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Physics
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Physics

Rice geophysicist Ajo-Franklin wins Reginald Fessenden Award for pioneering work in fiber optic sensing

Jonathan Ajo-Franklin, a leading mind in applied geophysics and Trustee Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at Rice University, has been awarded the 2025 Reginald Fessenden Award by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. The honor recognizes a “specific technical contribution to exploration geophysics” that represents a major scientific or conceptual advancement — a distinction that places Ajo-Franklin among the most influential innovators in the field. Ajo-Franklin is internationally recognized for ...

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Physics

UTA ATLAS team shares Breakthrough Prize in physics

Scientists from The University of Texas at Arlington are among the researchers worldwide recognized with the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for their contributions to the ATLAS Experiment. The $1 million award honors the team’s groundbreaking work at the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization of Nuclear Research, known as CERN—the world’s largest particle physics laboratory—which led to the discovery of the Higgs boson, often called the “God particle” for its key role in explaining the existence of mass in ...

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Physics

Depression linked to physical pain years later

Middle-aged and older adults who experience pain are more likely to have had worsening symptoms of depression up to eight years before the pain began, according to a new study by UCL (University College London) researchers. The study, published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, suggests that among this age group, treatment for depression might help to prevent or reduce later aches and pains. The researchers compared survey data from 3,668 adults aged over 50 who often experienced moderate to severe pain with a matched group of the same number who did not. In the pain group, they found that depressive symptoms got rapidly worse in the eight years prior ...

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Physics

Research spotlight: Gender differences in primary care physician earnings and outcomes

Ishani Ganguli, MD, MPH, and Nicholas E. Daley, AB, of the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital are co-authors of a paper published in JAMA Health Forum, “Gender Differences in Primary Care Physician Earnings and Outcomes Under Medicare Advantage Value-Based Payment.” Q: How would you summarize your study for a lay audience? Despite often achieving better patient outcomes, women primary care physicians (PCPs) face a significant and ongoing wage gap compared to their male counterparts. This disparity is partly due to volume-based payment models, where doctors are compensated per visit or service. ...

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Physics

The US has a new most powerful laser

Photos in the laser facility // Animated fly-through of the ZEUS laser system The ZEUS laser facility at the University of Michigan has roughly doubled the peak power of any other laser in the U.S. with its first official experiment at 2 petawatts (2 quadrillion watts). At more than 100 times the global electricity power output, this huge power lasts only for the brief duration of its laser pulse—just 25 quintillionths of a second long. "This milestone marks the beginning of experiments that move into unexplored ...

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Physics

Incomplete team staffing, burnout, and work intentions among US physicians

About The Study: In this study, physicians frequently experienced incomplete team staffing. Working with an incompletely staffed team was associated with significantly greater odds of burnout, intent to reduce clinical work hours, and intent to leave one’s current organization (ITL). Given associations between ITL and attrition, these findings emphasize the importance of adequate staffing. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Lisa S. Rotenstein, MD, MBA, MSc, email lisa.rotenstein@ucsf.edu. To access the embargoed ...

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Physics

Dual-laser technique lowers Brillouin sensing frequency to 200 MHz

Scientists have developed a dual-laser Brillouin optical correlation-domain reflectometry (BOCDR) system that uses two frequency-modulated lasers. By scanning the relative modulation phase between the pump and reference lasers, the setup measures strain and temperature all along an optical fiber. In a proof-of-concept test on a 13-meter silica fiber, the team recorded Brillouin gain spectra (BGS) at only about 200 MHz—over 50 times lower than the usual 11 GHz band. Their research was published in Journal of Physics: Photonics on April 25, 2025. “The dual-laser approach makes BOCDR equipment simpler, more cost-effective, ...

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Physics

Editorial for the special issue on subwavelength optics

The field of subwavelength optics has opened new avenues for investigating light–matter interactions by enabling the exploration of novel phenomena at the subwavelength scale. In recent decades, advancements in fundamental understanding and micro–nano-technologies have significantly propelled the development of subwavelength optics and its practical applications. For instance, progress in surface plasmon subwavelength optics, which facilitates the confinement of light at scales below the diffraction limit, forms a basis for transformative applications such as sub-diffraction-limit imaging, waveguiding and sensing. Moreover, advancements ...

