When a high-intensity laser interacts with plasma, the charged particles typically oscillate back and forth like waves on the ocean. But what if the laser itself could twist like a whirlpool? Researchers have now demonstrated a rotating, spring-shaped laser pulse, opening new possibilities for fusion energy, particle acceleration, astrophysics and beyond.
In new research published in Nature Photonics, scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the University of California, Irvine, demonstrated the first high-intensity “light spring” laser.
Unlike conventional laser beams, a light spring rotates around its central axis at a controllable rate. If shone onto a wall, the beam pattern would trace out circles over time.
An international research team has demonstrated that the intrinsic disorder of the compound semiconductor CuInSnS₄ can be exploited to influence its optical properties. While the atomic vibrations also sense the local disorder, their response is averaged over many different local environments and therefore appears isotropic, as expected for a cubic crystal.
In contrast, the optical excitations, known as excitons, are much more sensitive to the local arrangement of atoms. Surprisingly, they show a direction-dependent optical response even though the average crystal structure is cubic. These findings shed new light on the relationship between disorder and material properties, opening new options for targeted “disorder engineering” in optoelectronic and photocatalytic devices.
Crystals are typically characterized by a periodic arrangement of atoms, in which each element occupies well-defined crystallographic sites throughout the structure. In compound semiconductors such as CuInSnS₄, a member of the adamantine chalcogenide family, the cations are ideally distributed over specific positions in the crystal structure.
The world’s most powerful particle accelerator will shutter operations Monday for four years of renovations to dramatically boost its collision capacity and the potential for unlocking one of the greatest mysteries of the universe: dark matter.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC)—a 27-kilometer (17-mile) proton-smashing circular tunnel at the heart of Europe’s physics lab CERN near Geneva—has most famously been used to prove the existence of the Higgs boson, dubbed “the God particle.”
In the tunnel, running about 100 meters (330 feet) below the French-Swiss border area, superconducting magnets and accelerating structures propel particles to extreme energies and then smash them together at phenomenal speeds.
The International Space Station is now home to an even more capable quantum laboratory, where NASA cools atoms to nearly absolute zero to study one of the strangest states of matter known.
The researchers discovered the multiple superconducting states in atomically thin exfoliations of graphite, known as graphene. Specifically, graphene is a single-atom-thin sheet of carbon atoms arranged precisely in a microscopic lattice. The team made its discoveries in samples of rhombohedral graphene, which is a natural structure within graphite consisting of a stack of four or five graphene layers.
Interestingly, the researchers found that several of the new superconducting states in rhombohedral graphene are able to persist in the presence of a magnetic field, which normally kills superconductivity.
And in a further surprise, these superconducting states even get stronger when exposed to a magnetic field.
A new study has revealed an unexpected link between solar storms and the flux of high-energy cosmic rays arriving at Earth. The findings, made using one of the world’s largest cosmic ray detectors, could open up a new way to probe the magnetic structures inside solar storms—and potentially improve our ability to forecast their effects on Earth. The research has been published in Physical Review Letters.
Earth’s magnetic field is constantly being bombarded by energetic charged particles, originating from two very different sources. While some of these particles are cosmic rays, which come toward Earth from all directions across the galaxy, the rest originate from solar storms: violent outbursts from the sun that hurl vast clouds of magnetized plasma into space.
So far, the effects of these two phenomena have often been treated as independent. Although scientists have long known that solar storms can reduce the number of lower-energy cosmic rays reaching Earth by trapping them in the storm’s twisted magnetic fields, higher-energy cosmic rays were thought to be too energetic to be affected. At these energies, the particles were expected to punch straight through the magnetic structures without being deflected.
Researchers have shown that an unusual class of quantum states known as “fractional Fermi seas” can be deliberately created, according to a new study published in Physical Review Letters. The work was carried out by the Nägerl group together with theoretical physicist Alvise Bastianello of CNRS and Université Paris-Dauphine.
The study demonstrates how a new critical phase of matter can emerge when quantum particles are pushed far from their normal equilibrium conditions. Using ultracold cesium atoms confined to one dimension, the researchers repeatedly altered how strongly the particles interacted with one another. The resulting state goes beyond the behavior predicted by the well-known Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid theory, a cornerstone for understanding one-dimensional quantum systems.
