Physics
News
20 May 2025
Researchers at Tohoku University have achieved record-breaking energy efficiency for a high-speed memory storage device, called a SOT-MRAM cell.
16 May 2025
Janus heterobilayers – dual-sided materials with unique properties – may be the key to efficiently creating clean hydrogen fuels.
08 May 2025
The rules about magnetic order may need to be rewritten. An international team of researchers found that it was possible to turn a non-magnetic material into a magnetic material by slicing it into thin films.
05 May 2025
In-situ phosphatized Ni–N3PC boosts CO2 to CO conversion in acidic electrolyte, suppresses HER, and achieves >90% FECO with high stability.
02 May 2025
- Professor Hyuk-jun Kwon’s team at DGIST has developed a high-performance artificial olfactory platform that mimics the human nose to identify a wide range of scents
- A simple laser-based process enables scent-sensitive sensors ... AI-powered scent analysis is expected to impact healthcare, cosmetics, and environmental monitoring
01 May 2025
A research team at Tohoku University’s Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR) has developed a new technique to rapidly and accurately determine the charge state of electrons confined in semiconductor quantum dots—fundamental components of quantum computing systems. The method is based on Bayesian inference, a statistical framework that estimates the most likely state of a system using observed data.
30 Apr 2025
Researchers at Tohoku University have developed a data-driven AI framework that gives scientists a head start by suggesting ideal candidate materials.
25 Apr 2025
Researchers found a strategy to create catalysts that make the production of hydrogen for clean fuel more efficient and affordable.
24 Apr 2025
These dynamically adjustable water-based lenses have many potential future uses, from classrooms and research labs to cameras and wearable gadgets.
22 Apr 2025
Researchers at Tohoku University explored a colloidal crystal model to produce specific polymorphs, required for use in materials science and pharmaceuticals.
21 Apr 2025
New light-powered DNA detection enables more accessible, affordable genetic analysis
17 Apr 2025
Conventional thinking holds that the metal site in single atom catalysts (SACs) has been a limiting factor to the continued improvement of the design and, therefore, the continued improvement of the capability of these SACs. More specifically, the lack of outside-the-box thinking when it comes to the crucial hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), a half-reaction resulting in the splitting of water, has contributed to a lack of advancement in this field. New
research emphasizes the importance of pushing the limits of the metal site design in SACs to optimize the HER and addressing the poisoning effects of HO* and O* that might affect the reaction. All of these improvements could lead to an improved performance of the reaction, which can make sustainable energy storage or hydrogen production more available.
15 Apr 2025
Quasicrystals are intriguing materials with long-range atomic order that lack periodicity. It has been a longstanding question whether antiferromagnetism, while commonly found in regular crystals, is even possible in quasicrystals. In a new study, researchers have finally answered this question, providing the first definitive neutron diffraction evidence of antiferromagnetism in a real icosahedral quasicrystal. This discovery opens a new research area of quasiperiodic antiferromagnets, with potential applications in spintronics.
15 Apr 2025
Back in 2021, MLB decided to crack down on pitchers’ use of resin to grip the ball better. As a result, the average spin of a pitch dropped, and batters hit more balls. A team of researchers has explored the phenomenon behind this.
08 Apr 2025
From harmful to helpful; researchers at Tohoku University and Hokkaido University have developed a record-breaking method to efficiently convert carbon dioxide into a fuel source.
07 Apr 2025
A researcher from The University of Osaka resolves a long-standing paradox regarding the theoretical description of glassy materials
28 Mar 2025
Researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, discover brand new one-dimensional diffraction patterns in two-dimensional nanomaterials, with exciting implications
26 Mar 2025
Quantum computers can solve calculations that would take traditional computers thousands of years in mere minutes. What if that analytical power is turned inwards?
26 Mar 2025
A novel method to improve the photoluminescent efficiency of metal clusters has been developed – which could potentially be used in applications such as bioimaging or display technologies.
