A flash of light brings order to a quantum material
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 19-Oct-2026 13:17 ET (19-Oct-2026 17:17 GMT/UTC)
Auburn University researchers have used ultrashort laser pulses to align nanoscale polar regions in a quantum ferroelectric metal. Selected as a Physical Review Letters Editors’ Suggestion and Featured in Physics, the study provides evidence that electric order emerges through the alignment of pre-existing polar regions and establishes an optical approach to controlling them, with potential relevance to future ultrafast optoelectronic technologies.
A new technique significantly improves weather forecasting beyond two weeks. Researchers developed a machine-learning model that learns to correct errors in existing forecasting models to make their output more accurate over the two-to-six-week time frame, a key window for emergency planning.
Scientists have identified and activated a small group of neurons responsible for the initiation of learned movements. The study used cutting-edge techniques to not only “read” brain activity down to the level of individual cells, but “write” patterns that allowed researchers to control movement.
A team of researchers headquartered at the University of Oklahoma is taking an innovative approach toward advancing grassland conservation and management, with grant support from the the U.S. National Science Foundation. The project brings together experts and observatory sites from across the state.
Perovskites, manufactured crystals used in solar cells, have long promised to boost solar power, but internal defects have blunted their potential. Now, researchers at Princeton Engineering have corrected the defects by adding a novel combination of chemicals during fabrication.
Physicist David Nolte is developing a laser-based"bio-dynamic" imaging system that could improve the care of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Nolte's system can rapidly evaluate the outcome of different drugs on patient biopsies obtained during diagnosis to ensure patients get the chemotherapy treatment that would be most effective on their specific tumor.
Methane emissions from the oil and gas sector held steady in the United States even as oil and gas production increased during a recent period of heightened regulations, according to new research from Johns Hopkins University. The study, published today in Nature Communications Earth & Environment, is part of an effort to determine whether federal greenhouse gas legislation and mandates have meaningfully decreased methane emissions.
New research by University of Utah biologists uncovers how aspen trees 'remember' past drought in their leaves. Concentrations of chemical compounds that protect aspens from insects and pathogens rise and fall in the years after exposure to drought.