Researchers from Zhejiang Lab have proposed a novel spatiotemporal mode multiplexing technology, coupling pulsed orbital angular momentum (OAM) beams with diffractive deep neural networks (D²NN) and optical fiber delay-line arrays to realize a “space-time” projection mechanism. This enables high-speed, all-optical multidimensional multiplexing with potential scalability to the GHz level, offering a breakthrough solution for large-capacity optical communications in challenging environments such as free space and underwater.

Astronomers using the Subaru Telescope in Hawaiʻi have discovered a massive planet and a brown dwarf orbiting distant stars. The discoveries are the first results from OASIS (Observing Accelerators with SCExAO Imaging Survey), which combines space-based measurements with the Subaru Telescope’s advanced imaging to find hidden worlds. These discoveries in turn enable NASA’s upcoming Roman Space Telescope to test critical technologies for imaging Earth-like planets.

An international team led by the University of Oxford has identified one of the largest rotating structures ever reported: a “razor-thin” string of galaxies embedded in a giant spinning cosmic filament, 140 million light-years away. The findings, published today (4 December) in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, could offer valuable new insights into how galaxies formed in the early Universe.

- University of Leicester and welding specialist TWI Ltd collaborating on a robot-mounted arc-welding system

- Designed to support in-space repair, joining and future orbital manufacturing

Building on decades of effort, Lizhong Zhang, Member (2023–24) in the School of Natural Sciences; James Stone, Professor in the School; and a team of astrophysicists have achieved a major milestone: developing the most comprehensive model to date of luminous black hole accretion. Their breakthrough allows scholars to "observe" such black hole systems not through a telescope, but through a computer.

New simulations created by astrophysicists at the Flatiron Institute and the Institute for Advanced Study reveal how material flowing around and into black holes creates intense light shows. The simulations are the first to fully capture the interplay between light and matter under Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

The largest annual meeting focused on weather, water, and climate sciences, the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) will be held 25–29 January, 2026, in Houston, Texas.