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3D magnetic-field control reveals new way to tune spin textures

(Fe0.63 Ni0.3 Pd0.07)3 P, or FNPP, is a magnetic material that exhibits complex magnetic structures even at room temperature. This makes the material of interest for spintronics, a field that could enable data processing with significantly lower energy consumption. One potential application is novel magnetic memory devices.

However, generating and modifying the desired structures in a controlled manner remains a challenge. A new study led by HZB has taken a step forward in this regard. The team demonstrated at the world’s only VEKMAG station at BESSY II that a tiny external B-field in the plane of the magnetic patterns is sufficient to change them. The work is published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.

The team led by Dr. Florin Radu investigated FNPP samples using soft X-rays and ptychography at BESSY II. The experiments aimed to map the magnetic textures while the sample was exposed to an external magnetic field in specific spatial directions. For this purpose, BESSY II is equipped with a globally unique instrument developed by Radu’s team: the VEKMAG vector magnet can generate a magnetic field of up to 1 T in all three spatial directions.

Researchers chart new course for AI-powered biomedical discoveries

University of Missouri researchers are paving the way as artificial intelligence transforms biomedical research. A team from the College of Engineering and collaborators recently published one of the most comprehensive reviews to date of an emerging AI approach for biology known as flow matching. The work, published in Nature Machine Intelligence, provides scientists around the world with a roadmap for applying the technology to accelerate drug discovery, precision medicine and other biomedical advances.

“Flow matching helps computers learn how biology changes from one state to another,” said Jianlin “Jack” Cheng, a Curators’ Distinguished Professor and Paul K. and Diane Shumaker Professor in Bioinformatics. “This gives scientists a powerful new way to study everything from protein folding to cell development and cancer progression.”

Tiny 2D cracks creep through materials before triggering sudden fracture, experiments reveal

We have all seen something suddenly break: a phone screen cracks, a plastic object snaps or a piece of glass shatters. To our eyes, the failure seems to happen all at once. But what if the most important part of the break happens long before the final snap?

A new study presents a physical picture of how materials fail. The researchers found that cracks can begin as tiny, two-dimensional patches that grow extraordinarily slowly, at speeds ranging from microns to millimeters per second. Only after these patches grow to span the thickness of the material do they transform into the rapidly moving cracks associated with sudden, explosive fracture.

The research, published in the journal Physical Review Letters, was conducted by Yuval Paz and Jay Fineberg of the Racah Institute of Physics at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, together with Meng Wang of the Beijing Institute of Technology and Mokhtar Adda-Bedia of CNRS, ENS de Lyon and Université de Lyon.

Unconventional quantum materials could dramatically boost the search for dark matter

For decades, physicists have searched for dark matter, the invisible substance thought to make up roughly 85% of all matter in the universe. Although its gravitational influence shapes galaxies and the large-scale structure of the cosmos, dark matter has never been directly detected. Now, an international team has identified a new class of quantum materials that could dramatically improve the search for some of the lightest and most elusive forms of dark matter.

Published in Physical Review Letters, the study introduces three unconventional materials whose unique electronic properties could serve as exceptionally sensitive dark matter detectors, potentially surpassing existing detector designs by several orders of magnitude.

The research was conducted by Prof. Yonit Hochberg and Rotem Ovadia from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Dr. Dino Novko from the Institute of Physics in Croatia, and Prof. Antonio Politano of the University of L’Aquila. The work brings together expertise in particle physics, condensed matter physics and materials science to tackle one of the greatest unanswered questions in modern science.

Physics-aware benchmark reveals why similar materials AI models can predict thermal conductivity differently

Material properties such as sound insulation, resistance to extreme heat and thermal expansion originate from how the zillions of microscopic building blocks (nuclei and electrons) interact at equilibrium and respond to perturbations. Atoms are typically about one ten-billionth of a meter across, so there can be a lot of parts to keep track of—a task that is complicated at the quantum-mechanical level, where particles are neither here nor there until observed.

In recent years, researchers have turned to machine learning (ML) to overcome the challenges of tracking countless quantum particles while connecting these atomic-level details to observable physical properties. Models abound, but can they be trusted?

In a new paper published in Nature Communications, Michele Simoncelli, assistant professor of applied physics at Columbia, sets a benchmark for evaluating ML models that aim to predict the thermal and mechanical properties of different materials.

Superfluid qubit could help scale up quantum computers

Superfluid helium could offer a new way to tackle one of the biggest challenges in scaling up quantum computers, say researchers from the University of Surrey. The research team has introduced a conceptual design for a new type of qubit that could be much less vulnerable to errors.

Quantum computers use qubits to process information in ways that are not possible with conventional computers. One of today’s leading approaches relies on superconducting circuits, but these are extremely sensitive to electromagnetic noise and stray electrical charges—similar to the static electricity that makes hair stick to a balloon. Even tiny disturbances can cause errors and scramble the quantum information being held, making it difficult to scale up quantum computers while keeping error rates under control.

Astronomers Watch a Dead Star’s Remains Dissolve Into Space

A new image of the Helix Nebula reveals how dying stars return material to the galaxy.

The Helix Nebula offers a rare look at what happens after a dying star releases its outer layers into space. New observations show fragments of that material colliding with surrounding gas, breaking apart, and beginning their return to the galaxy.

By tracing those structures, an international team that includes Northwestern University astrophysicists followed the debris as it is stripped down and mixed into interstellar space. Over time, some of that material could become incorporated into new clouds, stars, and perhaps planets.

Earth May Not Be a Cosmic Fluke, New Simulations Suggest

Solar system simulations starting from varied initial conditions suggest that Earth-like planets can emerge naturally from planet formation.

Computer simulations of planetary systems can now begin from thousands of different starting conditions, allowing researchers to explore how worlds might emerge without assuming the final outcome. Over the past three decades, these models have advanced from relatively simple approximations to far more sophisticated simulations.

At the recent Origins 2026 conference in Paris, Nader Haghighipour presented simulations designed to reconstruct how our solar system may have formed without building its familiar planetary arrangement into the model from the outset.

Lava-Covered Planets Are Defying a Key Rule of Planetary Science

Researchers developed a model showing how lava-covered planets close to their stars can hold onto their atmospheres, which could help guide the search for life beyond our solar system.

Some planets orbit so close to their stars that intense radiation should strip away their atmospheres. Yet several of these scorching, lava-covered worlds still retain thick gaseous envelopes, presenting a challenge to a framework scientists use to predict which rocky planets can hold onto their air.

Stanford researchers now propose an explanation. Their model, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, suggests that molten surfaces can regulate how quickly gases escape from a planet’s interior. By slowing that release, lava can allow atmospheric replenishment to keep pace with losses caused by stellar radiation, preserving an atmosphere for billions of years.

Scientists Discover Exercise Can Match One Key Benefit of Sleep for the Brain

One sleepless night can blur the brain, but just 20 minutes of exercise or a well-timed nap may help new memories survive for days.

In a McGill University-led study, participants who exercised for 20 minutes or slept for 90 minutes after prolonged wakefulness performed about 22 percent better on a delayed memory test than those who did neither. The findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), suggest that two very different interventions can partially protect memory when adequate sleep is temporarily out of reach.

“Sleep loss affects nearly every aspect of how we think and function, but many people can’t simply stop what they’re doing and get more sleep,” said senior author Marc Roig, a professor in McGill’s School of Physical and Occupational Therapy. “Our findings show that even a brief bout of exercise may help preserve one of our most important cognitive abilities.”

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