Step into a world so tiny, it defies imagination — the nanoscale. Picture a single strand of hair, now shrink it a million times. You’ve arrived. Here, atoms and molecules are the architects of reality, building properties and phenomena that challenge everything we thought we knew — until now.

At the University of Missouri’s College of Arts and Science, researchers Deepak Singh and Carsten Ullrich, alongside their teams of brilliant students and postdoctoral fellows, have unlocked a stunning discovery on this invisible frontier: a brand-new type of quasiparticle in all magnetic materials, no matter their strength or temperature. This groundbreaking find flips the script on magnetism, revealing it to be more dynamic than scientists once believed.

Many parents are more involved than ever in their children's education at school. They are in contact with the teachers on a regular basis, discuss their teaching style and generally advocate for their child. Ostensibly, the ideal relationship would be a partnership between teacher and parent with the child in the center. However, a new study from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev shows that teachers often view parents as a problem, often more problematic than their children, to be managed rather than as partners.

Countries that earn a lot of money from oil, coal, minerals and other natural capital by no means invest it wisely. A lot of money flows away into corruption and unsustainable investments. Investing more sustainably in education, health and infrastructure would benefit not only current, but also future generations within these countries. Charan van Krevel investigated why things still often go wrong. His PhD defense at Radboud University takes place on 21 December.