Things don't really exist until they have a name.
Liquid robot can transform, separate and fuse like living cells
Mar 2025, phys.org
Liquid robots - "A particle-armored liquid robot, encased in unusually dense hydrophobic particles" (Who knew the T-1000 made of pfas) But wait, there's more! "Building upon our current findings, we are now working on technologies that will allow the liquid robot to change shape freely using sound waves or electric fields."
via Seoul National University and Gachon University: Hyobin Jeon et al, Particle-armored liquid robots, Science Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adt5888.
Image credit: Lily flower pollen autofluorescence by Dr. Stephen De Lisle - Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition - 2025
Image note: All this images come from the Nikon Small World Competition, 2025. It's a great competition, it's been happening for decades, and produces some of the world's most interesting imagery; these are only a tiny sample of all the winners.
Intercrystals' pave the way for greener electronics and quantum technologies
May 2025, phys.org
Intercrystals - two ultrathin layers of graphene stacked, then twisted them slightly atop a layer of hexagonal boron nitride, to form moiré patterns. With intercrystals, materials can be engineered to access new phases of matter by exploiting geometric frustration at the smallest scale. ... exploiting geometric frustration
via Rutgers University Department of Physics and Astronomy: Xinyuan Lai et al, Moiré periodic and quasiperiodic crystals in heterostructures of twisted bilayer graphene on hexagonal boron nitride, Nature Materials (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41563-025-02222-w
Whole-body teleoperation system allows robots to perform coordinated tasks with human-like dexterity
May 2025, phys.org
TWIST - teleoperated whole-body imitation system (teledildonics did it first but I'll allow)
via Stanford University and Simon Fraser University: Yanjie Ze et al, TWIST: Teleoperated Whole-Body Imitation System, arXiv (2025). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2505.02833
Organoids containing blood vessels have been grown, holding promise for research and treatment
Jun 2025, phys.org
Vascularized Organoids - Beyond about 3 millimeters in diameter, an organoid can no longer sustain itself by absorbing resources directly from its environment. "When you grow organoids to a certain size, they start to die inside because they can't get oxygen and nutrients to the center" (btw "For over a decade, scientists have been growing organoids")
via Stanford University Medical Center: Oscar J. Abilez et al, Gastruloids enable modeling of the earliest stages of human cardiac and hepatic vascularization, Science (2025). DOI: 10.1126/science.adu9375.
Cells assembled into Anthrobots become biologically younger than the original cells they were made from
Jun 2025, phys.org
Anthrobots - tiny multicellular organisms grown from a single human tracheal cell and assembled into new forms - spherical, oblong, covered with cilia on all or part of their surfaces, capable of swimming and repairing "wounds" in plated neurons.
via Tufts University: Gizem Gumuskaya et al, The Morphological, Behavioral, and Transcriptomic Life Cycle of Anthrobots, Advanced Science (2025). DOI: 10.1002/advs.202409330
Patterns of patterns: Exploring supermoiré engineering
Jul 2025, phys.org
Supermoiré patterns - moiré of moiré, or more moiré
via Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences: Yonglong Xie et al, Strong interactions and isospin symmetry breaking in a supermoiré lattice, Science (2025). DOI: 10.1126/science.adl2544
Robots now grow and repair themselves by consuming parts from other machines
Jul 2025, phys.org
Robot Metabolism - (Words you did not expect to hear right next to each other) enables machines to absorb and reuse parts from other robots or their surroundings.
"True autonomy means robots must not only think for themselves but also physically sustain themselves. We can't rely on humans to maintain these machines. Robots must ultimately learn to take care of themselves."
via Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science and Creative Machines Lab: Philippe Wyder, Robot Metabolism: Towards machines that can grow by consuming other machines, Science Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adu6897.
