Electronic nematic order as a distinct phase in kagome materials without any entanglement with charge density wave or charge stripe order has not been detected. Now, it is observed in a titanium-based kagome metal.

Aliovalent doping affects the electrical properties of semiconductors, but its effect on phonons is unclear. Now, strong softening and deceleration of phonons, causing a significant reduction in lattice thermal conductivity, is reported for Hf-doped NbFeSb.

Previous work has suggested that at very low temperatures TbInO₃ hosts an unconventional quantum ground state. Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy measurements of its excitations show that related exotic effects can persist to room temperature.

Coherent control is an interference technique widely used to control dynamic wave processes. Its analogue in the time domain allows the tailored suppression, enhancement and reshaping of optical pulses, and the mimicking of collisions between them.

The three-dimensional spin textures of a skyrmion lattice have now been measured in a bulk material using a tomographic small-angle neutron scattering technique.

Predictions of a quantum superconductor–insulator transition in Josephson junction arrays are not always borne out by experiments. Unexpectedly large thermal effects may explain why.

Radionuclides have a myriad of applications, ranging from nuclear energy to environmental studies. Carine Michotte illustrates the importance of radionuclide metrology for nuclear medicine.

The common practice of naming equations, effects, constants and units after individual scientists has its downsides, and it’s time to rethink it.

Physics of Life research in the UK is transforming scientific insight and translational impact. Here I discuss its disruptive potential and barriers to interdisciplinary research through the lens of the activities of one of its pioneers, Tom McLeish.

The lone genius narrative is harmful to science and will not help humans settle in space.