Physics
press releases.

Physics19 Dec 2025

SPIE and CLP announce the recipients of the 2025 Advanced Photonics Young Innovator Award

BELLINGHAM, Washington, USA — SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and Chinese Laser Press (CLP) have announced the recipients of this year’s Advanced Photonics Young Innovator Award. The award honors emerging researchers by recognizing outstanding papers published in the SPIE-CLP journal Advanced Photonics over the past five years. The seven recipients represent a diverse range of groundbreaking research that is shaping the future of optics and photonics: Peng Chen, Nanjing University, for "Liquid crystal integrated metalens with tunable chromatic ...

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Physics19 Dec 2025

New ‘cloaking device’ concept to shield sensitive tech from magnetic fields

University of Leicester engineers have unveiled a concept for a device designed to magnetically ‘cloak’ sensitive components, making them invisible to detection. A magnetic cloak is a device that hides or shields an object from external magnetic fields by manipulating how these flow around an object so that they behave as if the object isn’t there. In a new study for Science Advances, a team of engineers at the University of Leicester have demonstrated for the first time that practical cloaks can be engineered using superconductors and soft ferromagnets in forms that can be manufactured. Using computational and theoretical techniques ...

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Physics18 Dec 2025

Super strain-resistant superconductors

Kyoto, Japan -- Superconductors are materials that can conduct electricity with zero resistance, usually only at very low temperatures. Most superconductors behave according to well-established rules, but strontium ruthenate, Sr₂RuO₄, has defied clear understanding since its superconducting properties were discovered in 1994. It is considered one of the cleanest and best-studied unconventional superconductors, yet scientists still debate the precise structure and symmetry of the electron pairing that gives rise to its remarkable ...

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Physics17 Dec 2025

Food insecurity, burnout, and social isolation among resident and fellow physicians

About The Study: In this cross-sectional study, nearly 1 in 7 graduate medical education trainees screened positive for food insecurity. Food insecurity was associated with important well-being outcomes including burnout. These findings suggest that academic medical institutions should pursue systemic solutions to address food insecurity among resident and fellow physicians as a means of supporting their well-being. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Larissa R. Thomas, MD, MPH, email larissa.thomas@ucsf.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.50044) Editor’s ...

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Physics17 Dec 2025

Can an electronic nose detect indoor mold?

Researchers have developed an electronic nose that can reliably sense and identify mold, which causes various health issues for humans and animals, as well as damage to homes and other buildings and structures. As reported in a study published in Advanced Sensor Research, the e-nose uses nanowires that detect gas concentrations by measuring changes in electrical resistance resulting from gas molecules interacting with a sensing material. Experiments revealed that the e-nose can detect and identify two common indoor mold species, Stachybotrys ...

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Physics15 Dec 2025

Norbert Holtkamp appointed director of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

Norbert Holtkamp has been appointed as the new director of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, effective Jan. 12, 2026. Holtkamp brings deep scientific and operational expertise to Fermilab, which is the premier particle physics and accelerator laboratory in the U.S. He is the former deputy director of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University and currently serves as a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, advocating for robust international scientific collaboration. He is also currently a professor of particle physics and astrophysics ...

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Physics15 Dec 2025

What makes a good proton conductor?

A number of advanced energy technologies — including fuel cells, electrolyzers, and an emerging class of low-power electronics — use protons as the key charge carrier. Whether or not these devices will be widely adopted hinges, in part, on how efficiently they can move protons. One class of materials known as metal oxides has shown promise in conducting protons at temperatures above 400 degrees Celsius. But researchers have struggled to find the best materials to increase the proton conductivity at lower temperatures and improve efficiency. Now, MIT researchers have developed a physical model to predict proton mobility across a wide range of metal ...

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Physics10 Dec 2025

Twisting Spins: Florida State University researchers explore chemical boundaries to create new magnetic material

Florida State University researchers have created a new crystalline material with unusual magnetic patterns that could be used for breakthroughs in data storage and quantum technologies. In a study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the research team showed that when two materials with neighboring chemical compositions but different structure types are combined, they can form a new material that exhibits a third structure type with highly unusual magnetic properties. Atoms in magnetic materials act as extremely small magnets, ...

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Physics10 Dec 2025

Liquid metal modified hexagonal boron nitride flakes for efficient electromagnetic wave absorption and thermal management

The rapid advancement of fifth-generation (5G) communication and high-power electronic devices has revolutionized modern life, yet it also brings about dual challenges of electromagnetic wave (EMW) pollution and heat accumulation, which severely threaten the stability and service life of integrated components. While hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is a promising candidate for thermal management due to its high thermal conductivity and chemical stability, its inherent electrical insulation and chemical inertness significantly limit its ability to absorb EMWs. Achieving simultaneous high-efficiency EMW absorption and thermal conductivity in a single BN-based ...

