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‘Spectral slimming’ yields ultranarrow plasmons in single metal nanoparticles

Researchers have developed a new strategy to overcome a long-standing limitation in plasmonic loss by reshaping light–matter interactions through substrate engineering.

“Why can’t plasmons achieve quality factors as high as dielectrics?” “Because metals heat up easily—they’re inherently lossy.” This exchange is almost inevitable whenever plasmonic nanostructures come up in a discussion.

Now, researchers from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and international collaborators have shown that this long-held limitation is not as fundamental as once believed. The research team has demonstrated a powerful new strategy to control optical spectra at the nanoscale, enabling high-quality (high-Q) plasmonic hotspots in individual metal nanoparticles, a long-standing challenge to slim spectra in plasmonics.

Physicists eye emerging technology for solar cells in outer space

Solar cells face significant challenges when deployed in outer space, where extremes in the environment decrease the efficiency and longevity they enjoy back on Earth. University of Toledo physicists are taking on these challenges at the Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization, in line with a large-scale research project supported by the Air Force Research Laboratory.

One recent advancement pertains to an emerging technology that utilizes antimony compounds as light-absorbing semiconductors. A group of UToledo faculty and students recently published a first-of-its-kind assessment exploring the promising characteristics of these antimony chalcogenide-based solar cells for space applications in the journal Solar RRL, which highlighted the work on its front cover.

“Antimony chalcogenide solar cells exhibit superior radiation robustness compared to the conventional technologies we’re deploying in space,” said Alisha Adhikari, a doctoral student in physics who co-led the team of undergraduate, graduate and faculty researchers at UToledo. “But they’ll need to become much more efficient before they become a competitive alternative for future space missions.”

WinRAR path traversal flaw still exploited by numerous hackers

Multiple threat actors, both state-sponsored and financially motivated, are exploiting the CVE-2025–8088 high-severity vulnerability in WinRAR for initial access and to deliver various malicious payloads.

The security issue is a path traversal flaw that leverages Alternate Data Streams (ADS) to write malicious files to arbitrary locations. Attackers have exploited this in the past to plant malware in the Windows Startup folder, for persistence across reboots.

Researchers at cybersecurity company ESET discovered the vulnerability and reported in early August 2025 that the Russia-aligned group RomCom had been exploiting it in zero-day attacks.

Nike investigates data breach after extortion gang leaks files

Nike is investigating what it described as a “potential cyber security incident” after the World Leaks ransomware gang leaked 1.4 TB of files allegedly stolen from the sportswear giant.

“We always take consumer privacy and data security very seriously,” the company told BleepingComputer in an email statement. “We are investigating a potential cyber security incident and are actively assessing the situation.”

This comes after the extortion group added Nike to its dark web data-leak site, claiming it stole nearly 190,000 files containing corporate data providing information on Nike’s business operations.

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