Featured
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Career Column |
The sound of stars
Composer David Ibbett encodes the dreams and details of complex physics phenomena into music to help audiences appreciate their splendour.
- David Ibbett
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News Feature |
Mystery gamma rays could help solve age-old lightning puzzle
Researchers in Japan are enlisting an army of citizens to explore how storms on Earth create extreme bursts of gamma radiation.
- Elizabeth Gibney
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Matters Arising |
Reply to: Concerns about phytoplankton bloom trends in global lakes
- Jeff C. Ho
- , Anna M. Michalak
- & Nima Pahlevan
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Article |
High-resolution X-ray luminescence extension imaging
Using lanthanide-doped nanomaterials and flexible substrates, an approach that enables flat-panel-free, high-resolution, three-dimensional imaging is demonstrated and termed X-ray luminescence extension imaging.
- Xiangyu Ou
- , Xian Qin
- & Xiaogang Liu
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News Explainer |
COVID vaccines and safety: what the research says
It is clear that coronavirus vaccines are safe and effective, but as more are rolled out, researchers are learning about the extent and nature of side effects.
- Ariana Remmel
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News & Views |
Shedding squeezed light on dark matter
Hypothetical particles called axions could constitute dark matter — the unseen component of the Universe. An experiment shows how quantum-manipulation technology can improve the sensitivity of axion detectors.
- Igor G. Irastorza
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Article |
Thermally reconfigurable monoclinic nematic colloidal fluids
Dispersion of colloidal disks in a nematic liquid crystal reveals several low-symmetry phases, including monoclinic colloidal nematic order, with interchange between them achieved through variations in temperature, concentration and surface charge.
- Haridas Mundoor
- , Jin-Sheng Wu
- & Ivan I. Smalyukh
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Article |
A universal 3D imaging sensor on a silicon photonics platform
A compact, high-performance silicon photonics-based light detection and ranging system for three-dimensional imaging is developed that should be amenable to low-cost mass manufacturing
- Christopher Rogers
- , Alexander Y. Piggott
- & Remus Nicolaescu
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Article |
Protecting a bosonic qubit with autonomous quantum error correction
A logical qubit encoded in multi-photon states of a superconducting cavity is protected with autonomous correction of certain quantum errors by tailoring the dissipation it is exposed to.
- Jeffrey M. Gertler
- , Brian Baker
- & Chen Wang
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Article |
A quantum enhanced search for dark matter axions
A quantum enhanced search for dark matter that uses vacuum squeezing to overcome the quantum noise limit finds no evidence of dark matter axions in a well motivated mass range.
- K. M. Backes
- , D. A. Palken
- & H. Wang
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Article |
Complex structures arising from the self-assembly of a simple organic salt
Frank–Kasper phases are observed in small organic molecules from the crystallization of fampridine hydrochloride into two distinct structures, indicating that complex self-assembled structures can arise from simple organic salts.
- Riccardo Montis
- , Luca Fusaro
- & A. David Rae
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News |
Illegal CFC emissions have stopped since scientists raised alarm
Analyses suggest that China has successfully curbed production of an ozone-depleting chemical, a win for the international treaty that protects the ozone layer.
- Jeff Tollefson
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Article |
Facile route to bulk ultrafine-grain steels for high strength and ductility
Bulk ultrafine-grained steel is prepared by an approach that involves the rapid production of coherent, disordered nanoprecipitates, which restrict grain growth but do not interfere with twinning or dislocation motion, resulting in high strength and ductility.
- Junheng Gao
- , Suihe Jiang
- & W. Mark Rainforth
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Research Highlight |
Four-in-one: telescopes join forces to spot a dim star in a black hole’s clutches
Technique could help to determine the spin of the supermassive black hole at the centre of our Galaxy.
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Where I Work |
Building a university to deliver work-ready engineers
Elena Rodriguez-Falcon is breaking the mould with a hands-on institution designed to meet Britain’s growing demand for engineering graduates.