Quantum internet moves closer as researchers teleport light-based information
Jul 2025, phys.org
Telecom Photons - or telecom-wavelength photonic qubit - a quantum bit encoded in light at the same wavelengths supporting current communications
via Nanjing University: Yu-Yang An et al, Quantum Teleportation from Telecom Photons to Erbium-Ion Ensembles, Physical Review Letters (2025). DOI: 10.1103/3wh8-2gh1.
Scientists grow novel 'whole-brain' organoid
Jul 2025, phys.org
Multi-region Brain Organoid - aka rudimentary whole-brain organoid, with characteristics resembling a brain in a 40-day-old human fetus. Fuck off.
via Johns Hopkins University: Anannya Kshirsagar et al, Multi‐Region Brain Organoids Integrating Cerebral, Mid‐Hindbrain, and Endothelial Systems, Advanced Science (2025). DOI: 10.1002/advs.202503768
Scientists program cells to create biological qubit in multidisciplinary research
Aug 2025, phys.org
Biological Qubit - a protein-based qubit; "Rather than taking a conventional quantum sensor and trying to camouflage it to enter a biological system, we wanted to explore the idea of using a biological system itself and developing it into a qubit"
via University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering: Jacob S. Feder et al, A fluorescent-protein spin qubit, Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09417-w
'Solastalgia' might help explain effects of climate change on mental health
Aug 2025, phys.org
Solastalgia - blend of the words "solace" and "nostalgia"; first coined in 2003 to refer to the lack of solace and feelings of pain or sickness caused by changes in a person's immediate or surrounding environment, and now found to be associated with depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder. (Out of an initial 80 studies between 2003 and 2024, 5 quantitative and 14 qualitative studies from Australia, Germany, Peru and the U.S., totaling 5,000+ participants were considered.) Also considered one of several eco-emotions, such as eco-anxiety, eco-grief, or eco-shame, or eco-guilt
via University of Zurich Institute of Psychology: Vela Sandquist A, Biele L, Ehlert U, Fischer S. Is solastalgia associated with mental health problems? A scoping review. BMJ Mental Health. 2025;28:e301639. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjment-2025-301639
'Meschers' tool visualizes and edits 'physically impossible' objects
Aug 2025, phys.org
Mescher - a physically impossible object, like M.C. Escher. AKA Penrose Triangle, Escher-esque structures, geodesics (Their "Meschers" tool converts images and 3D models into 2.5-dimensional structures, and helps users relight, smooth out, and study unique geometries while preserving their optical illusion.)
via MIT CSAIL Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory: Ana Dodik et al, Meschers: Geometry Processing of Impossible Objects, ACM Transactions on Graphics (2025). DOI: 10.1145/3731422.
And on GitHub: https://anadodik.github.io/publication/meschers/Meschers.pdf
Searching for Artificial Memory Systems in ancient humans with spatial statistics
Aug 2025, phys.org
Paleolithic Artificial Memory System - like tally marks on bone - devices that record, store, transmit, and retrieve coded information beyond the brain, via external representations. AMS can be anything from the notches on a gunslinger's pistol, tracking past success, to the symbols on and data encoded within the Voyager spacecraft's golden record ... Documented functions include a North American lunar-cycle calendar, Australian message sticks, medieval English tally sticks for expenditures and taxes, a Tibetan tally stick for wheat and millet deliveries, and Angolan tally sticks for days traveled.
via Université de Bordeaux: Lloyd Austin Courtenay et al, Identifying potential palaeolithic artificial memory systems via Spatial statistics: Implications for the origin of quantification, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1007/s12520-025-02286-4
Discarded particles dubbed 'neglectons' may unlock universal quantum computing
Aug 2025, phys.org
Neglectons - a name that reflects both their overlooked status and their newfound importance; by adding a single new type of anyon to topological quantum computation, the team shows that Ising anyons can be made universal, capable of performing any quantum computation through braiding alone.
via University of Southern California: Universal quantum computation using Ising anyons from a non-semisimple topological quantum field theory, Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-61342-8
The Hofstadter butterfly: Twisted bilayer graphene reveals two distinct strongly interacting topological phases
Sep 2025, phys.org
MATBG - Magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene; it's had so many names in the past ten years; this is the final and fully-formed acronym; wasted opportunity not to add "sandwich" at the end, as this has been part of the name-zoo all along. (Note that The Hofstadter Butterfly, which is by far a better name, is for the way the phases interact, not the MATBG that makes it happen)
via University of Washington and Florida State University: Minhao He et al, Strongly interacting Hofstadter states in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene, Nature Physics (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41567-025-02997-4.
