Physics

An artist’s conception of photons, the particles that make up light, the disturbing plasma. Credit: Kyle Palmer / PPPL Communications Department Both literally and figuratively, light permeates the world. It dispels darkness, carries telecommunication signals between continents, and makes visible the invisible, from distant galaxies to the tiniest bacteria. The light can also help heat … Read more

Gas that collects and accumulates into a mini-galaxy in the process of building. While this is how galaxies form according to theories and computer simulations, it had never been seen before. Credit: NASA Using the James Webb Space Telescope, researchers at the University of Copenhagen have become the first to see the formation of three … Read more

Mechanism for enhanced electromechanical response and anomalous thickness scaling in antiferroelectric PbZrO3 thin films. Credit: Materials of Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41563-024-01907-y Lighting a gas grill, taking an ultrasound, using an ultrasonic toothbrush, these actions involve the use of materials that can translate an electrical voltage into a change in shape and vice versa. Known as … Read more

Rendering of the topological photonic insulator developed in the study. Credit: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have fabricated a device no wider than a human hair that will help physicists probe the fundamental nature of matter and light. Their findings, published in the journal Nanotechnology of natureit could also support the development … Read more