Research Highlight |
Featured
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Nature Video |
An origami design for metamaterial robots
Bendy, twisty and collapsable origami towers could make temperature controlling panels, or, dancing robots.
- Dan Fox
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News & Views |
Shapeshifting origami material shrinks when twisted
An origami-inspired ‘metamaterial’ has been engineered to have properties not found in natural materials — enabling it to undergo large, reversible deformations.
- Philip Klocke
- & Larry L. Howell
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Article |
Long-distance coherent quantum communications in deployed telecom networks
A twin-field quantum key distribution protocol based on optical coherence is deployed over a 254-kilometre commercial telecom network, demonstrating that coherence-based quantum communication can be aligned with existing telecommunication infrastructure.
- Mirko Pittaluga
- , Yuen San Lo
- & Andrew J. Shields
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Research Briefing |
Quantum communication across a 250-kilometre optical-fibre network
Quantum communication over long distances can be achieved by exploiting a property of light called coherence. The coherence-based exchange of a ‘quantum encryption key’ over an optical telecommunications network demonstrates the feasibility of implementing a large-scale quantum network in existing telecommunications infrastructure.
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Article
| Open AccessQuantum twisting microscopy of phonons in twisted bilayer graphene
Generalization of a quantum twisting microscope to cryogenic temperatures in twisted bilayer graphene shows the ability to map phononic dispersions through inelastic momentum-conserving tunnelling and reveals an angle-dependent coupling between electrons and phonons.
- J. Birkbeck
- , J. Xiao
- & S. Ilani
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Article
| Open AccessSuperconducting gap of H3S measured by tunnelling spectroscopy
Characterizing the superconducting gap structure in the high-temperature superconductor H3S by means of tunnelling spectroscopy reveals that it, as well as D3S, has a fully gapped structure, confirming the phonon-mediated mechanism of superconducting pairing.
- Feng Du
- , Alexander P. Drozdov
- & Mikhail I. Eremets
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Article |
Atomic lift-off of epitaxial membranes for cooling-free infrared detection
Atomic precision lift-off of ultrathin membranes without artificial release layers can be achieved to facilitate the high-throughput production of scalable, ultrathin, single-crystalline, freestanding perovskite systems.
- Xinyuan Zhang
- , Owen Ericksen
- & Jeehwan Kim
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Article |
Modular chiral origami metamaterials
A versatile origami-inspired modular chiral mechanical metamaterial structure facilitates dual-mode actuation, converting compression into rotational motion and torsion into extension or compression.
- Tuo Zhao
- , Xiangxin Dang
- & Glaucio H. Paulino
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Nature Podcast |
‘Dark matter’, 'Big Bang' and ‘spin’: how physics terms can confuse researchers
In episode three of What's in a name we look at how ideas can be lost in translation when physicists try to name the unknown.
- Zeeya Merali
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Technology Feature |
Which programming language should I use? A guide for early-career researchers
Computer scientists and bioinformaticians address four key questions to help rookie coders to make the right choice.
- Jeffrey M. Perkel
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Essay |
How India rewrote the rules of space travel when it launched its first satellite
Fifty years ago, a spacecraft designed and built by young Indian scientists redefined what a low-income country could achieve.
- Pranav Sharma
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News Explainer |
Signs of life on a distant planet? Not so fast, say these astronomers
Bold claims of ‘biosignature’ molecules trigger an outpouring of scepticism.
- Alexandra Witze
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Research Highlight |
Print, melt, repeat: 3D-printing formula yields sturdy objects time after time
Complex shapes made of a specially formulated resin are easily recycled into other, equally durable objects.
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Spotlight |
How a hydrogen lab is helping to power Spain’s green-energy shift
Cost is key in the drive to ‘defossilize’ Spain’s energy needs as the country faces the devastating impacts of climate change.
- Rachael Pells
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Spotlight |
Spain adapts to new reality as climate crisis hits home
Country doubles down on climate pledges in the wake of devastating floods.
- Miles Lizak
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Research Briefing |
The first observation of ‘plastic ice’ reveals unusual behaviour of water molecules
Neutron-scattering experiments have revealed a predicted high-pressure phase of ice called ‘plastic ice VII’, in which molecules form crystals, as they do in normal ice, but rotate as in liquid water. These data highlight the role of hydrogen dynamics in defining exotic ice phases and could have implications for the geodynamics of icy planets.
