A picosecond technique for measuring the kinetic friction of a single benzene molecule on graphite reveals continuous Brownian motion, rather than the jerky hopping observed on most other surfaces.

A quantum computer requires quantum systems that are well-isolated from external perturbations, but which can still be easily manipulated with external fields. A scheme that uses spatially inhomogeneous fields to selectively address neutral-atom qubits while they are in field-insensitive superposition states satisfies these competing needs.

"Most non-physicists don't appreciate just how rare definitive experiments really are, especially for experiments probing physical phenomena at the boundary of what can be controlled and measured, which is where the greatest interest always lies. The hardest things to measure always tend to be the most open to debate. ... Indeed, it's time we paid closer attention to the real history, rather than folklore history, of how science works. Truth doesn't emerge from experiment fully grown, in one startling leap, but does so much less gracefully, trailing irritating but interesting contradictions along the way."

Our 'research highlights' summarize some of the most interesting, or intriguing, developments reported in the physics literature. This month: gaps filled, an ending foretold, and why breaking up is easy to do...