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Evidence that ants communicate mechanically to move objects several times their size has prompted a theory that places the group near a transition between uncoordinated and coordinated motion. These findings and their implications are reviewed here.
Bedforms in deserts include both small ripples and sand dunes that can reach tens to hundreds of metres in length — with seemingly little in between. It now looks as though intermediate-sized megaripples do appear if the conditions are just right.
It’s still unclear which problems can be solved by near-term quantum computers that are beyond the reach of their classical counterparts. A new analysis makes a practical assessment of how sampling the output of a quantum circuit leaves supercomputers in the dust.
Streams of motile cells appear in both healthy development and the evolution of tumours. A study of cells under lateral confinement now suggests their activity plays a key role in triggering these flows.
Cells change shape and volume when they divide — not a simple task, especially when they are confined by surrounding tissue. Experiments now reveal that hydrostatic pressure changes generate the pushing forces that cells need to create space for division.
Quantized Majorana conductance is a hallmark of topological superconductors, but its fragility has made it difficult to observe. Device improvements have now enabled its measurement, making everyone eager to see the next step — topological qubits.
Many particles — both fundamental and emergent — carry angular momentum or spin. Experiments have now demonstrated that phonons can transport angular momentum, showing that they may have spin too.
Light can be coupled to sound via Brillouin scattering, but realizing an efficient interaction isn’t trivial. A new type of resonator succeeds in doing so in a macroscopic device — boasting features that better its nanoscale counterparts.
As part of a Focus on antiferromagnetic spintronics, this Perspective looks at the complex and often faster dynamics of antiferromagnetic spin textures.
As part of a Focus on antiferromagnetic spintronics, this Perspective examines the opportunities afforded by synthetic, as opposed to crystalline, antiferromagnets.
As part of a focus on antiferromagnetic spintronics, this Review considers the role of spin transport and spin torque in potential antiferromagnetic memory devices.
An overview of how electromagnetic radiation can be used for probing and modification of the magnetic order in antiferromagnets, and possible future research directions.
Quantum tomography infers quantum states from measurement data, but it becomes infeasible for large systems. Machine learning enables tomography of highly entangled many-body states and suggests a new powerful approach to this problem.
The folded structure of the human brain is a hallmark of our intelligence — an optimized packing of neurons into a confined space. Similar wrinkling in brain-on-a-chip experiments provides a way of understanding the physics of how this occurs.
Bringing next-generation atomic clocks out of the lab is not an easy task, but doing so will unlock many new possibilities. As a crucial first step, a portable atomic clock has now been deployed for relativistic geodesy measurements in the Alps.
