Even the most modern random number generators do not produce perfectly random numbers, which can be a problem for cryptographic applications. 

ETH Zurich researchers use entangled superconducting qubits and a so-called Bell-test to amplify such imperfect randomness using quantum physics. 

Their technology could become a key foundation for secure encryption and digital security. 

Based on a 20-year field nitrogen addition experiment, this study demonstrates that long-term high nitrogen deposition does not reduce belowground carbon allocation in tropical forest plants; rather, it induces a physiological adaptation—upregulation of root exudation—to actively mobilize soil phosphorus, thereby sustaining productivity and offering a key mechanistic explanation for the persistence of tropical forest carbon sinks under chronic nitrogen enrichment.

The Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPIP) welcomes the first group of participants in the new Poly-ABROAD Visiting Student Program—an international collaboration with the Macromolecules Innovation Institute at Virginia Tech. From May through August, six doctoral candidates and students from the U.S. will complete a three-month research stay in Mainz, working on interdisciplinary projects related to biologically inspired and sustainable polymer materials and networking with other doctoral candidates from both Max Planck Institutes and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz at the “Max Planck Graduate Center with Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.” The goal of this initiative, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, is to strengthen scientific exchange in polymer and materials research and to integrate young talent into international networks.

Optical skyrmions are poised to revolutionize data transmission as robust information carriers, but their use has been hindered by narrow-band generation limits. Now, an international team in China and Singapore has unveiled an on-chip platform based on ferroelectric spherulites. This breakthrough device generates stable optical skyrmions across the entire visible spectrum, shattering previous bandwidth barriers. The advance paves the way for ultra-high-capacity optical communications and next-generation topological quantum light sources.