2026-09-18
Francesco Caravelli, Gianluca Milano, Adam Stieg, Carlo Ricciardi, Simon A. Brown, Zdenka Kuncic
Self-organizing memristive networks combine adaptive nanoscale transport, network connectivity and physical plasticity to enable learning directly in hardware. Their emergent dynamics, including criticality, memory and self-organization, offer a promising route towards energy-efficient neuromorphic computing and embedded physical intelligence.
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00978-x2026-09-18
Maximilian Prinz
Maximilian Prinz explains a technique to estimate the optical linewidth of a frequency comb from phase-noise measurements.
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00985-y2026-09-17
Olivier Durif
Olivier Durif describes how mass spectroscopy can help to detect organic gases at trace levels.
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00990-12026-09-14
Yuyan Su, Nicholas Su, Sangwoo Kim, Alexandre Persat, Hagan Bayley, Yujia Zhang
Microscale droplets can sense and exert mechanical forces in biological environments. This Review examines the physical principles and engineering of liquid and hydrogel droplets as biointerfaces for measuring cellular mechanics and transducing mechanical cues into biochemical and electrical outputs.
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00977-y2026-09-02
With an increasing number of startups coming out of universities, we examine the differences and similarities between academic and industrial research.
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00983-02026-08-28
Fernando E. Rosas, Pedro A. M. Mediano, Andrea I. Luppi, Alexander B. Boyd, Mario Berta, Henrik J. Jensen, Michael Gastpar, Sean M. Carroll
This Perspective proposes a pluralistic understanding of ‘information’ that reflects how this notion is used in natural sciences today. It distinguishes engineering, statistical, thermodynamic and ontological faces of information, each with distinctive affordances and restrictions.
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00971-42026-08-27
Jia-Xin Yin, Xianxin Wu, Mark H. Fischer, Xiao-Yu Yan, Yigui Zhong, Kozo Okazaki
Topological pair density waves offer an insight into the interplay among finite-momentum pairing, topological matter and chiral superconductivity. This Perspective explores signatures of these states in kagome superconductors.
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00974-12026-08-21
Fabian Teichmann
Despite existing standards for quantum-safe encryption and regulatory deadlines, post-quantum migration is slow. The bottleneck is no longer mathematics or physics but collective action, but only the physics community can provide credible, calibrated estimates of when quantum computers will matter.
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00979-w