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Condensed matter

For the latest news, features and products in condensed matter

News

Why blood cells move in slippers

Study might show why cells take on lopsided shape

'Universal' equation describes how materials behave at nanoscale

'No supercomputers involved', says physicist

Lotus leaves shake off water

Vibrations maintain water-repellency in nature

Charges band together in graphene

"Wonder material" exhibits collective behaviour

In depth

Vitaly Ginzburg: a life in physics

Vitaly Ginzburg – one of the most prominent Russian theoretical physicists of the 20th century – talks exclusively about his achievements in physics, his distrust of the church's growing role in Russian society and how the hydrogen bomb saved his life.

The lure of synchrotrons

Robert P Crease asks how sound are the arguments that the next generation of synchrotron sources are an essential tool for meeting the energy challenge?

The road to sustainability

"Sustainability" is the hottest topic in energy research today, but what does it actually mean? George Crabtree and John Sarrao describe what makes a technology sustainable, and outline the materials-science challenges standing between us and clean, long-lasting energy

Of gluons, atoms and strings

An unusual alliance between physicists who study ultrahot plasmas and ultracold atoms is yielding intriguing results – and may even lead to an experimental test for string theory, as Barbara Jacak reveals