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Physics10 Dec 2025

New breakthrough in detecting ‘ghost particles’ from the Sun

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 15:00 GMT / 10:00 ET WEDNESDAY 10 DECEMBER 2025 New breakthrough in detecting ‘ghost particles’ from the Sun First observation of carbon-neutrino interactions opens new frontiers in nuclear and particle physics. More images available via the link in the Notes Section. Neutrinos are one of the most mysterious particles in the universe, often called 'ghost particles' because they rarely interact with anything else. Trillions stream through our bodies every second, ...

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Physics10 Dec 2025

Magnetic ordering induces Jahn–Teller effect in spinel-type compounds

The Jahn–Teller effect, proposed by Jahn and Teller in 1937, describes how molecules or crystals with degenerate electronic orbitals can lower their total energy by distorting their structure. This distortion lifts the degeneracy, stabilizing certain orbitals that become occupied by electrons. While many materials exhibiting this effect have been found, the involvement of spin—the source of magnetism—has rarely been observed because magnetic ordering usually occurs at much lower temperatures than structural distortions caused by the Jahn–Teller ...

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Physics10 Dec 2025

New bioelectronics device based on hydrogel- elastomer conductive nanomembranes

A research team at the Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research (CNIR) within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), together with Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), has developed a new class of ultra-thin, flexible bioelectronic material that can seamlessly interface with living tissues. The researchers introduced a novel device called THIN (Transformable and Imperceptible Hydrogel-Elastomer Ionic-Electronic Nanomembrane). THIN is a membrane just 350 nanometers thick that transforms from a dry, rigid film into an ultra-soft, tissue-like interface ...

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Physics10 Dec 2025

Direct observation reveals “two-in-one” roles of plasma turbulence

Background Producing fusion energy requires heating plasma to more than one hundred million degrees and confining it stably with strong magnetic fields. However, plasma naturally develops fluctuations known as turbulence, and they carry heat outward and weaken confinement. Understanding how heat and turbulence spread is therefore essential. Conventional theory has assumed that heat and turbulence move gradually from the center toward the edge. Yet experiments have sometimes shown heat and turbulence spreading much faster, similar to American football players passing a ball quickly across long distances so that a local change influences the entire field almost at once. Clarifying ...

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Physics9 Dec 2025

Icy hot plasmas

When a gas is highly energized, its electrons get torn from the parent atoms, resulting in a plasma—the oft-forgotten fourth state of matter (along with solid, liquid, and gas). When we think of plasmas, we normally think of extremely hot phenomena such as the Sun, lightning, or maybe arc welding, but there are situations in which icy cold particles are associated with plasmas. Images of distant molecular clouds from the James Webb Space Telescope feature such hot–cold interactions, with frozen dust illuminated by pockets of shocked gas and newborn stars. Now a team of Caltech researchers has managed to recreate such ...

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Physics9 Dec 2025

Transient and long-term risks of common physical activities in people with low back pain

About The Study: This study found short-term, transient risks of low back pain flares associated with some activities but no associations with functional limitations at 1-year follow-up. These findings suggest that people with low back pain who engage in more of these activities do not have better or worse long-term outcomes. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Pradeep Suri, MD, MSc, email pradeep.suri@va.gov. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.47915) Editor’s ...

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Physics8 Dec 2025

Quanta Books to publish popular math and physics titles by Terence Tao and David Tong

Quanta Books is delighted to announce two new upcoming books by mathematician Terence Tao and theoretical physicist David Tong. Six Math Essentials will be Tao’s first math book written for a popular audience. In the book, Tao — a recipient of the Fields Medal and one of the world’s top mathematicians — will explore six ideas that have guided mathematicians throughout history. This short and friendly volume is for all readers, Tao says, because he believes that “mathematics has become unnecessarily intimidating and abstruse to the general public while being more essential than ever in the modern world.” Six Math Essentials will ...

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Physics4 Dec 2025

Ultrafast laser shock straining in chiral chain 2D materials: Mold topology‑controlled anisotropic deformation

As 2D materials race toward flexible electronics, precisely tailoring their strain fields without cracking crystals remains a grand challenge. Now, a Purdue team led by Prof. Gary J. Cheng and Prof. Wenzhuo Wu demonstrates the first laser-shock imprinting (LSI) on chiral-chain tellurene, revealing orientation-dependent deformation that retains single-crystal integrity while generating dense dislocation networks—offering a universal route for nanoscale strain engineering of anisotropic 2D systems. Why LSI on Tellurene Matters Ultrafast & High-Resolution: 5-ns, 0.4 GW cm-2 pulse delivers smooth 3-D nanoshaping with sub-micron feature control. Orientation-Sensitive ...

