Editor's choice
Spiders use physics, not chemistry, to cut silk in their webs
New work resolves a longstanding debate and could aid the development of new cutting tools
Semiconductor pioneer Richard Friend bags 2024 Isaac Newton Medal and Prize
Friend won for his work on the fundamental electronic properties of molecular semiconductors and in their engineering development
‘Mock asteroids’ deflected by X-rays in study that could help us protect Earth
Lab-based experiment shows how centimetre-sized objects are accelerated
Research updates
Aluminium oxide reveals its surface secrets
New non-contact atomic force microscopy images shed more light on the "enigmatic insulator" aluminium oxide
Enigmatic particle might be a molecular pentaquark
Decay rate of exotic hadron suggests it comprises five quarks
Heart-on-a-chip reveals impact of spaceflight on cardiac health
A heart-on-a-chip platform sent to the International Space Station reveals how 30 days in space alters heart muscle cells
Silk-on-graphene films line up for next-generation bioelectronics
Researchers have grown a uniform two-dimensional layer of silk protein fragments on a van der Waals substrate for the first time
Camera takes inspiration from cats’ eyes to improve imaging performance
Device might be employed in applications such as autonomous vehicles, drones and surveillance systems
Nuclear clock ticks ever closer
New device could not only be the best time-keeper ever, it could also revolutionize fundamental physics studies
New Machine Learning series
Discover IOPP’s new Machine Learning series™ the world’s first open access journal series dedicated to the application and development of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) for the sciences.
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Fusion, the Web and electric planes: how spin-offs from big science are transforming the world
James McKenzie looks at some of the unexpected spin-offs from big science
Rambling tour of Europe explores the backstory of the Scientific Revolution
Victoria Atkinson reviews Inside the Stargazer’s Palace by Violet Moller
Medical physics and biophysics
Find the information you need from IOP Publishing’s world-leading medical physics and biophysics journals and books, dedicated to supporting and improving research across the field, from fundamental science through to novel applications and facilities.
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Passing the torch: The “QuanTour” light source marks the International Year of Quantum
Katherine Skipper visits the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge to catch a quantum light source that’s touring Europe for the International Year of Quantum
Operando NMR methods for redox flow batteries and ammonia synthesis
Join the audience for a live webinar on 13 November 2024 sponsored by BioLogic and Bruker, in partnership with The Electrochemical Society
US Department of Energy announces new Fermilab contractor
Yet some see little change in the selection of Fermi Forward Discovery Group
Patient-specific quality assurance (PSQA) based on independent 3D dose calculation
Join the audience for a live webinar on 16 December 2024 sponsored by LAP GmbH Laser Applikationen
Top-cited authors from China discuss the importance of citation metrics
More than 90 papers from China have been recognized with a top-cited paper award for 2024 from IOP Publishing
Unlocking the future of materials science with magnetic microscopy
Join the audience for a live webinar on 30 October 2024 sponsored by IOP Publishing's journal, JPhys Materials
Pioneers of AI-based protein-structure prediction share 2024 chemistry Nobel prize
Protein designer is also honoured in this year’s award
Pele’s hair-raising physics: glassy gifts from a volcano goddess
Volcanic hairs and tears reveal a wealth of information about what lies within lava
John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton share the 2024 Nobel Prize for Physics
Duo win for their work on machine learning
Roger Penrose: the Nobel laureate with a preference for transparencies over slideshows
Tushna Commissariat recounts a fascinating chat with Roger Penrose
Laureates on film: Nobel winners who have graced our silver screen
Chatting with Frank Wilczek and Albert Fert
How to rotate your mattress like a physics Nobel prizewinner
A tongue-in-cheek e-mail exchange with 1973 Nobel Prize winner Brian Josephson shows that for some laureates, scientific rigour extends to ordinary life, too
European Space Agency launches Hera mission to investigate asteroid ‘crash-scene’
Hera will perform a close-up examination of a 2022 impact on Dimorphos by NASA's DART mission
Use our infographic to predict this year’s Nobel prize winners
We are expecting a prize in condensed-matter physics in 2024
To boost battery recycling, keep a close eye on the data
Real-time analysis can drive improvements that benefit manufacturers as well as the environment, says Kalle Blomberg
Study finds preschool children form ‘social droplets’ when moving around the classroom
The movement of preschool children results in two distinct phases, find study
‘Sometimes nature will surprise us.’ Juan Pedro Ochoa-Ricoux on eureka moments and the future of neutrino physics
Particle physicist Juan Pedro Ochoa-Ricoux talks about how the next generation of neutrino experiments will test the boundaries of the Standard Model
Gender gap in physics entrenched by biased collaboration networks, study finds
Interventions to integrate young female physicists into established networks could help tackle underrepresentation
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Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
For more than 60 years, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has applied science and technology to make the world a safer place. Its defining responsibility is ensuring the safety, security and reliability of the nation’s nuclear deterrent
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Vacuum for physics research
8 October 2024
Join us and gain an understanding of vacuum to better enable your critical research
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ESSRI 2024
25—27 September 2024 | Madrid, Spain
Bringing together international experts on sustainability, stakeholders and representatives from research facilities and future research infrastructure projects worldwide, with the purpose of identifying the challenges, best practices, and policies to develop and implement sustainable solutions at research infrastructures.