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Physics

Prioritized multi-task motion coordination of physically constrained quadruped manipulators

A research paper by scientists at Shandong University presented a novel coordinated motion distribution and tracking algorithm for quadruped manipulators. The research paper, published on Mar. 19, 2025 in the journal Cyborg and Bionic Systems. Quadruped manipulators can use legs to mimic legged animals for crossing unstructured environments. They can also use a bionic arm to execute manipulation tasks. The increasing demands for such robots have pushed research progress. However, there remain challenging works ...

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Physics

Enhanced activity in the upper atmosphere of Sporadic E layers during the 2024 Mother’s Day super geomagnetic storm

Fukuoka, Japan—In a paper published in Geophysical Research Letters, researchers from Kyushu University report on the activity of sporadic E layers—about 90-120 km above sea level—during the Mother’s Day geomagnetic storm. The team found that the E layers were significantly enhanced during the recovery phase of the geomagnetic storm. Sporadic E layer, as the name suggests, is a phenomenon in which thin—about 1-5 km thick—but dense patches of ionized metals suddenly appear in the E layer of the ionosphere. Moreover, the team found that these ...

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Physics

Detecting vibrational sum-frequency generation signals from molecules confined within a nanoscale gap using a tightly confined optical near-field

Vibrational sum-frequency generation (VSFG) is a nonlinear spectroscopic method widely used to investigate the molecular structure and dynamics of surface systems. However, in far-field observations, the spatial resolution of this method is constrained by the diffraction limit, which restricts its ability to resolve molecular details in inhomogeneous structures smaller than the wavelength of light. To address this limitation, we developed a tip-enhanced VSFG (TE-SFG) spectroscopy system based on scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Using this system, we ...

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Physics

Testosterone during pregnancy linked to physical activity and muscle strength in children

Boys born to mothers who have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or who have higher levels of testosterone during the third trimester are more likely to be less physically active at age 7, according to research presented at the first Joint Congress between the European Society of Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE) and the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE). Testosterone levels or PCOS in the mothers were not associated with physical activity in girls, but 7-year-old girls whose mothers had higher testosterone levels during pregnancy had lower muscle strength. The findings highlight the important role that maternal testosterone and PCOS may play in future development in boys and girls ...

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Physics

Physics: Eggs less likely to crack when dropped side-on

Eggs are less likely to crack when dropped on their side than when dropped vertically, finds research published in Communications Physics. Controlled trials simulating the ‘egg drop challenge’, a common classroom science experiment, found that the shell of an egg can better withstand an impact when dropped side-on. The goal of the ‘egg drop challenge’ is for students to prevent an egg from cracking when dropped from a set height. A common belief is that an egg is stronger and less likely to crack when dropped vertically, with this assumption often ...

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Physics

Bridging Worlds: USU physicists develop novel test of the Holographic Principle

LOGAN, UTAH, USA -- Exactly 100 years ago, famed Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger (yes, the cat guy) postulated his eponymous equation that explains how particles in quantum physics behave. A key component of quantum mechanics, Schrödinger's Equation provides a way to calculate the wave function of a system and how it changes dynamically in time. “Quantum mechanics, along with Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity are the two pillars of modern physics,” says Utah State University ...

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Physics

Physical cloaking works like a disappearing act for structural defects

Whether designing a window in an airliner or a cable conduit for an engine, manufacturers devote a lot of effort to reinforcing openings for structural integrity. But the reinforcement is rarely perfect and often creates structural weaknesses elsewhere. Now, engineers at Princeton and Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a technique that can maintain structural integrity by essentially hiding the opening from the surrounding forces. Rather than reinforcing the opening to protect against a few select forces, the new approach reorganizes nearly any set of forces that could affect the surrounding material to avoid the opening. In a May 5 article in the ...

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Physics

Spanking and other physical discipline lead to exclusively negative outcomes for children in low- and middle-income countries

Physically punishing children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has exclusively negative outcomes—including poor health, lower academic performance, and impaired social-emotional development—yielding similar results to studies in wealthier nations, finds a new analysis published in Nature Human Behaviour. In 2006, the United Nations Secretary General called for a ban on corporal punishment—acts of physical force to inflict pain that includes smacking, shaking, and spanking—for children. To date, 65 countries worldwide have instituted full or partial ...

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Physics

Biological particles may be crucial for inducing heavy rain

Clouds form upon existing particles in the atmosphere and extreme weather events like flooding and snowstorms are related to production of large amounts of ice in clouds. Biological particles like pollen, bacteria, spores and plant matter floating in the air are particularly good at promoting ice formation in clouds, and EPFL climate scientists show that these particles concentrations evolve as temperatures rise and fall. The results are published in the Nature Portofolio Journal Climate and Atmospheric Sciences. “Biological particles are very effective at forming ice in clouds, and the formation of ice is responsible for most of the precipitation the planet ...