One mother for two species via obligate cross-species cloning in ants
Sep 2025, Nature
Xenoparous - give birth to other species
via ISEM, University of Montpellier, CNRS, IRD: Juvé, Y., Lutrat, C., Ha, A. et al. One mother for two species via obligate cross-species cloning in ants. Nature 646, 372–377 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09425-w
Golden nano sandwich makes nanoparticles visible
Sep 2025, phys.org
Golden Nano Sandwich - "whisper" nano cavity between gold film and gold nanoparticle
via University of Twente: Mohammad Reza Aghdaee et al, Optical detection of single sub-15 nm objects using elastic scattering strong coupling, Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63380-8
Tomorrow's quantum computers could use sound, not light
Sep 2025, phys.org
Phonons - tiny mechanical vibrations that would be considered sound on a larger scale; they can send phonon-based data through a quantum computer free from the randomness that, by nature, will always hinder platforms based on photons.
via University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering: Acoustic phonon phase gates with number-resolving phonon detection, Nature Physics (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41567-025-03027-z.
We need a solar sail probe to detect space tornadoes earlier, researchers say
Oct 2025, phys.org
Space Tornadoes - that's all.
via University of Michigan: High-resolution simulation of CME-CIR interactions: small- to mesoscale solar wind structure formation observable by the SWIFT constellation The Astrophysical Journal (2025). DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/adf855
First trial of therapy chatbot suggests AI can provide 'gold-standard' mental-health care
Mar 2025, phys.org
Therabot - it's a therapy bot for mental health
via Dartmouth: A Clinical Trial on a Generative AI Chatbot for Mental Health Treatment, NEJM AI (2025). DOI: 10.1056/AIoa2400802
'Thirstwaves' are growing more common across the United States
Apr 2025, phys.org
Thirstwave - period of extremely high evaporative demand like its cousin the heat wave; to be called a thirstwave, the short crop evapotranspiration must be above the 90th percentile for at least 3 days.
via Department of Soil and Water Systems at University of Idaho-Boise: M. S. Kukal et al, Thirstwaves: Prolonged Periods of Agricultural Exposure to Extreme Atmospheric Evaporative Demand for Water, Earth's Future (2025). DOI: 10.1029/2024EF004870
Industrial waste is turning to rock in just decades, research reveals
Apr 2025, phys.org
Rapid Anthropoclastic Rock Cycle
via University of Glasgow: Amanda Owen et al, Evidence for a rapid anthropoclastic rock cycle, Geology (2025). DOI: 10.1130/G52895.1
'Metabots' shapeshift from flat sheets into hundreds of structures
Oct 2025, phys.org
Metabot - "We start out with simple polymer sheets that have holes in them, but by applying thin films to the surface of the polymer we're able to incorporate materials that respond to electricity or magnetic fields" ... "By connecting multiple sheets, we create structures that lie flat initially, but can then bend and fold themselves into a wide variety of stable configurations" (and I saw it here first)
via North Carolina State University: Caizhi Zhou et al, Multistable thin-shell metastructures for multiresponsive reconfigurable metabots, Science Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adx4359
Topological polycrystal: A new approach to configurable, multiband topological photonic circuitry
May 2025, phys.org
Topological Polycrystal - with a name like that, we don't need definitions.
via Department of Physics at the Institute of Advanced Study at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology: Tianyue Li et al, Configurable Topological Photonic Polycrystal Based on a Synthetic Hybrid Dimension, National Science Review (2025). DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwaf107
