Harvard physicists have developed a computational method that can uncover the rules that cells use to self-organize, translating the complex process of cell growth into an optimization problem a computer can solve.

Asymmetric bending is a promising way to achieve rapid and efficient crawling in soft robots. In a recent innovation, researchers from Chung-Ang University have demonstrated a soft robot that employs liquid crystal elastomers with paper-based electrodes to produce asymmetric bending. This soft robot mimics a caterpillar and demonstrates efficient crawling via regulated asymmetric heating. This technology offers a facile and scalable strategy for advancing next-generation soft robotic systems and their applications.

A recent study published in National Science Review has revealed an extreme ionospheric electron density depletion and the pronounced hemispheric asymmetry during the May 2024 geomagnetic storm. The near-total depletion of ionospheric electrons caused widespread failures in high-frequency radio wave propagation. This research provides critical observational evidence from CMP and modeling insights into the ionosphere's response to extreme space weather, advancing understanding of the physical processes of magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere coupling.

Researchers leveraged high-throughput computing and machine learning to systematically evaluate a large family of magnesium-based thermoelectric materials. The study pinpoints thermal expansion as a key knob: it strengthens lattice anharmonicity to reduce lattice thermal conductivity and narrows band dispersion to enhance the Seebeck coefficient, together lifting the figure of merit (ZT). Building on these insights, the team delivers a robust XGBoost predictor that accelerates the screening and optimization of Mg-based thermoelectrics.

Researchers have developed edible microbeads made from green tea polyphenols, vitamin E and seaweed that, when consumed, bind to fats in the gastrointestinal tract. Preliminary results from tests with rats fed high-fat diets show that this approach to weight loss may be safer and more accessible than surgery or pharmaceuticals. They will present their results at the ACS Fall 2025 Digital Meeting.

Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) code offers a theoretical possibility for significantly reducing the physical number of qubits needed to produce a functioning ‘logical qubit’. 

Research published today in Nature Physics demonstrates this as a physical reality, tapping into the natural oscillations of a trapped ion (a charged atom of ytterbium) to store GKP codes and, for the first time, realising quantum entangling gates between them.