physorg.com:Spotlight stories

Universal scheme efficiently generates arbitrary two-qubit gates in superconducting quantum processors The operation of quantum computers, systems that process information leveraging quantum mechanical effects, relies on the implementation of quantum logic gates. These are essentially operations that manipulate qubits, units of information that can exist in a superposition of states and can become entangled.
Can Hayabusa2 touch down? Study reveals space mission's target asteroid is tinier and faster than thought Astronomers have used observatories around the world, including the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT), to study the asteroid 1998 KY26, revealing it to be almost three times smaller and spinning much faster than previously thought.
12-million-year-old porpoise fossil found in Peru Peruvian paleontologists on Wednesday unveiled the 12-million-year-old fossil of a prehistoric porpoise found near the country's Pacific coast.
Adaptable 3D bioprinting technique can boost engineered tissue output The field of tissue engineering aims to replicate the structure and function of real biological tissues. This engineered tissue has potential applications in disease modeling, drug discovery, and implantable grafts.
Sub-Neptune exoplanets unlikely to be water-rich ocean worlds, researchers say An exoplanet orbiting a dwarf star 124 light-years from Earth made headlines around the world in April 2025. Researchers at the University of Cambridge reported that planet K2-18b could be a marine world with a deep, global ocean teeming with life.
Oil rig study reveals vital role of tiny hoverflies A study of migratory hoverflies on a North Sea oil rig has revealed their vital role as long-distance pollen transporters.
ChatGPT appears to improvise when put through ancient Greek math puzzle The Artificial Intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT, appeared to improvise ideas and make mistakes like a student in a study that rebooted a 2,400-year-old mathematical challenge.
Ubiquitin's ability to tag synthetic compounds offers new path to drug discovery Small but powerful: Ubiquitin controls the lifespan and distribution of proteins in the cell, but it can also determine their shape, function, or interactions with other cellular components. Ubiquitin ligases are key to this process because they reliably recognize the relevant proteins among tens of thousands of molecules and confer the correct instructions. Disruptions of this precise tagging routine can result in faulty cellular processes and diseases such as cancer.
An incredible comeback: Chicago River fish populations show signs of recovery as 24 species spawn A research paper authored by a researcher at Shedd Aquarium and published in Journal of Great Lakes Research assesses the fish species that spawn in the Chicago River to sustain and support resilient, biodiverse fish populations. Utilizing light traps at 10 locations in the Chicago River between the years 2020 and 2022, over 2,000 larval fish were collected, and their DNA revealed 24 different fish species present.
Some small asteroids can abruptly explode Some asteroids are more dangerous than others, according to a report published in Nature Astronomy by an international team of researchers, led by astrophysicist Auriane Egal of the Montreal Planetarium in Canada. The team had presented their findings of an investigation into the impact of small asteroid 2023 CX1 over France in February 2023. This new paper revealed that small asteroids can explode on atmospheric entry.
Unexpected activity of metabolic compound helps decode plants' language of light Researchers have revealed a previously unknown way plants shape their growth in response to light—a breakthrough that could better equip crops to handle environmental stress.
Mapping songbird migration patterns may help offshore energy be more bird-friendly A study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology revealed when, where and how most songbirds migrate offshore over North American coastal waters. This data offers a baseline to help wind energy managers reduce fatal bird-wind turbine collisions while generating sustainable energy.
Lipid nanoparticles enable targeted RNA therapy for inflammatory bowel diseases Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed a new approach for using locked nucleic acids (LNAs)—a particularly stable type of RNA—to treat inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The researchers encapsulated selected LNA molecules, which silence a key gene in colitis, within lipid (fat) nanoparticles that serve as targeted drug carriers and injected the nanoparticles into colitis-model mice.
Single-shot laser technique captures plasma evolution at 100 billion frames per second Plasma, ionized gas and the fourth state of matter, makes up over 99% of the ordinary matter in the universe. Understanding its properties is critical for developing fusion energy sources, modeling astrophysical objects like stars and improving manufacturing techniques for semiconductors in modern cell phones.
From fish cloaca to fingers: Scientists trace the origin of our digits How did digits evolve? While it is clear that they derive from genetic programs already present in fish, their precise origin remains a matter of debate. An international team led by the University of Geneva (UNIGE) with EPFL, the Collège de France, and the universities of Harvard and Chicago has come up with an unexpected answer: Digits may have evolved from the reuse of an ancient region of the genome, initially active in the formation of the fish cloaca rather than their fins.