Physics

An accelerator of the highest-energy protons in our galaxy has been identified; it could help scientists better understand the nature of these fast-moving particles that fill the space between stars.

Graphene revolutionized materials science after its discovery in 2004. Its list of potential applications is long, but its use in high-temperature superconductors has been stymied by weak electron interactions. Researchers from Tohoku University have recently created a stable version of boron graphene on the surface of a three-dimensional crystal, potentially overcoming this limitation and opening a pathway toward more energy-efficient electronic devices.

Using a simple physical model, researchers at the University of Osaka, The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), RIKEN, and the Institute of Science Tokyo revealed how superionic conduction emerges when mobile ions undergo sublattice melting while the surrounding crystal framework remains intact. Near this transition, ions move cooperatively in spatially heterogeneous, string-like patterns, aided by anharmonic lattice motion. The findings identify general physical principles connecting lattice softness and collective transport, potentially guiding more efficient development of solid electrolytes for batteries and energy-conversion technologies.

Researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo reveal how crystal symmetry determines whether hydrogen follows the rules of quantum or classical physics

Located 1,000 meters underground in Japan, the Super-Kamiokande observatory strains to detect the faintest of signals amongst all sorts of noise: ghost-like neutrino particles. A recent analysis of 5,000 days of data provides an exciting, world-first indication of a flux of neutrinos called Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background (DSNB) – emitted by supernovae over cosmic history.

Researchers developed a hybrid supercapacitor electrode by anchoring two-dimensional vanadium disulfide nanosheets onto one-dimensional porous graphitic carbon nitride nanotubes. The mixed-dimensional structure improves ion transport, charge storage, and cycling stability, offering a promising strategy for fast and durable energy storage.

A research group has developed “TP-An,” a molecule that enables even low-energy, long-wavelength light to be used more effectively by solar cells and photocatalysts. The molecule can be used even at high concentrations that are difficult for traditional materials, suggesting their usefulness in technology.

New experimental evidence demonstrates that discrete space-time crystals can be realized in classical soft-matter systems, thereby moving beyond the traditional complexities of quantum mechanics.

Researchers at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, carry out computer experiments to track how water nanodroplets wet surfaces

Kanazawa University-led researchers developed a one-step recycling method that recovers toxic lead (Pb) and valuable metals including gold (Au) and indium (In) from flexible perovskite solar cells, supporting sustainable solar energy technologies.

Researchers demonstrate a systematic screening method that can help find promising catalyst candidates without the tedious trial-and-error of every single possible combination.

Researchers at the University of Osaka have developed a quantum mechanical model for concentrated organic radical solutions considering stochastic collisions between molecules. The first-order contribution to intermolecular interactions is averaged to zero by collisional fluctuations, but the second-order term survives and enhances the magnetic susceptibility. These results explain experimental observations of an anomalous increase in the magnetic susceptibility at the solid-to-fluid transition that cannot be predicted by conventional theories.

An exciting new strategy involving a specially designed iron-based catalyst can speed up the reaction that powers next-gen zinc-air batteries. This means cleaner, more efficient energy for everyone.

An international research collaboration, including OMU, IJS, NIST and AUT, has unveiled a robust metallic state in the molecular material ytterbium cesium fulleride (Yb₂CsC₆₀) that directly tests conventional theories of electron behavior. Normally, strong interactions between electrons are expected to suppress their movement and turn materials into insulators through a process called a Mott transition. However, Yb₂CsC₆₀ represents a case where metallicity survived, suggesting that the material’s electrons were continuing to move collectively, stabilized by a different mechanism. The discovery is of relevance to future research in fields such as superconductivity, quantum matter, and next-generation electronic technologies.

New “GMBU” procedure reveals band structures in finite, curved nanomaterials, linking nano‑ARPES and theory for next‑generation device design.

Exciting new research at Tohoku University’s Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR) explains how to transform decades of scattered literature data into design rules for catalysts.

