New experiments suggest that superconductivity in twisted bilayer graphene depends on an unconventional electron-pairing mechanism. Figure 1: Two twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) layers stacked one on ...

Figure 1: Barrios Hita and colleagues have explored a new path for developing a formulation of quantum theory that doesn’t rely on complex numbers [5]. In standard quantum theory, every physical ...

Calculations show how the mysterious “magic numbers” that stabilize nuclear structures emerge naturally from nuclear forces—once these are described with appropriate spatial resolution. Figure 1: ...

Figure 1: Laser cooling of atoms progressed from elements with one valence electron (top left) to two valence electrons (bottom left). Now with molecules, researchers are going from molecules with one ...

Measurements of the decay of the Higgs boson into muon–antimuon pairs provide evidence for the mechanism by which quarks and leptons acquire their mass. Figure 1: Display of a proton–proton collision ...

Figure 1: The shattering of glass is an archetypal fragmentation process. × When a solid object shatters or a liquid drop disintegrates, predicting the outcome seems at first hopelessly difficult. In ...

Stacked monolayers of graphene and other 2D materials are held together by weak van der Waals forces. When additional atoms are introduced between the layers, a typical stack promptly accommodates the ...

A group of Italian physicists was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize in Physics for their study of the phase diagram of a cheesy sauce renowned in Italy. The winners of the Ig Nobel Physics Prize presented ...

The clearest black hole merger signal ever measured has allowed researchers to test the Kerr nature of black holes and validate Stephen Hawking’s black hole area theorem. Figure 1: Sketch of the ...

Pairs of skyrmions—tiny whirlpools that emerge in some magnetic materials—might be able to self-propel, a behavior reminiscent of that of active-matter systems such as motile bacteria. Figure 1: ...

A proposed experiment could shed light on the unknown interplay of quantum theory and general relativity. Quantum theory in curved spacetime can be theoretically understood beyond the limit at which ...

The efficiency of a quantum cryptography scheme can be improved by replacing conventional attenuated lasers with single-photon quantum-dot sources. Aerial view of the quantum key distribution ...