In an experiment, the Ac2-26 peptide protected neurons from cell death, which is characteristic of the condition. The study also demonstrated differences in disease progression and protection between males and females.

New experiment provides powerful testbed for ideas in quantum cosmology and gravity - theories relating to the early universe can now be tested in the laboratory. 

Thermal diffusion—a fundamental physical process pervasive in applications ranging from electronics to industrial systems—is inherently irreversible under the second law of thermodynamics. As temperature gradients spontaneously smooth out over time, crucial information regarding the initial thermal state is permanently lost due to entropy increase. This fundamental information loss leads to a severe ill-posedness in inverse thermal problems, where infinitesimal errors in the final observation can cause enormous uncertainties in the reconstructed initial state.

Birds in flocks, bacteria, cells: in many collective systems, individual elements respond to only part of their surroundings, seemingly defying Newton’s third law of motion — action equals reaction. These exceptions are known as non-reciprocal interactions. A Dresden physics team working with Roderich Moessner, a founding member of the Würzburg–Dresden Cluster of Excellence ctd.qmat, has now developed a theory that makes it possible to describe these interactions efficiently and simulate them far more precisely. This could help researchers study motion in swarms and flocks as well as biological processes in much greater detail. The findings have been published in Nature Physics.

Researchers have developed a solar driven catalyst material that harnesses the energy of a single photon to reduce carbon dioxide and oxidise organic waste at the same time, and produce valuable chemicals in both reactions. 

The valence state of iron in majorite, a major mineral in the deep interiors of Earth and Mars, was determined using high-pressure experiments and X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) analysis. The results show that majorite contains moderate amounts of Fe³⁺, suggesting that it may have played an important role in controlling the oxidation state of planetary mantles and in the formation of oxidized magmas near the surface after planetary formation.

Professor Sir Andre Geim, Nobel Laureate and Chair Professor in the Department of Physics under the Faculty of Science at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), delivered his inaugural lecture titled "Random Walk to Graphene" on 9 June. Held at the Grand Hall of the Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre, the lecture delved into how simple curiosity—and a willingness to embrace the unexpected—led to one of the most groundbreaking discoveries of our time. The event drew an audience of about 800 participants, spanning academic, policy, practitioner and student communities.