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Physics3 Dec 2025

Breakthrough iron-based magnetic material achieves major reduction in core loss

A research team from NIMS, Tohoku University and AIST has developed a new technique for controlling the nanostructures and magnetic domain structures of iron-based soft amorphous ribbons, achieving more than a 50% reduction in core loss compared with the initial amorphous material. The developed material exhibits particularly high performance in the high-frequency range of several tens of kilohertz—required for next-generation, high-frequency transformers and EV drive power supply circuits. This breakthrough is expected to contribute to the advancement of these technologies, development of more energy-efficient electric machines and progress ...

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Physics3 Dec 2025

New design tackles heat challenges in high-power fiber lasers

Thulium fiber lasers, operating at a wavelength of 2 micrometers, are valued for applications in medicine, materials processing, and defense. Their longer wavelength makes stray light less damaging compared to the more common ytterbium lasers at 1 micrometer. Yet, despite this advantage, thulium lasers have been stuck at around 1 kilowatt of output power for more than a decade, limited by nonlinear effects and heat buildup. One promising route to break this barrier is inband pumping—switching from diode pumping ...

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Physics3 Dec 2025

American Physical Society launches APS Open Science to expand global participation in trusted physics research

As the scientific community embraces open science principles, the American Physical Society is launching a new open access journal designed to meet the moment. With submissions opening in late February 2026, APS Open Science will publish a diverse range of research outputs while upholding the trusted, rigorous review processes that define APS standards. “Researchers need high-quality options for sharing reliable findings across every stage of the scientific process,” said Jessica Thomas, executive editor at APS. “APS ...

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Physics3 Dec 2025

Semaglutide and early-stage metabolic abnormalities in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders

About The Study: The results of this randomized clinical trial show that adjunctive semaglutide significantly improved glycemic control and weight outcomes in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Secondary outcomes were exploratory. These findings support the use of glucagon-like peptide–1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) as a potential early intervention strategy to reduce cardiometabolic risk in this vulnerable population. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Anders Fink-Jensen, DMSci, email anders.fink-jensen@regionh.dk. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.3639) Editor’s ...

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Physics3 Dec 2025

Atomically-tailored single atom platforms hold promise for next-generation catalysis

Catalysts play a vital role in modern society, supporting processes from metallurgy to pharmaceutical production. To reduce environmental impact and maximize efficiency, science has pushed the boundaries between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis toward single-atom catalysts. However, working with individual atoms poses enormous challenges: it is difficult to overcome their tendency to aggregate into clusters, especially at temperatures above cryogenic levels, and it is complex to arrange them precisely in specific chemical environments. An international team of researchers from Istituto ...

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Physics3 Dec 2025

“Proton‑iodine” regulation of protonated polyaniline catalyst for high‑performance electrolytic Zn‑I2 batteries

As demand for safe, low-cost and grid-scale storage keeps climbing, aqueous Zn–I2 batteries attract intense attention yet are dogged by polyiodide shuttling and sluggish iodine conversion. Now, researchers from Beijing University of Chemical Technology and Beijing Institute of Technology, led by Prof. Yi Zhao, present a catalytic cathode that finally tames these twin problems. Their three-dimensional carboxyl-carbon-nanotube-wrapped polyaniline (C-PANI) realises a direct I⁰/I⁻ redox, delivering ...

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Physics1 Dec 2025

Ultra-low doping 0.1(PtMnFeCoNi)/TiO2 catalysts: Modulating the electronic states of active metal sites to enhance CO oxidation through high entropy strategy

In iron and steel production, incomplete fuel combustion is the main cause of high CO emissions during sintering, accounting for over half of the industry's total emissions. Developing technologies for purifying high-concentration CO flue gas is urgent. The bottleneck in the industrialization of CO catalytic oxidation for sintering flue gas is developing catalysts with high activity, strong anti-poisoning ability and low cost. Conventional noble metal catalysts have high activity but are scarce and costly; they also tend to deactivate ...

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Physics25 Nov 2025

Unveiling an anomalous electronic state opens a pathway to room-temperature superconductivity

Superconductive materials can conduct electricity with no resistance, but typically only at very low temperatures. Realizing superconductivity at room temperature could enable advanced, energy-efficient electronics and other technologies. Now, an international research team is one step closer to such an achievement. The researchers made the first observation of a special electronic state known as a “nodal metal,” which provides more insight into electronic behavior at different temperatures, in a multilayer system comprising copper and oxygen. The team, which includes researchers based in Japan, ...

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