25 Mar 2025
Researchers investigated different compositions of tin sulfides to find the ideal material for devices that harness solar energy.
18 Mar 2025
The Super-Kamiokande and Tokai-to-Kamioka (T2K) Collaborations have produced a first joint analysis of their data
18 Mar 2025
Researchers have found that pressure can scramble the electrical charge order in a material, creating a disordered "charge glass" state before it turns metallic. This discovery in BiNiO3 offers a new perspective on how materials change under pressure, expanding our understanding of phase transitions, and marking a significant advancement in the fields of physics and materials science.
17 Mar 2025
Using AI image recognition, deep learning model efficiently and accurately finds structures related to star formation
17 Mar 2025
Surviving Antarctica, Probiotics ease anxiety, Ancient mariners, Addressing large urban fires, Smart patch & Dying galaxies. Plus Women experts for International Women’s Day 2025. Read all in the latest Editor's Choice.
11 Mar 2025
By incorporating gadolinium into a catalyst, its efficiency in a reaction that produces hydrogen fuel increases. This could be the boost we need to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
10 Mar 2025
To be able to make the switch to environmentally friendly hydrogen fuels, there needs to be a catalyst…or a precatalyst, to be specific!
07 Mar 2025
Soaking up pollutants like a sponge, porous organic polymers (POPs) may be the key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to researchers at Tohoku University.
06 Mar 2025
Scientists develop simplified formulas to quantify quantum entanglement in strongly correlated electron systems
27 Feb 2025
A twist you’ll never see coming: a breakthrough in understanding the relationship between chirality and electric flow at a microscopic level may help us develop chiral information technology.
27 Feb 2025
Strong, lightweight, superelastic, and able to function across a range of temperatures, this newly developed alloy could be a game-changer for space exploration and medical technology.
Events
17 Jan 2022 to 21 Jan 2022
World’s brightest minds converge at virtual summit to inspire young researchers and discuss key issues
12 Jan 2021 to 15 Jan 2021
Organised by the National Research Foundation – Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore, the ninth edition of the Global Young Scientists Summit (GYSS@one-north) will take place 12 to 15 January 2021 as a virtual event.
Researchers
Dr. Umedjon Khalilov is a computational materials scientist with over 20 years of experience in atomistic modeling of nanostructures. His research integrates molecular dynamics (MD), Monte Carlo (MC), and density functional theory (DFT) simulations to investigate the synthesis, stability, and functionality of carbon-based and silicon-based nanomaterials. He has led or contributed to numerous international projects focused on hydrogen storage, carbon nanotube growth, and surface reactions in plasma environments. Dr. Khalilov is also actively involved in AI-driven materials discovery and collaborative platforms bridging simulation with experiment.
He has authored 40+ peer-reviewed publications in leading journals.
Ken’ichi Nomoto is a visiting senior scientist at Kavli IPMU and Professor Emeritus at The University of Tokyo. He is one of the best experts in the world in astronomy and astrophysics, particularly on stellar evolution and supernovae. He was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Japanese government in 2020.
Emily Nardoni is a Kavli IPMU Fellow and project researcher. She specializes in theoretical high energy physics, with her research focus on understanding the nature of quantum field theory (QFT).
Miho Katsuragawa is a specially appointed project researcher at Kavli IPMU. Her areas of expertise include experimental physics, detector/instrument development, medical application of gamma-ray imaging, and high energy astrophysics.
Jia Liu is the Director of the Center for Data-Driven Discovery and associate professor at CMB Group at Kavli IPMU. Her research integrates data science techniques in the study of large-scale structures of the universe (dark matter, halos, filaments, voids).
Dr. Akira Kakugo is an Associate Professor at Hokkaido University. He has researched biomolecular motors and swarming of active matters.
Professor Ren Yang is a physicist and Chair Professor at the Department of Physics at City University of Hong Kong. His research interests focus on the structure-property relationship studies of materials by utilizing synchrotron X-ray and neutron scattering and other techniques.
