An international research team has developed a new technique to study complex spin textures with femtosecond precision. By using multiple time-delayed laser pulses with different polarizations, they were able to measure the full electric field vectors of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) with unprecedented spatial and temporal accuracy. The team demonstrated this method by investigating a meron pair, a topological spin structure, and successfully reconstructed its spin texture. Their approach allows for detailed study of topological properties, such as the Chern number, and could have significant implications for fields like quantum computing and nanomaterials, where stable, topologically protected spin textures are crucial.

One of the biggest mysteries in science – dark energy – doesn't actually exist, according to researchers looking to solve the riddle of how the Universe is expanding. For the past 100 years, physicists have generally assumed that the cosmos is growing equally in all directions. They employed the concept of dark energy as a placeholder to explain unknown physics they couldn't understand, but the contentious theory has always had its problems. Now a team of physicists and astronomers at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand are challenging the status quo, using improved analysis of supernovae light curves to show that the Universe is expanding in a more varied, "lumpier" way.

Living cells and tissues show a high capacity to absorb various chemical compounds from the surrounding environment. Although the absorption of small molecules is quite simple for cells and tissues, it becomes more problematic to absorb larger molecules. In order to do this, cells have to use certain methods of transport, and one of them is endocytosis. The larger the molecule, the more difficult it is not only to absorb but also to transport it within the cell. This makes the delivery of large molecules even of biological importance like drugs a research challenge. In addition to discovering new and effective methods to deliver specific compounds into the cell, researchers also look for new methods to quantify this process, i.e., to provide parameters such as the number of molecules entering the cell and their time of entry. Recently, researchers from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences led by prof. Robert Hołyst showed a novel approach in the quantitative method to describe the endocytosis process using the example of transferrin uptake. Let’s take a closer look at their findings.