Can a small lump of metal be in a quantum state that extends over distant locations? A research team at the University of Vienna answers this question with a resounding yes. In the journal Nature, physicists from the University of Vienna and the University of Duisburg-Essen show that even massive nanoparticles consisting of thousands of sodium atoms follow the rules of quantum mechanics. The experiment is currently one of the best tests of quantum mechanics on a macroscopic scale. 

In a world first, a research team led by the University of Oxford’s Department of Engineering Science has shown it is possible to engineer a quantum mechanical process inside proteins, opening the door to a new class of quantum-enabled biological technologies. The study has been published today (21 January) in Nature.

A research team of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has achieved a revolutionary breakthrough in smart materials, successfully developing soft magnetorheological textiles that can flexibly deform and modulate their mechanical properties under a human-safe magnetic field. Driven by electricity and programmable control, these new materials combine lightweight, flexible and breathable textile characteristics, making them widely applicable in smart wearables, soft robotics, virtual reality and metaverse haptic experiences.

Generative AI models can propose molecular structures guided by target properties, compressing what once took years of trial-and-error into hours of computation. A team of researchers has now developed a new method that advances this capability even further. The method, PropMolFlow (Property-guided Molecular Flow), can generate molecular candidates roughly 10 times faster than existing methods—and without compromising the accuracy or chemical validity of the results. 

Due to their error-prone hardware, quantum computers have not yet found practical use. One promising solution is quantum error correction: special methods are used to find and correct errors in the calculations of quantum computers in order to achieve reliable results. In the snaQCs2025 project, neQxt GmbH, Fraunhofer IAF and Point 8 GmbH are working on the coordinated development of quantum error correction methods and quantum algorithms. The project aims at significantly advancing the practical applicability of quantum computers. The project kick-off took place in Cologne on January 14, 2026. The BMFTR is funding snaQCs with €2.5 million over three years.

University of Tennessee, Knoxville Assistant Professor Dien Nguyen has won an Early Career Award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, an $875,000 investment in understanding how materials are arranged at the fundamental level.