Articles

Snakes are capable of non-planar gaits, such as sidewinding. Now observations of juvenile anacondas reveal another non-planar gait resembling an S shape. Calculations show how topological dynamics of active filaments enable such movements.

Simultaneous spin squeezing and the detection of dynamic fields is challenging as entanglement generation and signal interrogation often interfere. An experiment now demonstrates stable spin squeezing and field tracking in a hot atomic ensemble.

Probing electron–phonon matrix elements in bulk materials is difficult. Now, an all-optical experimental approach is demonstrated that extracts phonon-mode- and electron-energy-resolved electron–phonon matrix elements in the bulk.

Despite exhibiting ferroelectric features, SrTiO₃ fails to display long-range polar order at low temperatures due to quantum fluctuations. An ultrafast X-ray diffraction experiment now probes polar dynamics of this material at the nanometre scale.

Fermi polarons are quasiparticles formed by impurities immersed in a Fermi gas. An experiment in an ultracold fermionic gas now shows how to control their properties with a tunable radio-frequency field.

Placing particles at the interface between immiscible fluids usually enhances emulsification. However, now it is shown that if the particles are ferromagnetic, emulsification is suppressed and a non-planar recoverable interfacial shape develops.

Nodes in a quantum network must be able to interface with photonic qubits as well as perform local quantum computations. The quantum node device presented here is capable of storing quantum information and correcting bit-flip errors.

Superconducting qubits operate at microwave frequencies, but it is much more efficient to transmit information optically. Now, a superconducting qubit has been controlled with an optical signal by using a microwave–optical quantum transducer.

In many optical systems with time-reversal symmetry, it is possible to control the output waves by shaping the input fields. Now a scheme is presented that works for multimode fibres that lack time-reversal symmetry due to thermal effects.

Assemblies of active particles display a range of dynamical phenomena. Simulations now show that the transition of an assembly of active particles from a jammed to a fluidized state is similar to the process of mechanical yielding seen in amorphous solids.

How unicellular organisms evolved into multicellular ones is an open question. Now, using unicellular Stentor coeruleus as a model system, the transition between isolated individuals and a coordinated colony is shown to benefit all colony members.

It is well known that flat bands exist in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene. Now thermopower measurements show that the strong correlations between electrons in these bands result in the formation of local moments.

Quasicrystals, which lack translational symmetry but display rotational order, are difficult to make. Now an assembly method for the fabrication of colloidal quasicrystals that offers a high degree of controllability and reversibility is reported.

Circadian disruption can promote tumour formation. Now it is shown that the loss of circadian synchronization can drive this effect by disrupting the coupling between the circadian rhythm and the cell cycle within individual cells.

Spin-split bands and certain lattice symmetries are required to generate the spin currents needed for spintronics applications. Now a layered room-temperature antiferromagnet is shown to exhibit anisotropic spin splitting between valleys paired by a crystal symmetry.

Enzymes are viscoelastic, deformable machines. Mutating high-strain regions in these machines affect their catalytic function.

In droplet microfluidic setups, droplets are driven around on a surface, which is normally hydrophobic. Now, droplet microfluidics with superhydrophilic substrates is shown to also be feasible by exploiting acoustic effects.

Bacterial second messengers carry signals from the environment to target proteins in the cell. Now the associated information transmission capacity is quantified and the optimal frequency to maximize it is determined.

A complete theoretical understanding of many simple problems in quantum physics is still lacking, especially when entanglement is involved. Now the full set of possible observations has been established for a minimal scenario of shared entanglement.

Qubit-based simulations of gauge theories are challenging as gauge fields require high-dimensional encoding. Now a quantum electrodynamics model has been demonstrated using trapped-ion qudits, which encode information in multiple states of ions.