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An international team of scientists led by Dr. Lukas Bruder, junior research group leader at the Institute of Physics, University of Freiburg, has succeeded in producing and directly controlling hybrid electron-photon quantum states in helium atoms.

To this end, they generated specially prepared, highly intense extreme ultraviolet light pulses using the FERMI free electron laser in Trieste, Italy. The researchers achieved control of the hybrid quantum states using a new laser pulse-shaping technique. Their results have been published in the journal Nature.

Non-reciprocal interactions can increase the order in an active system. This is the finding of a study by scientists from the department of Living Matter Physics at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS).

The researchers created a model to describe the emerging patterns depending on the amount of non-reciprocity in an active system. The work is published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Living matter often shows characteristics that are absent in simpler physical systems. A typical example is the asymmetrical interaction between different particle species: one type of molecule might be attracted by the other, which in turn is repelled—just like a predator chases its prey which in turn tries to escape.

Fusion energy research is being pursued around the world as a means of solving energy problems. Magnetic confinement fusion reactors aim to extract fusion energy by confining extremely hot plasma in strong magnetic fields.

Its development is a comprehensive engineering project involving many advanced technologies, such as superconducting magnets, reduced-activation materials, and beam and wave heating devices. In addition, predicting and controlling the confined plasma, in which numerous charged particles and electromagnetic fields interact in complex ways, is an interesting research subject from a physics perspective.

To understand the transport of energy and particles in confined plasmas, theoretical studies, numerical simulations using supercomputers, and experimental measurements of plasma turbulence are being conducted.

Boosting the endocannabinoid 2-AG in the brain can counteract opioid addiction while preserving their pain relief, a Weill Cornell Medicine study finds. This approach, tested in mice using the chemical JZL184, may lead to safer treatments for pain management.

The natural enhancement of chemicals produced by the body, known as endocannabinoids, may mitigate the addictive properties of opioids like morphine and oxycodone while preserving their pain-relieving effects, according to researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine in collaboration with The Center for Youth Mental Health at NewYork-Presbyterian. Endocannabinoids interact with cannabinoid receptors found throughout the body, which play a role in regulating functions such as learning and memory, emotions, sleep, immune response, and appetite.

Opioids prescribed to control pain can become addictive because they not only dull pain, but also produce a sense of euphoria. The preclinical study, published recently in the journal Science Advances, may lead to a new type of therapeutic that could be taken with an opioid regimen to only reduce the reward aspect of opioids.

Researchers have developed a new laser technology using large colloidal quantum dots of lead sulfide to emit coherent light in the extended short-wave infrared range.

This innovation promises cheaper, scalable laser solutions compatible with silicon CMOS platforms, covering a broader wavelength range without altering chemical compositions, and eliminating the need for costly femtosecond laser amplifiers.

Novel Laser Technologies

The Tbx1 gene influences brain volume and social behavior in autism and schizophrenia, with its deficiency linked to amygdala shrinkage and impaired social incentive evaluation.

A study published in Molecular Psychiatry has linked changes in brain volume to differences in social behavior associated with psychiatric conditions like autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia.

The research, led by Noboru Hiroi, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio), revealed that a deficiency in a specific gene was connected to social behavior differences in mice. These behavioral differences are similar to those often observed in psychiatric disorders.

Inside every jar of honey lies a taste of the local environment. Its sticky-sweet flavor is shaped by the flowers that nearby bees choose to sample. However, a new study from Tulane University has revealed that honey can also provide insights into local pollution.

The study, published in Environmental Pollution, analyzed 260 honey samples from 48 states for traces of six toxic metals: arsenic, lead, cadmium, nickel, chromium, and cobalt. None of the samples contained unsafe levels of these metals based on a typical serving size of one tablespoon per day, and the concentrations in the United States were generally lower than global averages. Still, researchers identified regional variations in toxic metal distribution: the highest arsenic levels were detected in honey from a cluster of Pacific Northwest states (Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and Nevada); the Southeast, including Louisiana and Mississippi, showed the highest cobalt levels; and two of the three highest lead levels were found in samples from the Carolinas.

Overall, the study highlights a potential dual role for honey as both a food source and a tool for monitoring environmental pollution.

MIT physicists propose a method to create fractionalized electrons known as non-Abelian anyons in two-dimensional materials, potentially advancing quantum computing by enabling more reliable quantum bits without using magnetic fields.

Their research highlights the potential of molybdenum ditelluride in forming these anyons, promising significant advancements in robust quantum computation.

MIT physicists predict exotic matter for quantum computing.

Launching in February 2025, NASAs PUNCH mission will study the Sun’s corona and solar wind with four satellites.

NASA and SpaceX plan to launch NASA’s PUNCH mission (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) in late February 2025 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The PUNCH mission consists of four small satellites designed to enter low Earth orbit and capture 3D, global views of the Sun’s corona. By studying how mass and energy in the corona become the solar wind, scientists hope to gain new insights into solar activity and its effects on space weather.