Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Single-molecule experiments can now quantify the surface forces that compete to package tethered DNA into a protein-rich condensate — providing much-needed mechanistic insight into the phase behaviour of the entangled genome in the nucleus.
Cells moving on microprinted tracks reveal a preference for regions that they have already visited, suggesting an update to a century of dynamical models for cell trajectories.
The ATLAS Collaboration has confirmed with top quark events that the coupling of charged leptons to the weak interaction is universal — showcasing the feasibility of performing high-precision electroweak measurements at proton–proton colliders.
Nonlinearity and topology are both linked to symmetries, but what happens when the two are combined is not a trivial question. In a nonlinear photonic higher-order topological insulator, solitons localize on the corners together with the topological modes.
Many aspects of gauge theories — such as the one underlying quantum chromodynamics, which describes quark physics — evade common numerical methods. Tensor networks are getting closer to a solution, having successfully tackled the related problem of a three-dimensional quantum link model.
The two-fluid model of superfluids predicts a second, quantum mechanical form of sound. Ultracold atom experiments have now measured second sound in the unusual two-dimensional superfluid described by the Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless transition.
Introducing non-local effects to metamaterials increases the complexity of their dispersion relation, which allows carefully designed elastic structures to mimic the peculiar roton behaviour of correlated quantum superfluids.
High-order harmonics of laser pulses yield spectral components with shorter wavelength and duration and tighter focus than the original pulse. Precise spatiotemporal characterization of this radiation from a relativistic plasma mirror is relevant for ultrafast science.
Recent measurements of observables related to proton and neutron spin properties at low energies are in disagreement with the available theoretical predictions, and continue to challenge nuclear experimentalists and theorists alike.
On the face of it, characterizing quantum dynamics in the exponentially large Hilbert space of a many-body system might require prohibitively many experiments. In fact, the locality of physical interactions means that it can be done efficiently.
A life-or-death choice determines the fate of reproductive cells. It has long been assumed that the choice is genetically regulated, but it now seems that the decision may instead be controlled by intracellular pressure.
A type of polar self-propelled particle generates a torque that makes it naturally drawn to higher-density areas. The collective behaviour this induces in assemblies of particles constitutes a new form of phase separation in active fluids.
Quantum gates on trapped ions may be quicker and more reliable owing to squeezing of their vibrational motion. A threefold drop in operation time shows potential for applications in quantum technologies.