By engineering a bismuth thin film / twisted bilayer MoS2 heterostructure, the research work achieved precise bidirectional electron confinement without any applied voltage. Moiré potential controls horizontal electron localization; Bi film thickness tunes vertical effective mass - switching electron configurations between a trimer and a Kagome-like arrangement. The voltage-free confinement mechanism offers a material foundation for charge qubits and ultra-low-power semiconductors.

Researchers at The University of Osaka have developed novel kirigami structures with periodic parallel inclined cuts. Stretching these materials longitudinally causes them to twist and rotate. Thus, these structures provide a mechanism for coupling tension and rotation. The mechanical deformation of these structures can be characterized in terms of a geometrical property, the chirality. Some of the developed chiral structures were auxetic, longitudinal stretching resulting in lateral expansion, instead of contraction. The findings have applications in soft robotics and soft actuators.

A remarkable new method of distinguishing chiral (mirror-image) molecules could eventually detect distortions inside quantum and soft materials, find abnormal protein aggregates linked to disease, and more.

Researchers at The University of Osaka used a focused laser beam to make in vitro models of cytoskeletal networks that exhibit dynamic cell-like motions. This technique provides spatiotemporal control of the network structure, unlike conventional methods based on self-organization and photochemical reactions. The models could be used to determine the structure–motion relationship of cytoskeletal networks, which has applications for understanding cell division, migration, and adhesion and the creation of protein-based robots and synthetic cells.

Spin waves are a promising way to reduce the energy-consumption of computing. New research shows that sending spin waves along a zig-zag path boosts the signal over 5,000 times compared to previous methods.

Researchers from The University of Osaka created stable cobalt-based honeycomb structures inside a layered material and observed ferromagnetic-like ordering at low temperatures. By introducing a small amount of cobalt into NaSbO3, the team demonstrated a new platform to study Kitaev materials using abundant 3d transition metals, potentially supporting future cost-effective quantum technologies.

The LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA Collaboration published today a new catalog of gravitational wave events. A total of 161 events, detected between April 2024 and the end of January 2025, have been added to the collection, bringing the total number of gravitational wave signals detected to date to 390. Among the most significant findings are: evidence for the existence of second-generation black holes, the most precise sky localization ever achieved for a gravitational wave source, and the first measurement of three vibrational modes of a black hole. A wealth of results that marks the coming of age of gravitational astronomy.

Researchers from The University of Osaka discovered a mechanism that greatly improves the efficiency of endothermic singlet exciton fission. By combining singlet-fission molecules with quantum dots, the team created hybridized electronic states at the material interface that act as intermediate energy pathways. This allows one absorbed photon to generate two excited states with high efficiency, potentially allowing solar technologies to exceed current efficiency limits.

A researcher at The University of Osaka has proposed a thermodynamic framework for describing hysteresis in solids, a history-dependent phenomenon widely used in memory devices, energy conversion materials, and other technologies. The study shows that hysteresis can, in principle, be described within thermodynamics when the state of a solid is defined not only by conventional variables such as temperature and volume, but also by its atomic configuration. By identifying the time-averaged equilibrium positions of atoms as essential state variables, the work provides a more rigorous theoretical foundation for understanding and developing solid-state materials that rely on hysteresis.

Studying molecules in liquid solution is notoriously difficult. However, this just got easier thanks to a new X-ray technique developed by an international group of scientists. The technique can capture ultrafast molecular changes in extremely dilute liquid samples.

Researchers have developed an optical fiber that uses laser-induced heating and bubble-driven convection to rapidly concentrate bacteria and nanoparticles in liquid samples. The method collects thousands of targets in 60 seconds with over tenfold higher efficiency than conventional approaches. This approach allows for faster and more sensitive detection in biomedical and environmental applications.

What if light had a hidden geometry? A new international collaboration between Tohoku University and Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light shows that the geometry behind light waves can affect how light moves and interacts inside materials. Their research explores the hidden geometry of light and reveals new connections between photonics, topology, and quantum physics.

Researchers from The University of Osaka report the creation of step–terrace–ordered GaN surfaces using catalyst-referred etching (CARE). Mechanical testing on these surfaces demonstrates exceptional reproducibility across 100 measurements, achieving record-low stress scatter.

Solid electrolyte particle sizes affect ion pathways