A Programmable Quantum Simulator Models Exotic Matter
Physicists built machines that mimic hard-to-study quantum systems. Programmable simulators use controllable atoms or ions to emulate exotic states of...
Year: 2026
Reservoir of Ancient Ice Reveals Past Climate
Ice cored from deep in the poles holds a diary of Earth's climate. Bubbles trapped in the ice preserve ancient...
Enzyme Engineering Turns Sunlight Into Fuel Precursors
Engineered biology is being harnessed to make fuels from light and carbon dioxide. Researchers redesign enzymes and microbes to build...
Deep Learning Reconstructs Images From Brain Activity
AI can begin to reconstruct what a person sees from their brain activity. Models trained on scans translate neural patterns...
Optical Tweezers Assemble Atoms One by One
Beams of light can grab and arrange individual atoms like building blocks. Optical tweezers position single atoms into custom arrays....
A Recyclable Plastic Designed to Be Unmade
Chemists designed a plastic built to be broken back into its building blocks. The polymer can be depolymerized and remade...
Whole-Genome Sequencing Reaches the Newborn Nursery
Reading a newborn's entire genome can speed diagnosis of rare disease. Rapid sequencing now returns results in days for critically...
Superconducting Nickelates Open a New Materials Frontier
A new family of superconductors emerged to rival the famous copper oxides. In 2019 researchers found superconductivity in nickelate materials....
A Vaccine Cuts Malaria Cases in Children
After decades of effort, malaria vaccines are reaching children at scale. Trials and rollouts showed meaningful reductions in cases and...
Programmable Matter Advances With Reconfigurable Robots
Swarms of simple units are learning to assemble into shapes on demand. Modular robots reconfigure themselves to form structures or...
