Ultrafast all-optical modulators are central to the advancement of next-generation photonic computing and signal-processing systems. However, the intrinsic electron–phonon relaxation bottleneck in plasmonic materials has long constrained modulation speeds to the picosecond regime, hindering the realization of sub-100 fs modulation. Here, we report a metastructured silver–single-crystal silicon nanodisk antenna that delivers experimentally resolved sub-100 fs all-optical modulation. Distinct from conventional planar metal–semiconductor junctions, the nanodisk architecture spatially co-localizes plasmonic energy deposition with the metal–semiconductor transfer boundary within a nanoscale-confined volume. This configuration markedly shortens hot-carrier transport pathways and preferentially activates interfacial carrier extraction during the earliest relaxation stage, thereby establishing an interface-dominated modulation pathway that precedes electron–phonon thermalization. By enabling modulation on timescales comparable to intrinsic electronic response limits, this work establishes a physical foundation for ultrafast photonic modulation, including femtosecond free-space photonic computing architectures, temporal optical gating, and other ultrafast systems constrained by carrier or cavity lifetimes.

Today’s computers store information using only two values: 0 and 1. But as electronic devices become smaller and reach their limits, scientists are searching for new ways to pack more information into the same space.

One idea is to use magnetism. In some materials, atoms behave like tiny magnets that can arrange themselves in different patterns. If each pattern represents a different value, one memory element could store more than just two possibilities.

In this study, researchers found a material in which these atomic magnets can form four different magnetic states. They showed that these states can be controlled using electric and magnetic fields and remain stable once created. Using neutron experiments at the Institut Laue-Langevin, the scientists were able to observe each of the four magnetic states that were created by applying electric and magnetic fields. This discovery hints at a future where computers might store significantly more information than today’s binary technologies.

Seismic anisotropy near stagnant slabs in the mantle transition zone and uppermost lower mantle suggests an additional slab-related source. High-pressure deformation experiments on hydrous minerals δ-AlOOH and δ-H at 20.5–24.5 GPa and 800–1000 °C show that they develop strong crystallographic preferred orientations. The resulting fabrics produce negative radial seismic anisotropy (V_SV > V_SH) under horizontal flow, distinct from many major mantle minerals, and may contribute to anisotropy near flattened slab tops.

The new data storage technology is up to 30 times more radiation-resilient than current data storage.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Glowbug-2 instrument successfully launched on board the Department of War (DoW) Space Test Program – Houston 11 (STP-H11) payload at approximately 6:05 p.m. EDT on May 15, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla.

SAN ANTONIO — May 18, 2026 — Looking back at 14 years of Hubble telescope data for Jupiter’s moon Europa has given Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientists a better understanding of its tenuous atmosphere. The findings have cast doubt on previous evidence suggesting that the icy moon intermittently discharges faint water plumes from a presumed subsurface ocean.

A new study led by researchers at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) and the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC) reveals how the discs of galaxies like the Milky Way are affected by ancient galactic collisions.