cells, into a biosensor that can detect tiny chemicals relevant to human health.

Research by Rutgers University-New Brunswick scientists centers on RNA, a nucleic acid that plays a crucial role in most cellular processes. Their work is expected to have applications in the surveillance of environmental chemicals and, ultimately, the diagnosis of critical diseases including neurological and cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

“Imagine that people will go to the hospital and give a sample of cells from their own bodies for regular check-ups,” said Enver Cagri Izgu, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology in the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences and the corresponding author of the study.

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A new study published in Nature Medicine has revealed the presence of microplastics – tiny fragments of degraded plastic – in human brain tissue. While previous research has identified microplastics in organs such as the liver, kidneys, and placenta, this study suggests that the brain may be especially vulnerable to these tiny synthetic particles.

Scientists have made a disturbing discovery: human brains contain microplastics, and at higher concentrations than other organs. Worse, brain levels have jumped 50% in just eight years.

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For many years, physics studies focused on two main types of magnetism, namely ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism. The first type entails the alignment of electron spins in the same direction, while the latter entails the alignment of electron spins in alternating, opposite directions.

Yet recent studies have discovered a new kind of magnetism, referred to as altermagnetism, which does not fit into either of the previously identified categories. Altermagnetism is characterized by the breaking of time-reversal symmetry (i.e., the symmetry of physical laws when time is reversed) and spin-split band structures, in materials that retain a zero net magnetization.

Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other institutes in China recently uncovered a new material that exhibits altermagnetism at room temperature, namely KV2Se2O. Their findings, published in Nature Physics, highlight the promise of KV₂Se₂O both for the study of altermagnetism and for the development of spintronic devices.

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Scientists have discovered a new phylum of microbes in Earth’s Critical Zone, an area of deep soil that restores water quality. Ground water, which becomes drinking water, passes through where these microbes live, and they consume the remaining pollutants. The paper, “Diversification, niche adaptation and evolution of a candidate phylum thriving in the deep Critical Zone,” is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Leonardo da Vinci once said, “We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot.” James Tiedje, an expert in microbiology at Michigan State University, agrees with da Vinci. But he aims to change this through his work on the Critical Zone, part of the dynamic “living skin” of Earth.

“The Critical Zone extends from the tops of trees down through the soil to depths up to 700 feet,” Tiedje said. “This zone supports most life on the planet as it regulates essential processes like , water cycling and , which are vital for food production, and ecosystem health. Despite its importance, the deep Critical Zone is a new frontier because it’s a major part of Earth that is relatively unexplored.”

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