What if artificial cells could be mechanically programmed like machines? Researchers at the University of Tokyo have shown that lipids and DNA nanostructures independently control two fundamental modes of deformation, stretching and bending, opening new possibilities for designing artificial cells and next-generation soft materials.

Surprisingly, a certain microscopic structure found in natural graphite can host multiple superconducting states, researchers found. In a further surprise, these superconducting states even get stronger when exposed to a magnetic field. 

Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have developed a new way to employ molecules as tiny data storage devices using a new manganese-based material. Until now, this was only possible with iron-containing molecular materials, which require very low temperatures – ranging from 100 to a maximum of 130 Kelvin (approximately minus 173 to minus 143 degrees Celsius) – making their application significantly more difficult. “With our novel manganese-based material, we succeeded in raising the operating temperature for the potential storage devices to around minus 132 degrees Celsius on our very first attempt,” said Prof. Dr. Katja Heinze from the Department of Chemistry at JGU.

When viruses travel through the air in tiny droplets, they can quickly start to dry out. Yet many viruses remain infectious after rehydration — something that is still not fully understood. Now, an international team led by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) in Hamburg has directly observed how the protein shells of viruses can change shape during dehydration, offering new clues to viral resilience and opening new possibilities for virology research. The results, published in Light: Science & Applications, lay the groundwork for potential applications in virology and public health, and can for instance help develop antiviral strategies.

SAN ANTONIO — June 29, 2026 —A new Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) study based on data from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has uncovered fascinating insights into why the solar wind gradually slows as it moves toward the edge of the solar system and the boundary with interstellar space.

An international research team has demonstrated that the intrinsic disorder of the compound semiconductor CuInSnS₄ can be exploited to influence its optical properties. While the atomic vibrations also sense the local disorder, their response is averaged over many different local environments and therefore appear isotropic, as expected for a cubic crystal. In contrast, the optical excitations, known as excitons, are much more sensitive to the local arrangement of atoms. Surprisingly, they show a direction-dependent optical response even though the average crystal structure is cubic. These findings shed new light on the relationship between disorder and material properties, opening up new options for targeted 'disorder engineering' in optoelectronic and photocatalytic devices.

Two outstanding scientists have been awarded the annual Nano Research Award which is sponsored by Tsinghua University Press (TUP). Professor Xiangfeng Duan is the Distinguished Professor at University of California, Los Angeles. Professor Akira Fujishima is the Professor at Institute of Photochemistry and Photofunctional Materials, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology.

Physicists have used machine-learning to identify two new superconductors––it represents a substantial step towards unlocking massive energy efficiency gains from superconductivity.