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Article |
Driven bright solitons on a mid-infrared laser chip
New fully integrated semiconductor laser architectures are shown to be able to generate bright and background-free picosecond solitons at GHz repetition rates in the mid-infrared range.
- Dmitry Kazakov
- , Theodore P. Letsou
- & Federico Capasso
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World View |
Don’t believe the hype — quantum tech can’t yet solve real-world problems
Investors and the public should know what quantum devices can and, more importantly, can’t do.
- Joan Arrow
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Perspective |
The growing memristor industry
The status and prospects of the memristor industry are analysed and the obstacles and pathways to their implementation are discussed.
- Mario Lanza
- , Sebastian Pazos
- & Juan B. Roldan
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Article |
Electric-field-induced domain walls in wurtzite ferroelectrics
Experimental and theoretical exploration of domain walls forming in wurtzite ferroelectrics following the application of electric fields demonstrates their reconfigurable conductivity as well as tunability, showing potential for use in ultrascaled devices.
- Ding Wang
- , Danhao Wang
- & Zetian Mi
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Article |
Observation of the axion quasiparticle in 2D MnBi2Te4
The dynamical axion quasiparticle, which is directly analogous to the hypothetical fundamental axion particle, is observed in two-dimensional MnBi2Te4, and has implications for quantum chromodynamics, cosmology and string theory.
- Jian-Xiang Qiu
- , Barun Ghosh
- & Su-Yang Xu
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Article
| Open AccessSubnanosecond flash memory enabled by 2D-enhanced hot-carrier injection
A two-dimensional Dirac graphene-channel flash memory based on a two-dimensional-enhanced hot-carrier-injection mechanism that supports both electron and hole injection is used to make devices with a subnanosecond program speed.
- Yutong Xiang
- , Chong Wang
- & Peng Zhou
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Article |
Antiferromagnetic quantum anomalous Hall effect under spin flips and flops
A new device based on 7-septuple-layer MnBi2Te4 covered with an AlOx capping layer enables the investigation of antiferromagnetic quantum anomalous Hall effect over wide parameter spaces.
- Zichen Lian
- , Yongchao Wang
- & Yayu Wang
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Article |
Negative thermal expansion and oxygen-redox electrochemistry
Using operando electrochemical processes, we found a way to restore oxygen-redox active materials exhibiting structural and voltage decay to their pristine state, providing a framework for the design of functional materials with zero thermal expansion.
- Bao Qiu
- , Yuhuan Zhou
- & Ying Shirley Meng
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News Feature |
These are the most-cited research papers of all time
Some studies have received hundreds of thousands of citations, Nature’s updated analysis shows.
- Richard Van Noorden
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News Feature |
Exclusive: the most-cited papers of the twenty-first century
A Nature analysis reveals the 25 highest-cited papers published this century and explores why they are breaking records.
- Helen Pearson
- , Heidi Ledford
- & Richard Van Noorden
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Book Review |
‘I’m touching space’: the fascinating insights meteorites can bring us
Two books discuss how these space rocks are entwined with science, commerce, policy and life.
- Sara Russell
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News |
Radical approach to shrink particle colliders gains momentum
Plans are taking off to use an unconventional technique to accelerate particles in a future collider.
- Elizabeth Gibney
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Book Review |
The dangerous fantasies driving the quest for super-intelligent AI
More Everything Forever dissects the techno-utopian vision gripping Silicon Valley and Washington DC.
- Jaron Lanier
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Research Highlight |
Liquids in a glass recover a graceful shape even after being shaken
Oil and water contained in a cylinder with magnetic nickel particles form the shape of a Grecian urn.
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Research Highlight |
Top quarks spotted at mega-detector could reveal clues to early Universe
Heaviest known elementary particles and their antimatter counterparts are detected after nuclear smash-ups at the Large Hadron Collider.
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News |
Physicists narrow down neutrino’s mysterious mass
Blimp-shaped experiment shows the particle is at least one million times lighter than an electron.
- Davide Castelvecchi
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News |
‘Mind blowing’: quantum computer untangles the mathematics of knots
Algorithms for studying knots and other topological objects could have a quantum advantage.
