NEWS RELEASES

Heavy-ion collisions involve the collision of positively charged nuclei of heavy elements at nearly the speed of light. These collisions create a special state of matter called the quark-gluon plasma (QGP), accompanied by intense magnetic fields, resembling the early universe. However, the evolution of these magnetic fields over time has been hard to track. In this study, researchers review the recent experimental efforts to study the time-dependent evolution of magnetic fields generated in these collisions.

A team of researchers, including several from UC San Diego, have shown, through theoretical calculations, how collapsing massive stars can act as a "neutrino collider,” which may result in either a neutron star remnant or black hole remnant, depending on the “flavor” of the neutrinos.

Researchers have created a microscopic device that can both detect and control the rapid “dance” of electron spins in antiferromagnetic materials — a leap that could enable a new generation of ultrafast, energy-efficient electronics. Until now, scientists could only detect this quantum behavior using bulky lab equipment — making it hard to imagine practical uses in everyday tech.

Penn professors Masoud Akbarzadeh of the Weitzman School and Shu Yang of the School of Engineering and Applied Science have created a 3D concrete printing system that boosts both carbon capture and structural performance. “It wasn’t just about aesthetics or reducing mass,” Akbarzadeh says. “It was about unlocking a new structural logic. We could reduce material by almost 70% and still carry the load, showing it’s possible to do so much more with so much less.”