Robert E Simpson is an Associate Professor at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). Rob’s research interests are focused on designing new materials for applications in electronics, photonics, data storage, and biosensing.
Prof. Jun-Seok Oh is currently working at the Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka City University, He does research in Experimental Plasma Physics and is currently interested in atmospheric pressure plasma applications, 'Plasma Medicine' and 'Plasma Agriculture'.
Prof. Shigekawa's research interest includes fabrication of heterointerfaces and advanced hybrid semiconductor devices such as multijunction solar cells and heterojunction bipolar transistors using surface activated bonding and their characterization.
Dr. Ma’s research mainly focuses on electronic structure of topological materials, superconductivity, low-dimensional materials, and correlated materials using Angle Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARPES).
Prof Pu Jiang is currently an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Engineering Applied Physics 1, Nagoya University
Ken-ichi Uchida is a group leader in the Spin Caloritronics Group, Research Center for Magnetic and Spintronic Materials under the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Japan
Rabin Mahat is a result-oriented and multifaceted doctoral student in Experimental Condensed Matter Physics at The University of Alabama, USA. He is currently working under the guidance of Dr. Patrick LeClair, and Dr. Arunava Gupta. He received M.Sc. in Physics in 2013 from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He also received his second M.Sc. in experimental Condensed Matter Physics from the University of Alabama in 2019. Rabin's main research is focused on the discovery of novel half-metallic Heusler compounds for potential spintronics device applications. He excels academic and professional expertise in process engineering, research procedures and material science.
Since September 2023, I am a researcher at Mainz University, Germany. Before that, I was an Assistant Professor of the Physics Department at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Science (IASBS), Zanjan, Iran since Dec. 2015. However, in September 2012, I resigned from my faculty position in support of the "Woman, Life, Freedom" protest in Iran and now I am an exiled scholar. I have been a Junior Associate of the International Center of Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy since January 2017 and a TWAS Young Affiliate member since 2018. I was a visiting researcher at ICTP-SAIFR, São Paulo, Brazil (June - Nov. 2015) under the TWAS fellowship, and also a Post-Doctoral fellow of the School of Physics in the Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM) Tehran, Iran (Oct. 2012 - May 2015). I finished my Ph.D. in the Physics Department of Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Germany in Aug. 2012. I did also a one-year Postgraduate Diploma Programme of ICTP (2007-2008) in High Energy Physics.
Dr Anisa Qamar is a professor in Physics in the Department of Physics, University of Peshawar, Pakistan. She is also the President of Pakistan Physical Society.
Associate Professor, Disaster Science Division, International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University
Dr. Zhifeng Huang is a professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, and associate director of nanomaterials at HKBU's Golden Meditech Centre for NeuroRegeneration Sciences. He co-founded Mat-A-Cell Ltd.
Current: Deputy and Administrative Director & Principal Investigator of International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA) .
Professor at the Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba
Dr. Omachi is Associate Professor, Research Center for Materials Science, Nagoya University
Giants in history
Chinese-American physicist Tsung-Dao Lee (24 November 1926 – 4 August 2024) was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1957 together with Chen-Ning Yang for their work challenging the symmetry law in subatomic particles. They were the first Chinese Nobel prize winners, with Lee becoming the second-youngest laureate. Born in Shanghai, he went to the United States on scholarship and studied under another Nobel winner, Enrico Fermi.
Turkish astrophysicist Dilhan Eryurt (29 November 1926 – 13 September 2012) conducted research on how the sun affects environmental conditions on the moon.
Physicist and statistician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis (29 June 1893– 28 June 1972), who founded the Indian Statistical Institute in 1931, is known for his pioneering application of statistics to practical problems.
Chinese electron microscopy specialist Li Fanghua (6 January 1932 – 24 January 2020) facilitated the high-resolution imaging of crystal structures by eliminating interference.
Toshiko Yuasa (11 December 1909 – 1 February 1980) was the first Japanese female physicist whose research on radioactivity shed light on beta decay – the process in which an atom emits a beta particle (electron) and turns into a different element.
