Physics Magazine

A new analog model of a planetary atmosphere consists of a fluid in a rotating, meter-wide cylinder. Using video tracking, researchers charted how rotational motion is transferred from large vortices into smaller ones, a key feature of real atmospheres. go.aps.org/47ygU1x

Researchers have used measurements of rapidly rotating neutron stars to infer the distribution of dark matter in the Galaxy. Although the results are tentative, they suggest that dark matter may not be distributed evenly above and below the Galactic disk. go.aps.org/3PxKcqF

Researchers are investigating the timekeeping potential of continuous time crystals. These are systems that oscillate between different configurations despite being driven by a thermal gradient, a beam of light, or other aperiodic energy flow. go.aps.org/3PgTgAk

Quantum mechanics does not rule out superposition among a sequence of events. New experiments have not confined this so-called indefinite causal order, but they have closed several loopholes. The bizarre phenomenon could be real. go.aps.org/4bpQLD2

Researchers have demonstrated a way to efficiently control quantum information stored in a superconducting microwave while minimizing the errors that arise when the information is manipulated. go.aps.org/4sTr7Of

Theorists have predicted that a class of materials known as superconducting altermagnets can naturally generate and carry net spin supercurrents. Remarkably, these currents can propagate even in the presence of spin-orbit coupling and magnetic disorder. go.aps.org/40yWRMu

By applying and then releasing pressure, researchers locked a high-temperature superconductor called Hg1223 in a metastable phase, enabling it to superconduct at ambient pressure at 151 K. That's 18 K higher than the previous record, also held by Hg1223. go.aps.org/4cKH1FR

Running machine-learning algorithms on quantum computers could expand their use to more complex problems and to quantum datasets. Now researchers have proposed a thermodynamics-inspired protocol that could make quantum machine-learning more efficient. go.aps.org/3NzSAFx

To serve as the sharp end of industrial cutting tool, a superhard material needs to resist fracture. Now researchers have toughened a brittle superhard ceramic, tungsten diboride, by planting vacancies in its atomic lattice. go.aps.org/47uv8QJ

A photonic molecule is a tiny optical cavity that couples resonant light modes. Now researchers have built a molecule from a single resonant ring, making it more useful and adaptable than its multicomponent predecessors. go.aps.org/4sEhsL4

Researchers have devised a new way to analyze surveys of the Lyman-alpha forest. This thicket of absorption lines appears in the spectra of quasars and is caused by neutral hydrogen atoms in the huge filaments that constitute the cosmic web. go.aps.org/3NrAxkO

Protein folding ends with the surmounting of an energy barrier to reach the final folded state. Now researchers have used high-resolution single-molecule methods to measure crossing times for eight small proteins, illuminating how proteins fold. go.aps.org/3Pa04PU

Researchers have shown how the frequencies and bandwidths of individual photons can be tuned over a wide range inside a short length of standard optical fiber. They anticipate their technique will be useful in future quantum networks. go.aps.org/40negro

Researchers were given access to thousands of circular trips logged by the social network app Foursquare. From that trove, they built a simple model that could account for the distribution of trip lengths. go.aps.org/46PX3ug

Thunderstorms can cause 100-meter-scale regions in the atmosphere to emit bursts of gamma rays via cascades of relativistic electrons. Now theorists have predicted that a similar mechanism could work in dielectric solids. go.aps.org/46GBj3S

The Rubin Observatory has released its first set of identifications of transient events in the night sky. Compiled over a single day, the dataset contains 800,000 events. go.aps.org/4ldXjZK

The discovery of significant magnetic fields in young galaxies prompted astronomers to ask how the fields could have formed so quickly. Now researchers have an answer. The collapse of the protogalaxy provided an early boost. go.aps.org/4sshG8e

Theorists expect Anderson localization to set in more readily in two dimensions than in three. Now researchers have demonstrated that tendency directly by progressively removing a crystal's atomic layers until only one remained. go.aps.org/3OHhDa1

Researchers have used neutron scattering to enrich our understanding of chiral phonons. These phonons convey sound and heat, but they are also magnetic, thanks to the twirling motions they acquire from the symmetries of their host lattice. go.aps.org/4l1q9MV

Two physicists tell Physics Magazine about their plan to build a 30-qubit trapped-ion quantum computer. Once complete, the computer and its software will be freely available to anyone. go.aps.org/3MPY1zV