The analytical results reveal a clear transition between a regime governed by the snow slab that detaches and another governed by the weak layer, or its interface, along which the fracture propagates. In the presence of a stiffer weak layer or interface, the crack may 'feel' a local stiffness greater than the global one, and therefore appear to propagate at a globally supersonic speed while remaining locally subsonic. This finding at least partially reconciles the different interpretations reported in the avalanche literature and is based on a characteristic energy length previously introduced to explain the two propagation regimes that had already emerged from numerical studies.

SUMMARY: The U.S. National Science Foundation National Solar Observatory (NSF NSO) announced today a major breakthrough in solar physics. Using the world's most powerful solar telescope, the NSF Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope near the summit of Maui’s Haleakalā, combined with computer simulations, an international team of scientists from the NSO, NSF NCAR High Altitude Observatory (HAO), and the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) found the signature of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI), tiny swirling patterns like small whirlpools, on the Sun's surface. Researchers suggest that KHI might be a key reason why the Sun's outer atmosphere gets so hot, and why magnetic energy builds up and moves around on the Sun. Magnetic energy fuels solar flares and eruptions—the kind of solar activity that can send bursts of energy toward Earth and affect satellites, power grids, and other technology. The discovery opens a new window into the fundamental physics of the Sun and other stars while underscoring the unmatched capabilities of the Inouye Solar Telescope.

Potential Role of the Histone Acetylation Site in Regulating Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation

A drug-free technology that uses low-intensity electric fields reduced tumor growth and spread in preclinical models of triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease, according to new research from The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute

Quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1D) van der Waals (vdW) materials represent an emerging frontier in nanoscience, yet the synthesis of their metastable phases remains a significant challenge. Now, researchers at Beijing Institute of Technology have developed a kinetically-controlled anion-exchange (KCAE) strategy that, for the first time, produces uniform, wafer-scale (1-inch) films of W₆Te₆ — a metastable quasi-1D material previously inaccessible by conventional methods. By first converting a tungsten film into a stable WS₂ template with vertically aligned grains, then carefully controlling tellurization, the team creates a kinetic barrier that traps the system in the W₆Te₆ phase, preventing it from racing to the thermodynamically stable WTe₂. The method is also compatible with standard photolithography, enabling pre-patterned W₆Te₆ nanostructures.