- Davide Castelvecchi
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Nature Podcast |
Long-awaited ape genomes give new insights into their evolution — and ours
New sequencing analyses fill in long-awaited gaps in the genomes of six ape species — plus, evidence that laser-plasma particle accelerators could work as well as conventional kinds.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Shamini Bundell
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News & Views |
Docking stations in porous crystals unlock elusive molecular structures
Porous crystals have been engineered to trap ‘oily’ molecules — enabling X-ray structures to be determined for these compounds that defy standard crystallographic analysis.
- Hongyi Xu
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News & Views |
Photonic chips provide a processing boost for AI
Computer processors that exploit both electricity and light could improve the performance of artificial-intelligence systems while consuming less energy.
- Anthony Rizzo
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Article
| Open AccessAn integrated large-scale photonic accelerator with ultralow latency
A large-scale photonic accelerator comprising more than 16,000 components integrated on a single chip to process MAC operations is described, demonstrating ultralow latency and reduced computing time compared with a commercially available GPU.
- Shiyue Hua
- , Erwan Divita
- & Yichen Shen
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Article
| Open AccessUltra-broadband optical amplification using nonlinear integrated waveguides
An integrated optical parametric amplifier with an ultra-wide bandwidth was implemented using geometrically optimized low-loss nonlinear rib silicon nitride waveguides including the demonstration of broadband all-optical wavelength conversion.
- Ping Zhao
- , Vijay Shekhawat
- & Peter A. Andrekson
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Article
| Open AccessActive energy compression of a laser-plasma electron beam
A laser-plasma electron beam generated using active energy compression demonstrates reduction in energy spread and jitter by an order of magnitude to below the permille level, comparable with modern radio-frequency accelerators.
- P. Winkler
- , M. Trunk
- & A. R. Maier
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Article |
Giant electrocaloric effect in high-polar-entropy perovskite oxides
Targeted multielement substitution of a lead-free relaxor ferroelectric perovskite distorts the lattice structure and induces strong polar disorder, leading to high-polar-entropy ferroelectric oxides with a high electrocaloric effect and long lifetime.
- Feihong Du
- , Tiannan Yang
- & Xiaoshi Qian
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Article |
Transforming ceria into 2D clusters enhances catalytic activity
Treatment of supported ceria nanoparticles at high temperature in gasoline vehicle exhaust/steam results in their dispersion into atomically thin oxide domains with enhanced oxygen mobility and storage capacity.
- Konstantin Khivantsev
- , Hien Pham
- & Yong Wang
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Article
| Open AccessWater abundance in the lunar farside mantle
An estimate of water abundance in the lunar mantle indicates that the farside mantle is potentially drier than its nearside counterpart.
- Huicun He
- , Linxi Li
- & Yangting Lin
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Article
| Open AccessEvidence of star cluster migration and merger in dwarf galaxies
High-resolution images from the Hubble Space Telescope show evidence of star cluster migration and merger in dwarf galaxies.
- Mélina Poulain
- , Rory Smith
- & Rubén Sánchez-Janssen
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Article |
Universal photonic artificial intelligence acceleration
A photonic processor capable of running advanced artificial intelligence models with near-electronic precision is introduced, marking a substantial step towards post-transistor computing technologies.
- Sufi R. Ahmed
- , Reza Baghdadi
- & Nicholas C. Harris
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Article
| Open AccessSupramolecular docking structure determination of alkyl-bearing molecules
A metal–organic framework (MOF)–pillar[5]arene hybrid can bind small molecules with long alkyl chains, such that single-crystal structures of the host–guest complexes can be obtained and therefore small molecular structures determined.
- Yitao Wu
- , Le Shi
- & Feihe Huang
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Article |
A non-contact wearable device for monitoring epidermal molecular flux
A non-contact wearable device that defines and modulates a microclimate adjacent to the skin can measure incoming and outgoing streams of vapourized substances, offering valuable insights into physiological health, wound healing and environmental exposures.
- Jaeho Shin
- , Joseph Woojin Song
- & John A. Rogers
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News & Views |
Cannabis studies were informing fundamental neuroscience in the 1970s
Research on cannabis was hotting up 50 years ago, and accessible lectures on the physics of matter from Nobel laureate William Bragg, in this week’s dip into Nature’s archive.
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Article |
A Nd@C82-polymer interface for efficient and stable perovskite solar cells
- Yuexin Lin
- , Zhichao Lin
- & Chao Liang