This publication provides the theoretical framework for recent experimental research conducted in the group of Hans-Christoph Nägerl at the Department of Experimental Physics.
From cosmic rays to solar storms, space travel is a radiation gauntlet… but water may be the simplest, smartest solution. Discover how future starships might turn their life-support systems into life-saving armor.
Get Nebula using my link for 50% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur. Watch my exclusive video Nearby Supernovae: https://nebula.tv/videos/isaacarthur–… out Gods & Monsters: https://nebula.tv/curiousarchive/gods… 🛒 SFIA Merchandise: https://isaac-arthur-shop.fourthwall… 🌐 Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net ❤️ Support us on Patreon: / isaacarthur ⭐ Support us on Subscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/isaac-a… 👥 Facebook Group: / 1,583,992,725,237,264 📣 Reddit Community: / isaacarthur 🐦 Follow on Twitter / X: / isaac_a_arthur 💬 SFIA Discord Server: / discord Credits: Fishbowl Starships Water As Shielding Episode 721; June 1, 2025; Nebula Exclusive Written, Produced, & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur Graphics: Bryan Versteeg, Jeremy Jozwik, Udo Schroeter Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator Taras Harkavyi, “Alpha and…” Chris Zabriskie, “Unfoldment, Revealment”, “A New Day in a New Sector” “Oxygen Garden”, “Wonder Cycle” Stellardrone, “Red Giant”, “Billions and Billions” Chapters: 0:00 Intro 1:45 The Threat — Radiation In Space 2:36 Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) 3:44 Solar Particle Events (SPEs) 4:16 Van Allen Belt Radiation 5:19 Radiation’s Impact on Humans and Equipment 8:18 Radiation Shielding Basics 9:18 Water as a Radiation Shield 11:19 Effectiveness of Water 15:42 Difficulties Using Water 17:29 Beyond Water: Alternative Radiation Shielding Methods 17:59 Metallic Shielding 18:58 Regolith & Asteroid-Based Shielding 20:27 Hydrogen-Rich Polymers 21:22 Graphene, CNTs, and BNNTs 23:54 Active Shielding: Magnetic & Plasma Barriers 24:49 Fusion Fuel Shielding 25:27 Hybrid Shielding Approaches 28:16 God & Monsters 29:26 The Future of Radiation Shielding 30:00 Smart & Self-Healing Shielding 31:29 Artificial Magnetospheres 33:22 Biological Adaptation 35:35 Radiation-Resistant AI & Robotics 37:45 The Future of Space Radiation Protection 38:55 The Future of Water-Based Shielding. Check out Gods \& Monsters: https://nebula.tv/curiousarchive/gods…
🛒 SFIA Merchandise: https://isaac-arthur-shop.fourthwall… 🌐 Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net. ❤️ Support us on Patreon: / isaacarthur. ⭐ Support us on Subscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/isaac-a… 👥 Facebook Group: / 1583992725237264 📣 Reddit Community: / isaacarthur. 🐦 Follow on Twitter / X: / isaac_a_arthur. 💬 SFIA Discord Server: / discord. Credits: Fishbowl Starships Water As Shielding. Episode 721; June 1, 2025; Nebula Exclusive. Written, Produced, \& Narrated by: Isaac Arthur. Graphics: Bryan Versteeg, Jeremy Jozwik, Udo Schroeter. Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images. Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator. Taras Harkavyi, \
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One of the most popular ideas in physics right now is something named “ER = EPR.” This theory has it that entangled particles are actually linked by tiny, tiny wormholes. Recently, a group of physicists tested the idea – let’s take a look at their findings.
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The #1 most-wanted particle in physics is the graviton, a quantum of gravity. If physicists were to prove that gravitons exist, they would unambiguously prove that Einstein’s theory is ultimately wrong and must be replaced by a more complete theory that gives quantum properties to space and time. In a recent paper, a physicist came up with an ingenious experiment that could prove that gravitons do exist. Let’s take a look.
