Quantum physicist Ignacio Cirac awarded 2026 Isaac Newton Medal and Prize
Cirac is honoured for contributions to modern quantum information science
Read article: Quantum physicist Ignacio Cirac awarded 2026 Isaac Newton Medal and Prize
News
Read article: Quantum physicist Ignacio Cirac awarded 2026 Isaac Newton Medal and Prize
Francis Halzen wins Nobel Prize in Physics
Astroparticle physicist wins for his work detecting cosmic neutrinos
Read article: Francis Halzen wins Nobel Prize in Physics
Inventors of optogenetics win Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel are joint winners of the 2026 prize
Read article: Inventors of optogenetics win Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Siemens Healthineers unveils ultrafast Accela radiotherapy system
Launched at ASTRO 2026, the high-speed Accela platform can deliver stereotactic treatments in a single breath-hold
Read article: Siemens Healthineers unveils ultrafast Accela radiotherapy system
Cyril Hilsum, former GEC research boss and Institute of Physics president, dies aged 101
Hilsum helped develop commercial applications for liquid crystals
Read article: Cyril Hilsum, former GEC research boss and Institute of Physics president, dies aged 101
Thirty Meter Telescope rejects La Palma as alternative host site
€1bn funding package has been turned down by the Thirty Meter Telescope International Organization
Read article: Thirty Meter Telescope rejects La Palma as alternative host site
Research updates
Gluon string breaking is simulated using trapped ions
Quantum simulation goes beyond traditional models
Read article: Gluon string breaking is simulated using trapped ions
Sound waves come in quantum jumps
First observation of fundamental quantization in mechanical vibrations could have applications in quantum error correction and protein diagnostics
Read article: Sound waves come in quantum jumps
Optogenetic therapy shows promise for vision restoration
Researchers report encouraging findings from the first clinical cohort of blind people treated with optogenetic therapy
Read article: Optogenetic therapy shows promise for vision restoration
Disordered environments around tumour cells can promote cancer spread
A biophysics model describing how cancers spread within the human body could help researchers developing new cancer therapies
Read article: Disordered environments around tumour cells can promote cancer spread
Fastest star in the Milky Way feels the rotation of our central black hole
The Milky Way’s massive black hole is rapidly rotating, and a star in an unprecedentedly close orbit could help measure its spin
Read article: Fastest star in the Milky Way feels the rotation of our central black hole
Nuclear clocks finally see the light
New timekeeping tools could revolutionize studies of fundamental physics
Read article: Nuclear clocks finally see the light
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Features
Hofstadter’s butterfly turns 50: a fractal hiding in quantum matter
Indu Satija celebrates the golden anniversary of Hofstadter’s butterfly
Read article: Hofstadter’s butterfly turns 50: a fractal hiding in quantum matter
C V Raman: the physicist with a ‘Himalayan ego’ who went to Stockholm convinced he’d win a Nobel prize
Preetish Kakoty describes why India's only Nobel-prize-winning physicist went to Sweden on a whim
Read article: C V Raman: the physicist with a ‘Himalayan ego’ who went to Stockholm convinced he’d win a Nobel prize
How the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will turn the sky into a dataset
Richard de Grijs looks at how the Roman Space Telescope will change astronomy forever
Read article: How the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will turn the sky into a dataset
How scientific publishers are fighting back against fraudulent papermills
The growth of AI and papermills has caused publishers countless headaches
Read article: How scientific publishers are fighting back against fraudulent papermills
Theatre is bringing physics to new audiences but what is the definitive science play?
Chris Sinclair explores the plays that are bringing physics to new audiences
Read article: Theatre is bringing physics to new audiences but what is the definitive science play?
From student to scientist – how to build a career with physics
Tushna Commissariat and Matin Durrani guide physics students through the maze of career options
Read article: From student to scientist – how to build a career with physics
From the blog
Why supporting international colleagues is everyone’s responsibility
International members of the research community, from academia to industry, often face additional cultural, social and financial challenges compared with those working in their nat...
