News & Comment

Do you have a good idea for a Review article? Here is a brief guide on how to pitch ideas to editors.

100 years ago, Otto Stern and Walther Gerlach demonstrated that silver atoms have a quantized magnetic moment, as predicted from the Bohr–Sommerfeld model of the atom. But the correct interpretation of the result proved to be far more subtle — and revolutionary.

A paper in Physical Review Letters reports how twisting yarn makes it stronger.

A paper in Nature shows how reinforcement learning can solve the problem of optimizing the magnetic field in a tokamak to create a variety of plasma configurations, including ones that haven’t been achieved before.

Francis Russell reflects on the history of nonlinear excitations.

Quantum machine learning may provide powerful tools for data analysis in high-energy physics. Sau Lan Wu and Shinjae Yoo describe how the potential of these tools is starting to be tested and what has been understood thus far.

Machine learning methods relying on synthetic data are starting to be used in mathematics and theoretical physics. Michael R. Douglas discusses recent advances and ponders on the impact these methods will have in science.

As a field moves from fundamental science to industrial applications, standards for reproducibility also evolve. We commit to provide a platform for this ongoing conversation.

Two recent studies look for magnetic monopoles in very different, and rather exotic, places: in heavy ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider and the IceCube neutrino detector in Antarctica.

Established almost 100 years ago, Bell Labs made a great contribution to advancing both fundamental science and technology. Was that the result of a unique set of circumstances or is there a reproducible recipe for success?

Two papers in Physical Review Letters report experiments and simulations on how fluid flow affects the shapes of ice and rock formations in water.

Two papers in Nature Astronomy present new simulations of the formation of planets in our Solar System.

Although participating in outreach activities has many benefits for early-career researchers, outreach programmes are not always structured in a way that helps them participate. Three physicists explain why this motivated them to start a spin-off company dedicated to outreach.

Hsin-Yuan Huang explains how quantum states can be efficiently characterized using very few measurements thanks to the method known as classical shadow tomography.

In 2022 we celebrate four decades of quantum computing by looking back at the milestones of the field and forward to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Increasing public and private investment, technological breakthroughs, and a growing number of facilities could bring fusion technology to the delivery era by mid-century. Matteo Barbarino argues that global cooperation and effective regulation are vital in accelerating progress.