- Chris Woolston
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Research Highlight |
Quantum computers seeking power hone their networking skills
Photons help to entangle two far-flung atoms, which can then be used for quantum calculations.
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Research Highlight |
These gels jump into the air with a snap and a pop
Gel discs launch themselves upwards again and again, with no external power source needed.
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News & Views |
Machine learning made easy for optimizing chemical reactions
An accessible machine-learning tool has been developed that can accelerate the optimization of a wide range of synthetic reactions — and reveals how cognitive bias might have undermined optimization by humans.
- Jason E. Hein
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Perspective |
Developing fibrillated cellulose as a sustainable technological material
Opportunities for the application of fibrillated cellulose materials—which can be extracted from renewable resources—and broader manufacturing issues of scale-up, sustainability and synergy with the paper-making industry are discussed.
- Tian Li
- , Chaoji Chen
- & Liangbing Hu
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Matters Arising |
Reply to: On the measured dielectric constant of amorphous boron nitride
- Seokmo Hong
- , Min-Hyun Lee
- & Hyeon Suk Shin
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Matters Arising |
On the measured dielectric constant of amorphous boron nitride
- Lei Li
- & Xiang Ming Chen
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Article |
Antiferromagnetic half-skyrmions and bimerons at room temperature
A family of topological antiferromagnetic spin textures is realized at room temperature in α-Fe2O3, and their reversible and field-free stabilization using a Kibble–Zurek-like temperature cycling is demonstrated.
- Hariom Jani
- , Jheng-Cyuan Lin
- & Paolo G. Radaelli
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Article |
Bayesian reaction optimization as a tool for chemical synthesis
Bayesian optimization is applied in chemical synthesis towards the optimization of various organic reactions and is found to outperform scientists in both average optimization efficiency and consistency.
- Benjamin J. Shields
- , Jason Stevens
- & Abigail G. Doyle
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Article |
Structural and spectroscopic characterization of an einsteinium complex
An einsteinium coordination complex is synthesized and spectroscopically characterized using less than 200 nanograms of einsteinium, enabling examination of its structure and measurement of an einsteinium bond distance.
- Korey P. Carter
- , Katherine M. Shield
- & Rebecca J. Abergel
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Nature Podcast |
Mysterious einsteinium spills its secrets
Exploring the properties of a vanishingly-rare artificial element, and the AI that generates new mathematical conjectures.
- Shamini Bundell
- & Nick Petrić Howe
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News |
AI maths whiz creates tough new problems for humans to solve
Algorithm named after mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan suggests interesting formulae, some of which are difficult to prove true.
- Davide Castelvecchi
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Article |
Viscoelastic control of spatiotemporal order in bacterial active matter
Introducing viscoelasticity by addition of DNA into the fluid surrounding a suspension of Escherichia coli produces a giant oscillating vortex with a period controllable through the DNA concentration.
- Song Liu
- , Suraj Shankar
- & Yilin Wu
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Article |
Generating conjectures on fundamental constants with the Ramanujan Machine
An approach called the Ramanujan Machine demonstrates the use of algorithms to find mathematical conjectures in the form of formulas of fundamental constants, some of which remain unproved.
- Gal Raayoni
- , Shahar Gottlieb
- & Ido Kaminer
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Technology Feature |
Five reasons why researchers should learn to love the command line
The text interface is intimidating, but can save researchers from mundane computing tasks. Just be sure you know what you’re doing.
- Jeffrey M. Perkel
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Article |
Tunable strongly coupled superconductivity in magic-angle twisted trilayer graphene
Highly tunable moiré superconductivity is observed in magic-angle twisted trilayer graphene, and observations suggest that this superconductor can be tuned close to the crossover to a two-dimensional Bose–Einstein condensate.
- Jeong Min Park
- , Yuan Cao
- & Pablo Jarillo-Herrero
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Nature Video |
Explaining the icy mystery of the Dyatlov Pass deaths
A sixty-year-old mystery from Soviet Russia could be explained by snow science.