Malaysia’s first astrophysicist, Mazlan binti Othman (born 11 December 1951) was instrumental in launching the country’s first microsatellite, and in sending Malaysia’s first astronaut, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, into space.
Hideki Yukawa (23 January 1907 – 8 September 1981) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1949 for predicting the existence of the pi meson subatomic particle. Japan’s first Nobel laureate, Yakawa also expressed his support for nuclear disarmament by signing the Russell–Einstein Manifesto in 1955.
Shinichiro Tomonaga (31 March 1906 – 8 July 1979), together with Richard Feynman and Julian Schwinger, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965, for their contributions to advance the field of quantum electrodynamics. Tomonaga was also a strong proponent of peace, who actively campaigned against the proliferation of nuclear weapons and promoted the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
South Korean theoretical physicist Daniel Chonghan Hong (3 March 1956 – 6 July 2002) achieved fame in the public sphere through his research into the physics of popcorn.
Chinese physicist Xie Xide (19 March 1921 – 4 March 2000) was an influential educator and one of China’s pioneer researchers of solid-state physics.
Physicist Narinder Singh Kapany (31 October 1926 – 4 December 2020) pioneered the use of optical fibres to transmit images, and founded several optical technology companies. Born in Punjab, India, he worked at a local optical instruments factory before moving to London for PhD studies at Imperial College. There, he devised a flexible fibrescope to convey images along bundles of glass fibres.
Japanese physicist Ukichiro Nakaya (1900-1962) made the world’s first artificial snowflakes. He started his research on snow crystals in the early 1930s at Hokkaido University, where there is an unlimited supply of natural snow in winter. By taking over 3,000 photographs, he established a classification of natural snow crystals and described their relationship with weather conditions.
Charles Kuen Kao (Nov. 4, 1933 to Sept. 23, 2018) was an engineer who is regarded as the father of fibre optics. His work in the 1960s on long distance signal transmission using very pure glass fibres revolutionized telecommunications, enabling innovations such as the Internet.
Meghnad Saha (6 October 1893 – 16 February 1956) was an Indian astrophysicist best known for formulating the Saha ionization equation which describes the chemical and physical properties of stars.
Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose (30 November 1858 – 23 November 1937) was a scientist and inventor who contributed to a wide range of scientific fields such as physics, botany and biology.
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (19 October 1910 – 21 August 1995) was an Indian astrophysicist who studied the structure and evolution of stars.
Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (7 November 1888 – 21 November 1970) was an Indian physicist who performed ground-breaking research in the field of light-scattering.
Mohammad Abdus Salam (29 January 1926 – 21 November 1996) was a theoretical physicist and the first Pakistani to receive a Nobel Prize in science.
Gopalasamudram Narayanan Ramachandran (8 October 1922 – 7 April 2001) is best known for developing the Ramachandran plot to understand the structure of short chains of amino acids, known as peptides.
Chien-Shiung Wu (31 May 1912 – 16 February 1997) was an experimental physicist who made several important contributions to nuclear physics. Wu worked on the Manhattan Project – a top-secret program for the production of nuclear weapons during World War II and helped to develop a process for separating uranium into U235 and U238.
Bibha Chowdhuri (1913 – 2 June 1991) was an Indian physicist who researched on particle physics and cosmic rays. In 1936, she was the only female to complete a M.Sc. degree at the University of Calcutta.
Lin Lanying (7 February 1918 – 4 March 2003) was a Chinese material engineer remembered for her contributions to the field of semiconductor and aerospace materials. Lanying was born into a family who did not believe in educating girls and she was not allowed to go to school.
Gregorio Y. Zara (8 March 1902 – 15 October 1978) was a Filipino engineer and physicist best remembered for inventing the first two-way video telephone. Zara’s video telephone invention enabled the caller and recipient to see each other while conversing, laying the foundation for video-conferencing