Volume 13 Issue 3, March 2017

Introduced originally to mimic the unusual, frustrated behaviour of spin ice pyrochlores, artificial spin ice can be realized in odd, dedicated geometries that open the door to new manifestations of a higher level of frustration.

Strength lies in numbers and in teamwork: tens of thousands of artificial atoms tightly packed in a nanodiamond act cooperatively, enhancing the optical trapping forces beyond the expected classical bulk polarizability contribution.

Without a very precise timer one can never catch up with the electron released in photoemission. Attosecond streaking spectroscopy allows such a chronometer clock to be set to zero and reveals the role of electron correlations.

A connection between low crystalline symmetry and the allowed symmetries of the current-induced torques generated through the spin–orbit interaction opens up their use in devices with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy.

Low-mass stars form through a process known as disk accretion, eating up material that orbits in a disk around them. It turns out that the same mechanism also describes the formation of more massive stars.

Direct dark matter searches are pushing the limits on the scattering of weakly interacting massive particles on normal matter so WIMPs are running out of places to hide.

Beyond the standard model, the weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) hypothesis for dark matter is one of the most compelling, and the one being tested at the Large Hadron Collider.

Dark matter could decay into conventional particles leaving behind specific signatures in the gamma rays and cosmic rays. Astronomical observations are used to search for these elusive dark matter footprints.

Neutrinos from deep space can be used as astronomical messengers, providing clues about the origin of cosmic rays or dark matter. The IceCube experiment is leading the way in neutrino astronomy.

The strength of optical trapping of a nanodiamond can be increased by cooperative effects between its numerous colour centres — or artificial atoms: an observation that brings together ideas from atom and nanoparticle trapping.

Confinement plays an important role in many-body physics from high energy to condensed matter. New results show that it strongly affects the non-equilibrium dynamics after a quantum quench with possible implications from ultracold atoms to QCD.

A spectroscopic study of the canonical cuprate materials YBCO reveals the point group symmetry of this system inside its pseudogap phase.

Cavity spectroscopy measurements elucidate the Fermi polaron nature of the optical excitations in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides.

Observations of high-harmonic generation from a single layer of a transition metal dichalcogenide opens the door to studying strong-field and attosecond phenomena in two-dimensional materials.

The success with which the parasite Schistosoma mansoni infects humans is due largely to its efficient motility. Experiments, modelling and robotics suggest that it swims via an elastohydrodynamic mechanism, rather than using active muscle control.

When deforming snow slowly, it resists. But when applying a deformation rapidly, it gives in more easily. Experiments now reveal propagating deformation bands and the localization of strain in compressed snow — both natural and artificial.

Observations show that, like light solar-mass stars, heavy stars also form through episodic disk-accretion; but faster, more energetic and emitting more light.

Photoemission is not a simple process and it is not instantaneous. Delays of a few attoseconds have now been measured in helium and it seems that they are partly due to electronic correlations.

High-resolution scanning tunnelling microscopy measurements show that chains of magnetic atoms on the surface of a superconductor provide a promising platform for realizing and manipulating Majorana fermion quasiparticles.

The synchronization of nine nanoconstriction spin Hall nano-oscillators brings spin-based oscillators closer to the power and noise requirements needed for practical applications.

A link between crystalline symmetry and the allowed symmetries of spin–orbit torques provides a route for manipulating magnetic devices with perpendicular anisotropy.

The ability of phototactic microorganisms to move towards optimal light intensities is exploited to generate fluid flows on scales several orders larger than the swimmers themselves. These flows are shown to function as hydrodynamic tweezers.

Narrowing down the value of the Hubble constant has been problematic — probably a manifestation of the dark-energy mystery, writes Barbara Ryden.