- Shamini Bundell
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News |
Life on Venus claim faces strongest challenge yet
New studies knock down a controversial report observing phosphine in the planet’s atmosphere.
- Alexandra Witze
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News & Views |
Helium nucleus measured with record precision
The size of the helium nucleus has been determined using exotic helium atoms in which one electron has been replaced with its heavier cousin, a muon. The result sheds light on a decade-old puzzle regarding the proton radius.
- Wilfried Nörtershäuser
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Article |
Metastability of diamond ramp-compressed to 2 terapascals
X-ray diffraction measurements of solid carbon compressed to pressures of about two terapascals (approximately twenty million atmospheres) find that carbon retains a diamond structure even under these extreme conditions.
- A. Lazicki
- , D. McGonegle
- & J. S. Wark
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Article
| Open AccessMeasuring the α-particle charge radius with muonic helium-4 ions
The 2S–2P transitions in muonic helium-4 ions are measured using laser spectroscopy and used to obtain an α-particle charge-radius value five times more precise than that from electron scattering.
- Julian J. Krauth
- , Karsten Schuhmann
- & Franz Kottmann
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Book Review |
Meteorites: ‘a story written across light years down the barrel of a microscope’
Chemical clues reveal stories from the birth of the Solar System.
- Meenakshi Wadhwa
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Research Highlight |
A material cracks barriers to asymmetrical toughness
Precise engineering generates a structure that fractures more easily in one direction than the other.
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Research Highlight |
Chemists’ riff on melanin makes a rainbow
An adaptation to the body’s pigment formula produces particles that outshine melanin.
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Obituary |
Akito Arima (1930–2020)
Theoretician who simplified nuclear physics and revamped Japan’s science.
- David Swinbanks
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News & Views |
Mechanical memory written and read remotely
A device has been developed that consists of mechanical bits, analogous to the magnetic bits used in computer hard drives. Information encoded in the bits programs the mechanical properties of the device.
- Corentin Coulais
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News & Views |
Electrons broken into pieces at crystal defects
Fractional electric charges have been observed at crystal defects in artificial structures resembling materials called topological crystalline insulators. Such fractional charges could have various engineering applications.
- Carmine Ortix
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News Feature |
Ten computer codes that transformed science
From Fortran to arXiv.org, these advances in programming and platforms sent biology, climate science and physics into warp speed.
- Jeffrey M. Perkel
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Article |
A reprogrammable mechanical metamaterial with stable memory
A reprogrammable mechanical metamaterial constructed of bistable unit cells that can be switched independently and reversibly between two stable states with distinct mechanical properties using magnetic actuation is demonstrated.
- Tian Chen
- , Mark Pauly
- & Pedro M. Reis
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Article |
Trapped fractional charges at bulk defects in topological insulators
It is experimentally shown that crystallographic defects may trap fractional charges, as well as topological states, in the bulk of topological crystalline insulators.
- Christopher W. Peterson
- , Tianhe Li
- & Gaurav Bahl
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Article |
A stable low-temperature H2-production catalyst by crowding Pt on α-MoC
A stable, low-temperature water–gas shift catalyst is achieved by crowding platinum atoms and clusters on α-molybdenum carbide; the crowding protects the support from oxidation that would cause catalyst deactivation.
- Xiao Zhang
- , Mengtao Zhang
- & Ding Ma
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Article |
Wetting regulates autophagy of phase-separated compartments and the cytosol
A theoretical model, in vitro reconstitution and in vivo experimentation show that competition between droplet surface tension and membrane sheet instability dictates the form and function of autophagosomal membranes.
- Jaime Agudo-Canalejo
- , Sebastian W. Schultz
- & Roland L. Knorr
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Article |
Bulk–disclination correspondence in topological crystalline insulators
It is experimentally shown that topological states exist at crystallographic defects in the bulk and that disclination defects trap fractional charges characteristic of topological crystalline insulators.
- Yang Liu
- , Shuwai Leung
- & Jian-Hua Jiang