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Transit-based exoplanet survey finds its first microlensing exoplanet

Artist's impression of a planet orbiting a distant star. The planet is in the foreground and has orange and yellow stripes reminiscent of Jupiter's. The star is pale yellow and distant.

Thermal imaging technique helps overcome a major problem for gravitational-wave astronomy

Correcting heat-induced distortions in interferometer mirrors will dramatically increase the sensitivity of gravitational-wave detectors

Researchers test a novel adaptive optics device

Quantum principle allows heat to flow from cold to hot

Indefinite causal order reverses the direction of heat flow without violating thermodynamics

Research updates

Artificially rotating system reflects radiation like a black hole

AI model helps physics Nobel laureate out of a decade-old mathematical jam

A group of five physicists standing in a lecture theatre in front of a display cabinet and a large blackboard.

Topology affects the crumpling of growing elastic sheets

Photo of a structure with topologically-induced dimples

Physicists find unexpected connection between black hole mergers and thermodynamics

Properties of a merger remnant can be predicted using a simple entropy-maximization principle

Nuclear fusion persists at ultralow energies inside metal foils

Experiment suggests the environment matters when deuterium fuses

Portable breast ultrasound enables imaging between cancer screening exams

An easy-to-use portable 3D ultrasound system enables nurses, physicians or even patients themselves to perform frequent breast imaging exams

AI sniffs out tuberculosis in breath’s chemical signature

Machine learning decodes the complex chemical signatures in human breath to deliver rapid, non-invasive tuberculosis diagnoses

Heat-transfer fins give phase change materials a boost

Modelling points the way towards optimal designs for systems that store and release heat

Pressurizing EV battery electrodes could make them last longer, if it’s done right

Extending the lifetime of electric-vehicle batteries could reduce the need for mining critical minerals

Jobs hub

Access the latest physics careers advice

Latest news

Critics deride US administration’s ‘golden age of science’ report

Future of UK physics threatened by ‘ruinous’ funding cuts, says Institute of Physics

Astronomers express outrage after regulators approve ‘space mirror’ permit

The latest opinion and reviews

Why physics should move beyond prestige in PhD admissions

The Bayeux Tapestry: how optical techniques have let this artwork come home

Honor Powrie celebrates the optical techniques that have digitized, restored and protected the Bayeux Tapestry

Bringing physics down to Earth through rocket science

Keith Cooper reviews It’s (Just) Rocket Science: Exploring Physics Through Spaceflight Missions by Trisha Muro

Physics World podcasts

Building bridges between quantum and classical computing

From pit stop to plant food: how Grand Prix crowd’s urine becomes fertilizer

Racing cars on track with crowds in background illustration

How scholarly publishers are safeguarding trust in science

Explore our two regular podcast series! Physics World Weekly looks at the latest events and headlines in physics, as well as featuring short interviews with scientists and our team of journalists. Physics World Stories takes a more in-depth look at a topic.

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Quiz of the week: what age of science is the US entering according to Trump?

Have you been keeping up to date with physics news? Try our short quiz to find out

New material was created in Hiroshima nuclear explosion

Rapid cooling locked in unusual crystal structure in silicon-rich metal alloy

Microscope images of a metal sphere found in hiroshimaite

Word wave puzzle no.7

Can you work out the word in this puzzle?

Astronomers capture highest-resolution image ever of the Sun’s surface

Picture reveals tiny plasma whirlpool-like patterns that have never been seen before

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

Quiz of the week: what type of radiation travels on a photonic highway?

Have you been keeping up to date with physics news? Try our short quiz to find out

Identifying maximum viscosity: a slide puzzle

Can you reconstruct an image of part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in this interactive slide puzzle?

Aerial photo of a green landscape with a ragged gash of black, exposed rock running through it. A couple of roads and paths run parallel to the gash and a lake and mountains are visible in the background.

Quantum
Blog

Can a 16-year-old really understand quantum teleportation?

Leron Borsten and Shanti Pise report from a week-long event that sought to teach quantum physics to teenagers

leron borsten teaching quantum physics at a blackboard

Cold radioactive molecules offer a tabletop route to new physics

Nuclear symmetry violations could show up in molecules containing pear-shaped radium nuclei

Image showing a pear-shaped grid of glowing blue lines with a heatmap-type blob of red, yellow and green suspended inside it. The pear hovers over a copper-coloured box.

‘Photonic multi-lane highway’ enjoys insulator-free topological protection

New technology uses a photonic valley half-semimetal

Matter-antimatter symmetry measurement sets new precision record

CERN’s ALPHA collaboration pins down the ground-state hyperfine splitting of antihydrogen within four parts per million

Photo of eight members of the ALPHA collaboration in the lab at CERN. They're all wearing white hard hats and are casually dressed in jeans and t-shirts. A ladder leans against an experimental apparatus in the foreground and a tank of liquid helium is visible in the background, as are lots of cables.

Geophysicist identifies a maximum practical viscosity

Boundary between materials that flow and those that don’t could shed light on Earth’s early history

Featured employer

Physics World Jobs offers a range of opportunities for jobseekers with a background in physics or engineering. At all stages of your career, we can help find the job for you

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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Featured webinar

Tune into online presentations that allow expert speakers to explain novel tools and applications

Changes in structure and ionic resistance of lithium-ion battery graphite electrodes

Join the audience for a live webinar at 3 p.m. BST/10 a.m. EDT on 5 August 2026

For modellers and experimentalists: discover how SEI formation and graphite expansion define Li‑ion transport in electrodes

Sponsored by The Electrochemical Society, BioLogic, Hiden Analytical

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Featured event

Stay up to date with the latest international conferences, symposia and exhibitions for interdisciplinary scientists working across academic research and industry

Innovations in Applied Mechanics 2026

23—26 September 2026 | London, UK

Innovations in Applied Mechanics brings together two previous, highly successful conferences MPSVA – Modern Practice in Stress and Vibration Analysis and DAMAS – International Conference on Damage Assessment in Structures to present research findings in stress analysis, vibration dynamics and structural damage assessment with the intention of providing directed focus on the state-of-the-art in theoretical and experimental methodology.

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