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AI tensor network-based computational framework cracks a 100-year-old physics challenge

Researchers from The University of New Mexico and Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a novel computational framework that addresses a longstanding challenge in statistical physics.

The Tensors for High-dimensional Object Representation (THOR) AI framework employs tensor network algorithms to efficiently compress and evaluate the extremely large configurational integrals and central to determining the thermodynamic and mechanical properties of materials.

The framework was integrated with machine learning potentials, which encode interatomic interactions and dynamical behavior, enabling accurate and scalable modeling of materials across diverse physical conditions.

Core electron bonding may not always require extreme pressure, study finds

You probably learned in high school chemistry class that core electrons don’t participate in chemical bonding.

They’re thought to be too deep inside an atom and close to the nucleus to meaningfully interact with the of other atoms, leaving the outer valence electrons to get all the glory in textbooks.

The actual science is more complicated, as some elements’ core electrons are theorized to activate when squeezed hard enough, like at the pressure levels found deep inside Earth.

Physicists solve mystery of loop current switching in kagome metals

Quantum metals are metals where quantum effects—behaviors that normally only matter at atomic scales—become powerful enough to control the metal’s macroscopic electrical properties.

Researchers in Japan have explained how electricity behaves in a special group of quantum metals called kagome metals. The study is the first to show how reverse tiny loop electrical currents inside these metals. This switching changes the material’s macroscopic electrical properties and reverses which direction has easier electrical flow, a property known as the diode effect, where current flows more easily in one direction than the other.

Notably, the research team found that quantum geometric effects amplify this switching by about 100 times. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides the theoretical foundation that could eventually lead to new electronic devices controlled by simple magnets.

Human intuition fuels AI-driven quantum materials discovery

Many properties of the world’s most advanced materials are beyond the reach of quantitative modeling. Understanding them also requires a human expert’s reasoning and intuition, which can’t be replicated by even the most powerful artificial intelligence, mixed with fortuitous accident, according to Eun-Ah Kim, the Hans A. Bethe Professor of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Kim and collaborators have developed a that encapsulates and quantifies the valuable intuition of human experts in the quest to discover new quantum materials. The model, Materials Expert-Artificial Intelligence (ME-AI), “bottles” this intuition into descriptors that predict the functional properties of a material. The team used the method to solve a quantum materials problem.

“We are charting a new paradigm where we transfer experts’ knowledge, especially their intuition and insight, by letting an expert curate data and decide on the fundamental features of the model,” said Kim, director of the Cornell-led National Science Foundation AI-Materials Institute. “Then the machine learns from the data to think the way the experts think.”

Lightning strikes 12 times per minute on fusion engineering test platform

Zap Energy has advanced its Century fusion engineering test platform to operate for more than one hundred plasma shots at 0.2 Hz, or one shot every five seconds, with the resulting heat captured by surfaces coated with circulating liquid metal.

Concentrated inside a about the size of a hot water heater, each plasma carried up to 500 kA of current—about 20 times stronger than a bolt of lightning—discharged into a vessel lined with flowing liquid bismuth. During the record run, Century’s total input power was 57 kilowatts, with 39 kilowatts delivered directly to the cables leading to the .

Compared with Century’s commissioning milestone in 2024, this achievement represents an increase of 20 times in sustained average power and is a major step toward developing commercial power plants using repetitive pulsed power and .

New Research Identifies Moonquake Dangers That Could Threaten Future Lunar Missions

A recent study found that ground shaking caused by moonquakes, not meteorite impacts, was responsible for altering the terrain in the Taurus-Littrow valley, the site of the Apollo 17 landing in 1972. The research also identified a likely source of these surface changes and evaluated the potential hazards by applying new seismic models, with results that carry important implications for both future lunar exploration and the development of permanent bases on the Moon.

The paper authored by Smithsonian Senior Scientist Emeritus Thomas R. Watters and University of Maryland Associate Professor of Geology Nicholas Schmerr was published in the journal Science Advances.

“Very Strange” — Saturn’s Moon Titan Is Behaving Unusually

Titan’s atmosphere tilts and shifts seasonally. The discovery shapes future exploration. Researchers at the University of Bristol have uncovered unusual behavior in Titan’s atmosphere for the first time. Using data from the Cassini-Huygens mission, a collaboration between NASA, the European Sp

Record-Breaking “Sparkle”: Scientists Unlock Diamond’s Quantum Potential

Researchers engineered nanodiamond-antenna systems that capture nearly all light from diamond defects, unlocking a major step toward practical quantum communication and sensing technologies. Scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Humboldt University in Berlin have discovered a met

Scientists Unlock New Way To Control Exotic Light Waves in 2D Materials

A research team has discovered how to finely control Dirac plasmon polaritons in topological insulator metamaterials, overcoming long-standing challenges in the terahertz range. In today’s world of advanced nanotechnology, the ability to control light at extremely small scales is essential for br

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