Reviews & Analysis

The realization of a new topological state using an electrical-circuit approach establishes a flexible scheme that should enable further explorations into uncharted territory and, equally importantly, make experiments with topological states more broadly accessible.

The properties of bismuth have long defied expectation, casting it just outside the bounds of almost every category. Now topology joins the list, as its electronic structure once deemed trivial turns out to have higher-order topology.

The discovery of large anomalous electronic and thermal transport in candidate magnetic Weyl semimetals reveals another example of the striking features of topological materials.

The agent responsible for the accelerated expansion of the Universe is completely unknown. Delicate interference measurements of the quantum transitions of very slow neutrons bouncing on a flat table have constrained an interesting theoretical possibility.

Building spinning microrotors that self-assemble and synchronize to form a gear sounds like an impossible feat. However, it has now been achieved using only a single type of building block — a colloid that self-propels.

Mapping cell lineages onto a problem in graph theory suggests that physical principles regulate cell positioning during egg development in the fruit fly — providing an elegant example of how physics can advance our understanding of biology.

Cells in embryonic tissues generate coordinated forces to close small wounds rapidly without scarring. New research shows that large cell-to-cell variations in these forces are a key system feature that surprisingly speeds up wound healing.

Robust and responsive, the surface of a cell is as important as its interior when it comes to mechanically regulating form and function. New techniques are shedding light on this role, and a common language to describe its properties is now needed.

It may look like little more than slime, but the glycocalyx coating our cells plays a key role in cell signalling. And changes to its physical structure have been linked to cancer, triggering emergent behaviours that form the focus of this Review.

The behaviour of cells and tissues can be understood in terms of emergent mesoscale states that are determined by a set of physical properties. This Review surveys experimental evidence for these states and the physics underpinning them.

Understanding how natural surfaces repel foulants by wrinkling seems like a simple matter of elasticity. But the nonlinear behaviours that emerge from dimensional effects make for some intriguing new physics.

Recent experiments demonstrate that effects arising from quantum geometrical phases and band structure topology can coexist in two-dimensional materials, and can be addressed via optoelectronic experiments.

Applications of spintronics often require angular momentum to be moved from place to place. A possible observation of spin superfluidity may point the way toward the transport of spin angular momentum across an insulating sample with no dissipation or energy loss.

Energy levels in superconducting quantum devices are highly sensitive to charge fluctuations. Generally, this is considered a bug, but new work transforms this sensitivity into the defining feature of a novel device.

The addition of nihonium, moscovium, tennessine and oganesson to the periodic table are a reminder of the achievements in nuclear physics and chemistry. Witold Nazarewicz outlines the future challenges for the field.

Magnetic tweezer measurements have revealed the forces associated with a star-shaped structure responsible for moving the sperm nucleus to the centre of the egg cell following fertilization.

The ideas of topology are breaking ground in origami-based metamaterials. Experiments now show that certain shapes — doughnuts included — exhibit topological bistability, and can be made to click between different topologically stable states.

The first campaign of the largest stellarator ever built, Wendelstein 7-X, has been successful, achieving high electron temperatures and minimal self-generated plasma current. This is very encouraging for future long-pulse, full-power operation.

Many-body quantum systems fail to reach thermalization only under specific circumstances. An analysis now reveals a new, different kind of non-equilibrating dynamics based on the many-body analogue of quantum scars in single-particle quantum chaos.