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Physics

Press registration and scientific program now available for atomic, molecular, and optical physics meeting

More than 1,200 physicists from around the world will convene to present new research at the 56th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society’s Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics. The conference will be held in person only at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon June 16-20. Press registration News media with valid APS press credentials may register for the meeting at no cost. To request press credentials, visit APS’ online newsroom. Registration will remain open throughout the meeting. Housing information Discounted hotel rates are available at select hotels near the Oregon Convention Center. Book ...

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Physics

Making magnetic biomaterials

What if doctors could guide life-saving treatments through the body using only a magnet? An interdisciplinary collaboration at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering is bringing that concept closer to reality with the development of silk iron microparticles (SIMPs)—tiny, magnetic, and biodegradable carriers designed to precisely deliver drugs and treatments to sites in the body like aneurysms or tumors. Led by Pitt alumna Ande Marini (BioE PhD ‘25), now a postdoctoral scholar in cardiothoracic surgery at Stanford University, David Vorp, John A. Swanson Professor of bioengineering, and Justin Weinbaum, research ...

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Physics

Anatomy of a “zombie” volcano: investigating the cause of unrest inside Uturuncu

Images available via the link in the notes section Scientists from China, the UK and the USA have collaborated to analyse the inner workings of Bolivia’s “zombie” volcano, Uturuncu. By combining seismology, physics models and analysis of rock composition, researchers identify the causes of Uturuncu’s unrest, alleviating fears of an imminent eruption. The findings have been published today (28 April) in the journal PNAS. Deep in the Central Andes lies Uturuncu, Bolivia’s “zombie” ...

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Physics

We still have a representation problem for women in physics – and Canada is no exception

Fewer than one in 10 senior authors in a prestigious physics journal are women, according to a new study. Of 15 countries, Canada has the worst record. The 33 Canadian-led papers in Nature Physics in the last 10 years had zero senior authors who were women, according to a new study published by the journal. Author Dr. Alannah Hallas, associate professor in the UBC Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute and the department of physics and astrophysics, discusses the results and how they highlight the need for further support for young scientists in the field. What did you find? I was inspired to investigate this topic after speaking to a top scientific ...

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Physics

Epigenetic aging detected in baboons, but physical decline not clearly linked

“[…] these data demonstrate that baboons exhibit varying degrees of differences between their chronological and epigenetic ages (i.e., their delta age), allowing characterization of baboons as age-accelerated or decelerated.” BUFFALO, NY — April 23, 2025 — A new research paper was published in Aging (Aging-US) Volume 17, Issue 3, on March 18, 2025, titled “Epigenetic and accelerated age in captive olive baboons (Papio anubis), and relationships with walking speed and fine motor performance.” In ...

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Physics

Investigating charge behavior in multilayer OLEDs using a laser spectroscopic technique

High-resolution, full-color display devices like foldable mobile phones and ultrathin television sets use organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Compared to other display technologies, OLEDs offer flexibility, self-lighting, low weight, thinness, superior contrast, and low voltage displays, attracting considerable attention in recent years. OLEDs comprise multiple layers of organic ultrathin films sandwiched between electrodes, each with specific functions inside the device. During the operation of an OLED device, charge accumulation and light emissions likely occur at the interface ...

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Physics

NIST's curved neutron beams could deliver benefits straight to industry

In a physics first, a team including scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has created a way to make beams of neutrons travel in curves. These Airy beams (named for English scientist George Airy), which the team created using a custom-built device, could enhance neutrons’ ability to reveal useful information about materials ranging from pharmaceuticals to perfumes to pesticides — in part because the beams can bend around obstacles. A paper announcing the findings appears in today’s issue of Physical Review Letters. ...

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USTC develops high-performance biomimetic proton gating system
Physics

USTC develops high-performance biomimetic proton gating system

On January 17, 2025, Professor ZHANG Zhen’s team at the Suzhou Institute for Advanced Research, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), reported a solid-state proton gating membrane with an ultrahigh gating ratio of 5,740, surpassing existing technologies. The study was published in Nature Communications. Biological ion channels exhibit strong gating effects due to their zero-current closed state. However, artificial nanochannels often demonstrate weaker gating capabilities because larger nanopores cannot fully block ion transport when in a closed ...

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