Physicists have liberated the revolutionary concept of "twistronics"—famously known for unleashing exotic quantum phenomena in twisted two-dimensional materials—into dynamic, propagating light fields in free space. By superimposing and twisting three-dimensional topological optical lattices, researchers at Nanyang Technological University created a rich family of previously undiscovered "optical supertopologies," including skyrmionium bags, topological superlattices and quasicrystals. These topological light can propagate nondiffractively over extended distances, exhibit self-healing resilience against solid obstacles, and can be digitally reprogrammed on demand.

Black hole jet ejections are powerful outbursts of high-energy photons and particles that provide insights into extreme astrophysical processes. However, predicting when they will occur remains difficult. In a study, researchers from Japan analyzed observations of four black hole binary systems, identifying decreases in the accretion disk’s inner radius and changes in emitted X-ray variability as possible predictors for jet ejection. Their findings could help astronomers forecast these phenomena more accurately and coordinate timely observations.

Researchers at Wuhan University have developed an instrument that uses nighttime airglow to measure winds and temperatures near 87, 97, and 250 kilometers above Earth. A short field campaign in Chongyang, China, showed reasonable agreement with meteor-radar winds at the lower two heights, providing an initial assessment of the system for future studies of upper-atmospheric dynamics.