Researchers have achieved high-fidelity control of multiple silicon spin qubits operating in parallel. Using a five-qubit silicon array controlled through a single shared microwave line, they identified a key source of errors during the simultaneous operation of qubits and developed a way to mitigate its effects. This shows that high-fidelity control can be maintained even when several qubits are operated at the same time and represents an important step toward scaling up silicon-based quantum processors.

Kyoto, Japan -- Structural metals used in engineering projects are expected to have both high strength and high ductility: an ability to withstand heavy loads and deform before failure. Achieving both of these properties at the same time, however, is challenging.

An important measure of ductility is uniform elongation, or the amount of deformation a metal can sustain before it concentrates in one small area, resulting in a fracture. Some metals become stronger as they are deformed -- a phenomenon known as strain hardening -- so if a material can continue to harden sufficiently during deformation, theoretically uniform stretching can be maintained. However, a metal's effectiveness usually decreases as deformation continues. While some advanced metals obtain additional strain hardening from deformation-twinning and martensitic transformation, these processes tend to compete with each other, so metals are commonly designed to rely predominantly on just one or the other.

A team of researchers at Kyoto University wondered if both mechanisms could be activated in the same material at different stages of deformation, and hypothesized this could cause strains to harden sequentially rather than compete with each other. They proposed a strategy in which different deformation mechanisms are activated in sequence, with each providing additional strain hardening as the previous step becomes less effective.

A new light-controlled organic semiconductor developed at Osaka Metropolitan University shows charge-transport performance comparable to leading organic semiconductor materials, offering promise for future “flexible” electronics.

Only four enzymes including D-apionate oxidoisomerase (ApnO) are known to catalyze distinct, sequential chemical reactions at a single active site. Biochemical and crystallographic analysis revealed the catalytic mechanism of ApnO containing zinc and manganese ions as metal cofactors, and unique tetrahedral coordination geometry of the later. This study provides new insight into the molecular evolution of rare enzymes that defy the general paradigm wherein a single enzyme's activity is classified under a single reaction mode.

 An international collaborative research group led by the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS) of the National Institutes for Natural Sciences, the University of Electro-Communications (UEC), Clemson University, and Grenoble Alpes University has demonstrated a new method for evaluating nuclear charge radii using atomic spectroscopy with the Tokyo-EBIT experimental facility at UEC. The research group performed high-precision extreme ultraviolet spectroscopy of “highly charged ions (HCIs)”— atoms that have been ionized many times. By comparing the precise atomic energy levels obtained from the experiments with the latest atomic structure calculations, the nuclear size effect on the atomic energy-levels could be successfully evaluated, leading to the determination of the nuclear charge-radii.

 In the present study, the research targets were the rare-earth elements lutetium (Lu) and ytterbium (Yb). These are neighboring elements on the periodic table. The research group used a new method to evaluate the difference in the sizes of these atomic nuclei. As a result, it was found that the anomalous trend—suggested by conventional recommended databases—that “the lutetium nucleus is larger than that of its adjacent element” is incorrect, and clarified that the odd-even staggering observed in nuclear radii is restored to its expected form. However, this experiment revealed a degree of odd-even staggering so unexpectedly significant that it cannot be explained by currently widely used theoretical calculations, raising the discrepancy between experiment and theory as a new challenge.

 This research not only demonstrates the potential of HCI spectroscopy for new nuclear structure studies but also raises new challenges for understanding the structure of heavy nuclides.

Researchers from the University of Osaka have developed a rhodium-catalyzed reaction that uses a single carbon atom to join two flat molecules into a rigid 3D spirocyclic structure. The reaction cleaves carbon–carbon single bonds and forms four new carbon–carbon bonds around one central carbon. It can join identical or different molecules, and it is expected to aid the design of new functional molecules for applications such as electronic materials.

Researchers combined single-nucleosome imaging with fluorescent Fucci cell-cycle probes to follow local DNA motion in human cells. They found that average local DNA motion remains nearly constant from G1 through S and G2 phases, even as DNA content doubles and the nucleus grows. At the same time, local DNA motion can increase in response to transcription inhibition, replication stress and DNA damage.

Novel Sillén oxyhalides, exhibit high oxide-ion conductivity at low temperatures, chemical stability, and negligible chemical expansion. One of the materials achieves 0.01 S cm⁻¹ bulk conductivity at 233 °C—within the “Norby gap.” The discovery reveals an unexpected vacancy-mediated mechanism for oxide-ion transport despite excess oxygen, introducing a new materials-design concept for fast oxide-ion conductors and low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells. The present findings may open a new research field, “Oxide Ionics.”

The stability of the human gut microbiome relies on interactions between different bacterial species. However, the specific molecular mechanisms of these interactions, particularly among non-dominant species, remain largely unexplored. In a new study, a research team from Hosei University, Japan, has discovered such an interaction, in which Escherichia coli detects metabolites from Bifidobacterium through a special sensory mechanism, forming a non-dominant communication network. This finding helps explain how gut microbiome diversity is maintained.