Ask me anything: Taghi Amirani – a physicist turned documentary-film maker
What skills do you use every day in your job? Physics and film-making have been intertwined throughout my career since I was an undergraduate. In 1984 I made the unusual suggestion to the physics department at the University of Nottingham that my final-year project...
Physicists identify most complex protein knots
Scientists in Germany and the US have predicted the most topologically complex knot ever found in a protein using AlphaFold, the artificial intelligence (AI) system developed by Google’s DeepMind. Their complete analysis of the data produced by AlphaFold also revealed...
Building a science centre that will inspire local communities, musing over first lines in science books
Many physicists are keen to share their enthusiasm for science with the public, and this often involves participating in events at different venues across a community. In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast, we meet four people in the Canadian city of...
Device-independent QKD brings unhackable quantum Internet closer
Two independent research groups have demonstrated a protocol for distributing quantum-encrypted keys via a method that is sure to leave would-be network hackers in the dark. The protocol, dubbed device independent quantum key distribution, was first proposed three...
Excitonic insulators are created in moiré superlattices
Excitonic insulators – an exotic type of matter with a ground state comprising bound electron–hole pairs – have been made by two independent research groups. The excitonic insulators were created in layered materials called van der Waals heterostructures and the...
Magnets, magnets, magnets: we’ll need lots of them for a green economy
I was recently in Newcastle to attend PEMD2022 – the 11th international conference on power electronics, machines and drives. What struck me was not only the huge performance improvements that have been happening in electric motors and generators but just how far we...
Light restores charge to slippery surfaces
A super-slippery material that regenerates its surface charge when illuminated could pave the way for next-generation interfacial materials and microfluidics. The new material is a combination of a copolymer, tiny liquid metal particles and lubricant-trapping...
Colourful nanotubes become flame-resistant
Artist impression of the coloured nanotubes. (Courtesy: R Zhang) “Structurally colouring” carbon nanotubes with an amorphous layer of titanium dioxide not only makes them easier on the eye, it also makes them flame-resistant. This is the finding of researchers from...
Optoacoustic imaging identifies breast cancer from vascular patterns
Key features: OA-US images illustrating the patterns used to define the feature set for benign and malignant lesions. Arrows indicate the OA feature (specified above the panels); the lesion histopathology is shown below. (Courtesy: CC BY 4.0/Photoacoustics...
Unexpected phase transition appears in elemental neodymium
Usually, when materials heat up, they become more disordered. Now, researchers at Radboud University in the Netherlands have found evidence for the opposite happening in the element neodymium, which develops long-range order as its temperature increases. The presence...
Mars has two speeds of sound
Its speed depends on whether the sound is high-pitched or low-pitched On Mars, the speed of sound depends on its pitch. All sound travels slower through Mars’ air compared with Earth’s. But the higher-pitched clacks of a laser zapping rocks travels slightly faster in...
NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Russian cosmonauts safely return to Earth
Two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut landed in Kazakhstan on March 30 after undocking from the International Space Station and flying back to Earth
Hubble confirms largest comet nucleus ever seen
4-BILLION-YEAR-OLD RELIC FROM THE EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM IS HEADED THIS WAY Denizens of deep space, comets are among the oldest objects in the solar system. These icy "Lego blocks" are leftover from the early days of planet construction. They were unceremoniously tossed...