A new study published in Physical Review Letters offers a fresh explanation about what causes some ideas to die out while others take over the internet.

Physicists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a breakthrough concept in quantum encryption that makes private communication more secure over significantly longer distances, surpassing state-of-the-art technologies. For decades, experts believed such a technology upgrade required perfect optical hardware, namely, light sources that strictly emit one light particle (photon) at a time—something extremely difficult and expensive to build. But the new approach uses innovative encryption protocols applied to tiny, engineered materials called quantum dots to send encrypted information securely, even with imperfect light sources. Real-world tests show it can outperform even the best of current systems, potentially bringing quantum-safe communication closer to everyday use.

Researchers from Kumamoto University have identified a distinctive CT imaging pattern that can predict which women experiencing severe postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) are most likely to need life-saving interventions. The new finding, termed PRACE (Postpartum hemorrhage, Resistance to treatment, and Arterial Contrast Extravasation), was observed in nearly one-third of patients undergoing dynamic CT scans and was strongly associated with the need for emergency procedures such as uterine artery embolization.

A collaboration between Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital’s Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI) has produced a breakthrough in how to study and classify complex diseases. The new method, called the Causal Pivot, gives researchers a powerful way to detect hidden genetic drivers and subgroup patients by true biological causes of their illnesses using new computational tools developed in the research, paving the way for major advances in personalized genetic medicine. The research was recently published in the American Journal of Human Genetics.