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Today's headlines

Kerker scattering locates particles with sub-atomic precision

Humans to live in more arid world

Extra 700 million people could live in arid regions by 2100

Multi-modality imaging predicts tumour recurrence

Using PET and MRI to predict recurrence probability in glioblastoma patients could allow increased radiotherapy dose delivery to high-risk tumour regions

Dust collisions on Earth could shed light on planet formation

Drop-tower experiments hint that universal rules describe colliding granular matter

Research news

Purple bacteria produce hydrogen from wastewater

Innovation: patent applications review

Graphenea launches a graphene foundry service to manufacture custom circuit designs on graphene wafers up to 6”. Credit: Graphenea

The value of sorting graphene flakes from fakes

Turbulence causes swimming algae to congregate in dense patches, say physicists

Computer simulations could help predict toxic blooms

Are our water vapour emissions warming the climate?

Water vapour from irrigation is too low down to boost warming but emissions by aircraft could become problematic

Controlling magnetism using a proton pump

New “magneto-ionic” technique could help advance spintronics technologies for the post CMOS-world

Cracks interact with sound in silicon to create patterns resembling Kelvin wakes

Effect creates unwanted rough surfaces in silicon-on-insulator devices

MetaboliQs project targets breakthrough in cardiac metabolic MRI

The MetaboliQs consortium will combine quantum sensing and medical imaging for precision diagnostics and personalized treatment of cardiovascular diseases

Flood models validated in Africa

First collective analysis – of floods in Nigeria and Mozambique – bodes well for identifying high-risk areas worldwide

Revolutions in computing

Scientists are exploiting the continuing advances in computing power to explore and understand ever more complex systems. From advanced computer models that can probe the properties of many different physical systems, to machine learning to quantum computing, check out our special collection.

Physics World podcasts

Quantum tech investments and visiting the Francis Crick Institute

Science journalist Xiaoxue Chen at the Francis Crick Institute in London

Reporting science controversies in China and ‘Oumuamua alien spacecraft claims

Physics World 30th anniversary podcast series – particle physics

Explore in depth

New views on units

Computing memories

Margaret Harris reviews The Cryotron Files: the Strange Death of a Pioneering Cold War Computer Scientist by Iain Dey and Douglas Buck

Photo of electric plug and lead covered in green grass

100% renewable electricity is viable

Two groups of researchers challenge earlier study that doubted feasibility, reports Dave Elliott

Cool innovations for clean energy

Cryogenics firms are developing novel ways of using liquid air, nitrogen and methane to store renewably-generated energy and reduce emissions

Microscopy
Analysis
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Optical micromirrors reveal the secrets of cell membranes

A novel and flexible fluorescence microscope enables scientists to probe the dynamics of mysterious proteins in the protective lipid bilayer

A brief history of timekeeping

Helen Margolis discusses how humans have been trying to measure time with increasing accuracy for centuries, and how the next step in that quest is the optical atomic clock

Guided software speeds up linac commissioning for radiotherapy

Automated system exploits real-time beam analysis to optimize workflows and streamline the commissioning process

Russian physics journal celebrates a century of progress

Valery Rubakov, editor-in-chief of Physics Uspekhi, discusses the future of physics in Russia

Video showcase

Working in medical physics: trainee clinical scientist

Xinchou Lao speaking with IOP Publishing

Xinchou Lou describes working in China

What is a quantum simulation?

Latest articles

Photo of Rachael Hall, the Christie hospital

What is radiotherapy?

Rachael Hall describes the process of treating cancer patients with radiation

The oxo-bridged uranium compound captures dinitrogen and converts dinitrogen and carbon monoxide into cyanamide. Credit: Marta Falcone/Marinella Mazzanti/EPFL

Ambient amides take nitrogen chemistry beyond Haber–Bosch

Catalysts that can break the super-strong nitrogen bond under ambient conditions provide an uncontroversial success story for nitrogen chemists

Photo of person transporting fuel cylinders by bike

Climate
News

Satellites spot waste heat to save fuel

Britons who waste heat and energy by allowing leaks from their buildings face space-based satellite fuel poverty spotters

Zond 6 recording translated by graphene laureate, architects with an extra 37 minutes on Mars

Excerpts from the Red Folder

A platinum-iridium kilogram belonging to the US National Institute of standards and Technology

Kilogram finally redefined as world’s metrologists agree to new formulation for SI units

The kilogram, ampere, kelvin and mole will all be set in terms of fundamental constants

Robotic system targets brain tumours with high-intensity ultrasound

Researchers receive $3.5m to develop robotic technology for minimally invasive ultrasound treatment of brain tumours

The Guiana Shield rainforests: overlooked climate guardians

Deforestation could disrupt water cycle across South America

Photo of the Capitol building in Washington, DC

US Congress set to welcome eight new members with scientific credentials

The success of the first-time candidates will roughly double the number of scientifically trained members in Congress

Encrypted quantum keys sent a record-breaking 421 km in optical fibre

Long-distance transmission rate is boosted by a factor of 100

MRI-guided cryoablation safely freezes tumours in the spine

MRI-guided cryoablation can destroy tumours compressing the spinal cord and reduce a patient's risk of paralysis

Megawatt laser beacon could communicate with aliens

Signals could be sent as far as 20,000 light-years away

DNA nanobot escapes from a maze

New work could help advance autonomous and intelligent nanoscale robotic systems

Sustainable irrigation could feed extra 2.8 billion people

World has enough spare water to boost irrigation by nearly 50%, study finds

Live Barcelona event shows hybrid imaging’s vast potential

PET/CT excels in clinical oncology while PET/MRI is set to shake up tumour biology imaging

Moths use acoustic camouflaging fur to evade bats

Stealth coating can absorb as much as 85% of echolocation signals

Ocean warming may be faster than thought

Science knows that ocean warming is occurring. A big challenge now is to work out how quickly the temperature is rising

Benchtop cosmology: Solid state research reveals analogues of cosmological phenomena. Credit: iStock angelinast

Benchtop cosmology exploits solid-state systems

Weyl metals and all their fascinating phenomena are not the only systems for cosmological simulations

Listening to the sunrise on Mars, scientific evidence for the masses, Hawking’s thesis bags £584,750

Excerpts from the Red Folder

The business of space

Explore the latest trends and commercial opportunities associated with designing, building, launching and exploiting space-based technologies

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Accelerating Discovery with In Situ Electron Microscopy
At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, researchers Xiahan Sang and Ray Unocic used in situ heating to synthesize and characterize complex structural and chemical transformations of edge defects at atomic resolution. Their work pioneered new means by which 2D materials could be engineered directly in the TEM, opening new avenues for materials development and characterization. These and other novel results in the field of material science will be presented in this webinar.

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