Massive blooms of Sargassum seaweed that have inundated coastlines across the Atlantic since 2011 likely originate off the coast of West Africa—forming years before they are visible and overturning long-standing assumptions about where these events begin.

Researchers have created heart monitoring sensors that conform to the skin, are comfortable, and can be worn while people are moving. With performance comparable to sensors already on the market, the new technology can be made using existing manufacturing processes.

Femtosecond nonlinear frequency conversion underpins classical and quantum photonics but typically requires synchronized mode-locked lasers and complex enhancement cavities. We demonstrate a fundamentally different approach by mode-locking nonlinear frequency conversion through dissipative quadratic soliton physics. This paradigm shift extends soliton-based technologies to diverse cavity platforms and previously inaccessible wavelengths, enabling new opportunities in precision metrology, quantum information science, field control, and ultrafast spectroscopy.

Imagine ordering a truffle dish in a fancy restaurant, and you might picture pricey gourmet mushrooms from France or Italy. But today, one of the world’s largest producers of some of the most prized truffles, known as Périgord truffles, isn’t in the northern hemisphere at all — it’s Australia. New findings suggest that part of the reason for their bountiful harvests may be because truffle fungi have fewer microbial competitors in Australia's soils compared with Europe’s.