Read article: Why supporting international colleagues is everyone’s responsibility
Scottish artist marks 100 years of Schrödinger equation with new installation
Work will go on display at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow
Read article: Scottish artist marks 100 years of Schrödinger equation with new installation
Particle physicist Hideki Yukawa: Japan’s first Nobel laureate
Yukawa laid the foundation for an active post-war generation of particle physicists in Japan
Read article: Particle physicist Hideki Yukawa: Japan’s first Nobel laureate
Abdus Salam: Pakistan’s first (and so far only) physics Nobel prize-winner
Matin Durrani looks at the work of Abdus Salam, who was born a century ago this year
Read article: Abdus Salam: Pakistan’s first (and so far only) physics Nobel prize-winner
How long did it take for countries to claim a Nobel laureate?
Deciding where a prize winner is from can be tricky, but Hamish Johnston tries his best
Read article: How long did it take for countries to claim a Nobel laureate?
Analysis
Festival season finds Quantum Software Lab in high spirits
The Quantum Fringe filled the summer with inspiring events for students, scientists and the public, and celebrated the third anniversary of Edinburgh's Quantum Software Lab
Read article: Festival season finds Quantum Software Lab in high spirits
Debating the future of photonics: experts assess the challenges and opportunities ahead
The key themes facing photonics industry and research in the UK were discussed at the recent Photon2026 conference at Newcastle University
Read article: Debating the future of photonics: experts assess the challenges and opportunities ahead
Faster cryogenics speeds up quantum testing
A cryostat that can reach temperatures of 4 K and warm back up again within just two hours offers an efficient solution for testing the electronic components needed to build quantu...
Read article: Faster cryogenics speeds up quantum testing
Opinion and reviews
Demon in the AI machine: bias, bad data and the burden of proof
Andrew Glester reviews the film Mercy, directed by Timur Bekmambetov
Read article: Demon in the AI machine: bias, bad data and the burden of proof
The secret world of tribology
Honor Powrie pays tribute to the work of tribologists
Read article: The secret world of tribology
Illuminating, beautiful and disturbing: a photographic record of the Trinity atomic test
Margaret Harris reviews Trinity: an Illustrated History of the World’s First Atomic Test
Read article: Illuminating, beautiful and disturbing: a photographic record of the Trinity atomic test
Get your teeth into the cutting edge of materials science
Robert P Crease discovers the true extent of materials science in a dental lab
Read article: Get your teeth into the cutting edge of materials science
Universities should judge quantum-computing investments by what students learn
Students need to experiment with real quantum-computing systems, says Alex Krasnok
Read article: Universities should judge quantum-computing investments by what students learn
Honor Powrie: 10 things I wish I’d known (or done better) when I started my career
Honor Powrie offers advice for physicists at the start of their careers
Read article: Honor Powrie: 10 things I wish I’d known (or done better) when I started my career
Interviews
Ask me anything: Tania Kendrick – ‘There’s something really satisfying when everything starts to click’
Tania Kendrick is a civil servant in the UK’s Cabinet Office
Read article: Ask me anything: Tania Kendrick – ‘There’s something really satisfying when everything starts to click’
Ask me anything: Kiefer Vermeulen – ‘We had to figure everything out on a shoestring budget and on a really challenging timescale’
Kiefer Vermeulen is research team lead at Delft Circuits in the Netherlands
Read article: Ask me anything: Kiefer Vermeulen – ‘We had to figure everything out on a shoestring budget and on a really challenging timescale’
Ask me anything: Kristian Dominek Barajas – ‘I’m able to take a really complicated problem and give it my best guess’
Kristian Dominek Barajas is head of quantum theory at Oxford Ionics, an IonQ company
Read article: Ask me anything: Kristian Dominek Barajas – ‘I’m able to take a really complicated problem and give it my best guess’
From galaxies to groceries: how Sarah Bridle made the switch from cosmology to food
Gleb Yakubov talks to Sarah Bridle a physicist who has studied food at the University of York
Read article: From galaxies to groceries: how Sarah Bridle made the switch from cosmology to food
Ask me anything: Mary Bishai – ‘For a self-professed nerd like me, doing big science is heaven’
Mary Bishai is an experimental neutrino physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the US
Read article: Ask me anything: Mary Bishai – ‘For a self-professed nerd like me, doing big science is heaven’
Institute of Physics president Paul Howarth outlines his vision for physics
Paul Howarth is set to be IOP president until 2029
Read article: Institute of Physics president Paul Howarth outlines his vision for physics
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