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-w2026-07-22
Arthur I. Miller
Nature Reviews Physics, Published online: 22 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s42254-026-00972-3 100 years on from Werner Heisenberg and Erwin Schrödinger’s dispute on how to conceptualize quantum mechanics, Arthur I. Miller reflects on the subtleties of visualization in physics.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00972-32026-07-15
Alex Krasnok
Nature Reviews Physics, Published online: 15 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s42254-026-00963-4 Students need to experience quantum hardware beyond cloud access to learn how an ideal circuit becomes a physical measurement. Universities should therefore procure teachable systems, not showroom machines.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00963-42026-07-07
Nature Reviews Physics, Published online: 07 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s42254-026-00966-1 Ubiquitous in popular culture, black holes were once highly debated and remain an intellectually active research area with applications in volcano monitoring and bone growth.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00966-12026-07-02
Jiayu Xu
Nature Reviews Physics, Published online: 02 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s42254-026-00952-7 Terahertz scanning tunnelling microscopy integrates picosecond pulses with atomic resolution, enabling detailed analysis of electron dynamics and molecular motions. This Technical Review outlines methods and applications, emphasizing insights into ultrafast phenomena and potential advances in quantum materials and technologies.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00952-72026-06-22
A. Jadbabaie
Nature Reviews Physics, Published online: 22 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s42254-026-00950-9 Radioactive molecules containing octupole-deformed nuclei offer a promising platform for measuring fundamental symmetry violations and searching for new physics. This Perspective discusses how advances in their production, trapping and molecular quantum control are enabling precision tests of fundamental physics at energy scales complementary to those probed by high-energy colliders.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00950-92026-06-17
Aurelien David
Nature Reviews Physics, Published online: 17 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s42254-026-00949-2 Because gallium nitride light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have made most of the visible spectrum available to LEDs, they have become the backbone of modern lighting applications. This Review examines three effects governing the physics of GaN-based LEDs: polarization fields, carrier localization and non-radiative defects.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00949-22026-06-10
Furqanul Hassan Naqvi
Nature Reviews Physics, Published online: 10 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s42254-026-00961-6 Furqanul Hassan Naqvi explains how careful Brillouin spectroscopy can provide insight into lattice dynamics beyond determining elastic constants.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00961-62026-05-27
John O’Sullivan
Nature Reviews Physics, Published online: 27 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s42254-026-00938-5 Transparent conducting electrodes are a key performance and sustainability bottleneck in high-efficiency perovskite–silicon tandem solar cells. This Review examines how optical, electrical and interfacial losses in transparent conducting electrodes arise in tandem cells and outlines strategies to enable scalable, low-indium electrodes for next-generation devices.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00938-52026-05-15
Bo Peng
Nature Reviews Physics, Published online: 15 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s42254-026-00944-7 2D van der Waals multiferroics, with their coupled magnetic and electric orders and their reduced dimensionality, offer great opportunities for low-power magnetoelectric devices. This Review moves beyond conventional probing techniques and advocates for cross-probing technologies to identify intrinsic multiferroicity in these atomically thin materials.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00944-72026-05-14
Xuekai Ma
Nature Reviews Physics, Published online: 14 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s42254-026-00943-8 Polaritons can be optically driven into nonlinear states such as vortices and solitons, with properties like quantized phase jumps and stable shapes, that enable applications in information processing. This Review discusses the formation and control of polariton vortices and solitons.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00943-82026-05-11
Robert B. Mann
Nature Reviews Physics, Published online: 11 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s42254-026-00942-9 The study of black-hole thermodynamics — now 50 years old — has led to deep insights into fundamental physics, but it has also created fresh paradoxes and puzzles. This Review assesses what has been learned, where progress is being made, and what remains unknown.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00942-92026-05-11
Nature Reviews Physics, Published online: 11 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s42254-026-00946-5 A closer look at past and present shows how trust underpins the international scientific endeavour.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00946-52026-05-11
Antonius von Strachwitz
Nature Reviews Physics, Published online: 11 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s42254-026-00948-3 Antonius von Strachwitz explains the advantages and challenges of replacing the exchange-correlation functionals in DFT with a learnable model.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s42254-026-00948-32026-03-10
Nature Reviews Physics, Published online: 10 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s42254-026-00926-9 Algorithmic tools promise to help researchers cut through the mass of scientific literature, but serendipitous encounters with papers remain essential for scientific progress.
2026-03-06
Jiajia Zhou, P. James Schuck, Dayong Jin
Nature Reviews Physics, Published online: 06 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s42254-026-00922-z Lanthanide-doped upconverting nanoparticles enable nonlinear anti-Stokes light conversion, which has shown unique photophysics and cross-disciplinary, particularly biomedical, applications. This Review covers mechanisms, uses and field-shaping challenges and chances.