Issues
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Cover Image
Cover Image
Cover: When a laser heats and compresses this 2 mm capsule to a high-enough temperature and density, the deuterium–tritium fuel that’s inside will ignite. In recent experiments, the resulting fusion reaction has produced more energy than was put into it. With the fundamental physics better understood, researchers are now working toward developing fusion for commercial use. To learn more, see the article by Stefano Atzeni and Debra Callahan on page 44. (Courtesy of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory/CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.)
Search and Discovery
Five-molecule water clusters have liquid-like properties
With theory-guided rotational spectroscopy measurements—and some help from nuclear spin—researchers can tell whether a hydrogen chloride molecule in a tiny amount of water is dissolved.
How to make a midsize black hole
Detailed simulations of star formation show that runaway collisions in a giant molecular cloud could produce very massive stars that are precursors to intermediate-mass black holes.
Updates
Levitating beads reveal radioactivity
A new technique for studying nuclear decays relies not on complicated particle detectors but on Newton’s third law.
Long-necked single-celled predator has mastered an unusual origami fold
The tiny organism is nature’s version of a bendy straw.
Rapidly strained metals strengthen when heated
In high-temperature microballistic experiments, rapidly strained copper is about as strong as steel.
Slow solar wind traced to Sun’s active regions
Multifaceted observations of the Sun reveal that interactions between magnetic field loops expel slow-moving solar wind.
Issues and Events
Fermilab goes deep to silence noisy radiation affecting qubits
Scientists troubleshoot to improve quantum computers.
Optical telescopes get rigged for daytime astronomy
Applications include imaging bright stars and tracking satellites.
Q&A: Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil chases dwarf galaxies
She navigated barriers in Turkey and the US to become an astronomy professor.
Articles
The wonderland of angstrofluidics
Fluids confined to molecular-scale channels exhibit properties not seen on the macroscale. Research into angstrofluidics has only just begun to unlock the potential applications that the unique properties provide.
Five decades of missing matter
Groups on both sides of the Iron Curtain hypothesized in the 1970s that a yet-unknown material makes up most of the mass in the universe.
Harnessing energy from laser fusion
A new goal for nuclear fusion is underway: Commercialize the nascent technology that first demonstrated net energy gain in 2022 at the National Ignition Facility.
New Products
Quick Study
The tsunami triggered by the Chicxulub impact
The large wave caused by the dinosaur-killing asteroid impact eroded the seafloor and disturbed sediments in ocean basins far from the collision site.
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