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Energy-efficient ultracompact laser reduces light loss in all directions

An international team of scientists led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has developed a new type of ultracompact laser that is more energy efficient and consumes less power.

Smaller than a grain of sand, the micrometer-sized laser incorporates a special design that reduces light leakage. Minimizing light loss means less energy is required to operate the laser compared to other highly compact lasers.

The laser emits light in the terahertz region (30 μm—3 mm), a 6G communications frequency, and could pave the way for high-speed wireless communication of the future.

Researchers observe evidence of hyperbolic exciton polaritons

The ability to move electron-hole pairs—called excitons—in desired directions is important for generating electricity and creating fuels. This happens naturally in photosynthesis, making it a source of inspiration to researchers innovating optoelectronic devices.

Strong coupling between light and excitons generates bosonic quasiparticles called polaritons that express unique properties that positively affect device performance.

Researchers observed steady-state hyperbolic polaritons (HEPs)—exotic kinds of exciton polaritons with attractive properties—in the van der Waals magnet, chromium sulfide bromide (CrSBr).

Novel method upgrades liquid crystals with better recall

Researchers have developed a novel way for liquid crystals to retain information about their movement. Using this method could advance technologies like memory devices and sensors, as well as pave the way to future soft materials that are both smart and flexible.

Liquid crystals, which are used in liquid crystal display (LCD) screens for TVs and phones, contain molecules that mimic the properties of both liquids and solids, giving them . While soft materials like liquids, gels and polymers have been widely used for their easy-to-process structures and lightweight properties, they tend to deform easily and often require replacement.

Everyday materials are made of molecules that align themselves in preferred directions. But liquid crystals could become much more useful if their molecules are all facing in one direction—obtaining what is called polar order.

Laser advance sets the stage for new X-ray science possibilities

A team led by scientists at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have generated a highly exotic type of light beam, called a Poincaré beam, using the FERMI free-electron laser (FEL) facility in Italy, marking the first time such a beam has been produced with a FEL.

The technique could improve how scientists study materials and drive advancements in high-performance technologies, such as next-generation computer chips. The results are published in Nature Photonics.

“This is a significant step forward,” said SLAC scientist and collaborator Erik Hemsing. “Poincaré beams allow us to probe materials in new ways, capturing complex behaviors in one pulse. It’s exciting to think about what researchers will do with this.”

Multifocus microscope pushes the limits of fast live 3D biological imaging

Researchers have developed a high-speed 3D imaging microscope that can capture detailed cell dynamics of an entire small whole organism at once. The ability to image 3D changes in real time over a large field of view could lead to new insights in developmental biology and neuroscience.

“Traditional microscopes are constrained by how quickly they can refocus or scan through different depths, which makes it difficult to capture fast, 3D without distortion or missing information,” said Eduardo Hirata Miyasaki, who performed the work while in Sara Abrahamsson’s lab at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) and is now at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub.

“Our new system extends the multifocus microscopy (MFM) technique Abrahamsson developed by using a 25-camera array to push the limits of speed and volumetric imaging. This leap in efficiency opens the door to studying small living systems in motion without disrupting them.”

Inspired by Death Valley, researchers mimic a mystery of nature to make ice move on its own

In Associate Professor Jonathan Boreyko’s Nature-Inspired Fluids and Interfaces Lab, Ph.D. student Jack Tapocik watched a disk-shaped chunk of ice resting on an engineered metal surface. As the ice melted, the water formed a puddle beneath.

Even after many seconds of melting, the ice disk remained adhered to the engineered surface. At first, Tapocik was tempted to conclude that nothing would happen, but he waited. His patience paid off. After a minute, the ice slingshot across the metal plate he designed, gliding along as if it was propelled supernaturally.

The results are important because they have a host of potential applications. The methods team members developed lay the foundation for rapid defrosting and novel methods of energy harvesting. Their work has been published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

What Are the Rules of the Universe? Google’s Quantum Computer Is Finding Out

Researchers used Google’s quantum processor to simulate fundamental physics, offering a new way to study the universe’s basic forces and particles. The fundamental forces that shape our universe are explained through intricate theoretical models. These models are notoriously difficult to study be

A Glimpse of New Physics? ATLAS Edges Closer to Unlocking Higgs Boson Secrets

The ATLAS collaboration has reported evidence for Higgs bosons decaying into muons and has enhanced the ability to detect Higgs boson decays involving a Z boson and a photon. At the 2025 European Physical Society Conference on High Energy Physics (EPS-HEP) in Marseille, France, research on the Hi

It’s Official: ‘Ghost Particle’ That Smashed Into Earth Breaks Records

The verdict is in. The detection of a cosmic neutrino that smashed into Earth with an unprecedented energy level is not a glitch or an error, but a real detection of a real particle.

In February 2023, a detector called KM3NeT, located deep under the Mediterranean Sea, picked up a signal that seemed to indicate a neutrino with a record-shattering energy of 220 petaelectronvolts (PeV). For reference, the previous record was a mere 10 PeV.

Now, an exhaustive analysis of all the data on and around the event, designated KM3-230213A, not only supports the conclusions that the signal was caused by a 220-PeV neutrino, but adds to the mystery about where the heck in the Universe it came from.

Star Trying to Swallow a Black Hole May Have Triggered a New Type of Supernova

In 2023, astronomers recorded one of the most extraordinary space explosions they had ever seen.

It took place some 750 million light-years away, flaring into the detectors of the Zwicky Transient Facility on 7 July. At first, it looked just like a normal supernova – the explosive death of a star – and astronomers named it SN 2023zkd.

Six months later, a search for cosmic anomalies flagged the explosion as a little odd. A look back at data collected since its initial discovery revealed SN 2023zkd had done something really weird: it brightened again.

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