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First observation of quantum spins shifting a centimeter-scale object in the lab

Modern technological breakthroughs like lasers, MRI scanners, semiconductors and quantum computers rest on the study of quantum mechanics. However, the field has predominantly focused on (sub)atomic phenomena far removed from our human senses.

Demonstrating quantum phenomena in objects massive enough to be meaningfully influenced by gravity has proven difficult, as large objects are significantly harder to isolate from environmental factors, such as heat and vibration, than nanoscopic particles are.

But now, researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have moved a levitating, centimeter-wide diamond using the force generated by electron spin alone, the first time a quantum effect has been observed directly manipulating an object subject to gravity.

Levitating glass sphere becomes entangled with light at room temperature

Today, many physicists are actively exploring how light could be used to link objects through quantum entanglement. By fully harnessing the effect, they hope to unlock a wide array of applications, from secure communication networks spanning vast distances to sensitive new tests of the fundamental laws of physics.

Through new research published in Science, a team led by Francesco Marin at the University of Florence has taken an important step toward this goal by entangling the motion of a tiny levitating glass sphere with light, without needing to cool their experiment to ultralow temperatures.

Ultrashort laser pulses let new microscope map electron interactions across thin materials

A new type of advanced microscope (wide-field coherent multidimensional microscopy) has been developed. It uses a carefully designed sequence of ultrashort light pulses to study the behavior of high-tech materials, with potential practical applications in the study of innovative materials such as those used to build solar panels. This is the result of work by a research group of physicists from the Faculty of Sciences, Mathematics, Physics, and Natural Sciences at Università Cattolica’s Brescia campus who, for the first time, have developed a “multidimensional microscope” that, in a sense, records the behavior of materials.

The study is published in the journal Optica and coordinated by the dean of the faculty, professor Claudio Giannetti, director of the Interdisciplinary Laboratories for Advanced Materials Physics (ILAMP).

Acoustic experiments confirm topology can persist at gapless critical points

Two studies on critical topology have recently been published in the journal Nature. These studies were led by the teams of Prof. Baile Zhang at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and Prof. Jianhua Jiang at the University of Science and Technology of China, respectively. Prof. Xue-Jia Yu from the School of Physics at the Eastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo (EIT), served as a co-corresponding author on both papers and provided key theoretical guidance in the related experimental collaborations.

To understand the significance of this work, we first need to discuss the concept of topology.

In the conventional picture of physics, the states of matter are determined by symmetry. For example, the transition of water into ice and the magnetization of iron are both results of symmetry breaking. However, the discovery of topological phases of matter fundamentally changed this understanding (recognized by the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics).

New wireless system could power medical implants as they stretch

Over the past few decades, electronics engineers have developed increasingly sophisticated implantable medical devices. Reliably powering some of these devices, however, can be challenging, particularly when they are based on stretchable materials that move along with the body.

Researchers at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul National University and other institutions in South Korea recently developed a new wireless power system that could provide energy to soft implantable devices, even when they are stretching or moving. The new system, introduced in a paper published in Nature Electronics, was initially used to develop a cardiac pacemaker, a medical device that uses electrical pulses to control heartbeats.

“This work began with a practical question: How can we reliably power a wireless implant in a body that is constantly moving?” Dae-Hyeong Kim, senior author of the paper, told Tech Xplore. “Advances in soft electronics have enabled implants to conform to living tissues and accommodate their natural motion, helping reduce mechanical stress and maintain stable contact. However, as these implants move and even stretch within the body, changes in their position and shape can disrupt wireless power delivery.”

The first stand-alone nuclear clock is ticking in Vienna

For decades, researchers around the world have been working toward this goal—and now major advances are following in rapid succession. Vienna is now home to the world’s first nuclear clock that stabilizes itself, as atomic clocks typically do. This system has been shown to remain stable for more than 24 hours without intervention, and the related findings are published in the journal Nature.

The technology has the potential to significantly surpass the precision of previous atomic clocks. It is an important step toward a new kind of high-performance metrology, allowing a range of physical quantities to be measured with previously unattainable precision.

New display technology combines record brightness with pixels that stretch like rubber

A research team led by Professor Jiwoong Yang of the Department of Energy Science and Engineering at DGIST has developed the world’s first foundational technology for an ultrahigh-resolution stretchable quantum dot display (QLED) that can stretch freely like skin while maintaining sharp image quality. The findings were published in Nature Nanotechnology.

Developed in collaboration with a research team led by Professor Moon Kee Choi of UNIST and a research team led by associate director Dae-Hyeong Kim of the IBS (Institute for Basic Science) Center for Nanoparticle Research, the technology is expected to significantly expand the commercial potential of next-generation stretchable displays.

First single-cell DNA analysis reveals mitochondrial damage in vulnerable Parkinson’s brainstem neurons

Researchers have carried out the first single-cell analysis of mitochondrial DNA in a population of brainstem neurons that are particularly vulnerable to degeneration in Parkinson’s disease.

The study, published on October 7 in Brain, reveals extensive damage to mitochondrial DNA in these neurons and identifies evidence of a potentially protective response involving the mitochondrial quality-control gene PINK1. This response was particularly pronounced in people who survived longer after their Parkinson’s diagnosis.

The findings could help medical and clinical scientists understand why these neurons are vulnerable in Parkinson’s disease and identify ways to strengthen the brain’s natural mechanisms for protecting them.

Recordings from hidden brain region reveal clues to how we handle uncertainty

The claustrum is a thin sheet of neurons buried deep within the cerebral cortex. The structure is so small and hidden that neuroscientists once found it very difficult to access, let alone investigate. Now, researchers at Yale School of Medicine have not only found a way to peer into this enigmatic structure but have also discovered its surprising role in how humans learn and adapt to uncertainty.

In a study published Oct. 6 in Nature Neuroscience, researchers recorded the activity of the claustrum for the first time in seven patients undergoing epilepsy surgery.

For their epilepsy treatment, the patients had electrodes implanted on various parts of their brains to identify the precise regions that trigger their seizures. Because typical electrodes are too big for the claustrum, the scientists deployed tiny, 40-micrometer wires at the tips of the electrodes. These wires are small enough to target a single neuron.

Quantum computing shortcut makes particle collisions easier to simulate

Collisions between particles at high energies can sometimes produce new particles and shed light on interactions between the fundamental constituents of matter. Simulating these collisions and their underlying processes could yield valuable insights into how matter behaves at extremely small scales.

Quantum computers, devices that process information using the laws of quantum mechanics, could be promising new platforms for the simulation of particle collisions. However, reliably using these devices to simulate the processes following a collision has so far proved challenging.

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology and the University of Washington recently developed a new method that allows quantum computers to prepare the initial wavepackets (localized disturbances linked to moving particles) for particle-collision simulations more efficiently.

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