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Breakthrough could connect quantum computers at 200X the distance

Quantum computers are powerful, lightning-fast and notoriously difficult to connect to one another over long distances.

Previously, the maximum distance two quantum computers could connect through a was a few kilometers. This means that, even if fiber cable were run between them, quantum computers in the University of Chicago’s South Side campus and downtown Chicago’s Willis Tower would be too far apart to communicate with each other.

Research published today in Nature Communications from University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) Asst. Prof. Tian Zhong would theoretically extend that maximum to 2,000 km (1,243 miles).

Quantum ‘pinball’ state of matter in electrons allows both conducting and insulating properties, physicists discover

Electricity powers our lives, including our cars, phones, computers, and more, through the movement of electrons within a circuit. While we can’t see these electrons, electric currents moving through a conductor flow like water through a pipe to produce electricity.

Certain materials, however, allow that electron flow to “freeze” into crystallized shapes, triggering a transition in the state of matter that the electrons collectively form. This turns the material from a conductor to an insulator, stopping the flow of electrons and providing a unique window into their complex behavior. This phenomenon makes possible new technologies in quantum computing, advanced superconductivity for energy and medical imaging, lighting, and highly precise atomic clocks.

A team of Florida State University-based physicists, including National High Magnetic Field Laboratory Dirac Postdoctoral Fellow Aman Kumar, Associate Professor Hitesh Changlani and Assistant Professor Cyprian Lewandowski, have shown the conditions necessary to stabilize a phase of matter in which electrons exist in a solid crystalline lattice but can “melt” into a , known as a generalized Wigner crystal. Their work was published in npj Quantum Materials.

Physicists observe key evidence of unconventional superconductivity in magic-angle graphene

Superconductors are like the express trains in a metro system. Any electricity that “boards” a superconducting material can zip through it without stopping and losing energy along the way. As such, superconductors are extremely energy efficient, and are used today to power a variety of applications, from MRI machines to particle accelerators.

But these “conventional” superconductors are somewhat limited in terms of uses because they must be brought down to ultra-low temperatures using elaborate cooling systems to keep them in their superconducting state.

If superconductors could work at higher, room-like temperatures, however, they would enable a new world of technologies, from zero-energy-loss power cables and electricity grids, to practical quantum computing systems. And so, scientists at MIT and elsewhere are studying “unconventional” superconductors—materials that exhibit in ways that are different from and potentially more promising than today’s superconductors.

Nearby pulsar offers insights into emission physics near the death line

Using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), astronomers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and elsewhere have observed a nearby pulsar known as PSR J2129+4119. Results of the observational campaign, published October 30 on the arXiv pre-print server, deliver important insights into the behavior and properties of this pulsar.

Radio emission from pulsars exhibits a variety of phenomena, including subpulse drifting, nulling, or mode changing. In the case of subpulse drifting, radio emission from a pulsar appears to drift in spin phase within the main pulse profile. When it comes to nulling, the emission from a pulsar ceases abruptly from a few to hundreds of pulse periods before it is restored.

Discovered in 2017, PSR J2129+4119 is an old and nearby pulsar located some 7,500 light years away. It has a pulse period of 1.69 seconds, dispersion measure of 31 cm/pc3, and characteristic age of 342.8 million years. The pulsar lies below the so-called “death line”—a theoretical boundary in the period-period derivative diagram below which the coherent radio emission is sustained.

This Strange Particle May Hold Clues to the Universe’s Biggest Secrets

In a recent study, physicists have created the clearest and most detailed view so far of how neutrinos shift their “flavor” as they move through space.

Neutrinos are among the universe’s basic building blocks, yet they remain some of the hardest particles to study. They pass effortlessly through matter, making them nearly impossible to detect. Although much about them is still unknown, scientists have identified three distinct kinds of neutrinos: electron, muon, and tau.

Understanding these different identities can help scientists learn more about neutrino masses and answer key questions about the evolution of the universe, including why matter came to dominate over antimatter in the early universe, said Zoya Vallari, an assistant professor of physics at The Ohio State University.

MIT’s Magic-Angle Graphene Just Changed Superconductivity

MIT researchers uncovered clear evidence of unconventional superconductivity in magic-angle twisted trilayer graphene.

Their new measurement system revealed a sharp, V-shaped superconducting gap — proof of a new pairing mechanism unlike that in traditional superconductors. This breakthrough sheds light on quantum behaviors in ultra-thin materials and could accelerate the quest for room-temperature superconductivity.

Superconductors: Nature’s Perfect Conductors.

Scientists Discover a Potential Bacterial Solution to “Forever Chemicals”

A photosynthetic bacterium shows promise in capturing PFAS, offering new hope for microbial cleanup of “forever chemicals.” Researchers from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Engineering are turning to an unexpected source in their effort to combat toxic “forever chemicals.” In the

Ingredients for Life Spotted in Harsh, “Early Universe-Like” Galaxy

In a finding that may transform our understanding of how life’s chemical precursors are distributed across the universe, astronomers have detected organic molecules containing more than six atoms frozen in ice around a young star named ST6, located in a galaxy beyond the Milky Way.

Using the James Webb Space Telescopes (JWST) Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), the team identified five distinct carbon-based compounds in the Large Magellanic Cloud, our nearest neighboring galaxy. The research, led by University of Maryland and NASA scientist Marta Sewilo, was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters on October 20, 2025.

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