SAN ANTONIO — June 3, 2025 — New research led by a Southwest Research Institute scientist identified a new source of energetic particles near the Sun. These definitive observations were made by instruments aboard NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, which detected the powerful phenomena as the spacecraft dipped in and out of the solar corona.

Black holes could serve as cheaper, natural alternatives to expensive facilities searching for dark matter and similarly elusive particles that hold clues to the universe’s deepest secrets. 

Quaise Energy has moved out of the lab and into the field with the first demonstration of its novel drilling technique on a full-scale oil rig just outside of Houston. The company, formed only seven years ago, is on track to prove that clean, renewable geothermal energy could power the world, according to Carlos Araque, CEO of Quaise and a co-founder.

In a groundbreaking new study, a team led by scientists from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) National Solar Observatory (NSO) has captured the sharpest-ever view of the Sun’s surface, revealing ultra-fine magnetic “stripes,” known as striations, just 20 kilometers wide—roughly the length of Manhattan. Using the NSF Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, built and operated by the NSO, the team observed these bright and dark striations rippling across the walls of solar granules, caused by curtain-like magnetic fields that modify light much like fabric fluttering in the wind. The discovery uncovers a new layer of complexity in the Sun’s magnetic structure and demonstrates the Inouye Solar Telescope’s unmatched ability to resolve features previously thought beyond reach—offering new clues to how magnetism shapes solar phenomena.

A research team from Institute of Modern Physics (IMP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has announced an ambitious scientific plan to construct a "Super η Factory" in Huizhou, Guangdong province, China. This facility will utilize high-intensity proton beams to produce over 10¹³ η mesons annually, offering an unparalleled platform for probing dark portal particles, matter-antimatter asymmetry, and other frontier questions in physics

Fraunhofer IAF has developed a semi-automated manufacturing process for resonantly tunable quantum cascade laser modules (MOEMS-EC-QCLs). This laser technology is characterized by very broad and extremely fast spectral tunability, enabling real-time spectroscopy and inline measurement systems in various industries. The process significantly accelerates the modules’ manufacturing and reduces its costs. From June 24 to 27, 2025, Fraunhofer IAF will present the process by the example of a multi-core system at the Laser World of Photonics in Munich (Hall A3, Booth 431). The system combines four modules via multiplexing and achieves effective spectral measurement speeds of over 1 million wave numbers per second.