Latest articles in Science
Physicists at Harvard University have shown that a steady stream of sound waves can shield a quantum bit from its noisy surroundings, nearly tripling the time it holds information. The finding points toward sound-based quantum networks on chips and hybrid quantum systems. The team described the work in a paper released this month.
Physicists at Harvard have found that a steady stream of sound waves can shield a fragile quantum bit from noise in its surroundings, nearly tripling how long it holds information. The result, published in Nature Physics, points toward sound-based quantum networks on chips and hybrid quantum systems. Quantum bits, or qubits, lose their data quickly because they are easily disturbed by heat, vibration, and electrical noise. The Harvard team used acoustic waves to create a protective barrier around a silicon-vacancy spin in diamond. The technique kept the qubit stable for roughly three times longer than before. Researchers said the approach could be combined with existing chip manufacturing methods, bringing practical quantum computers a step closer.
Astronomers using the Very Large Telescope Interferometer in Chile have found a star, called S301, that passes closer to Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, than any star known before. The extreme orbit makes S301 a natural probe of the black hole's rotation, a property that has stayed hidden for decades. The spin would record how the black hole grew and whether the galaxy merged with another long ago. The team plans to track S301 through more of its orbit in the coming years.
NASA engineers are preparing a risky power maneuver called 'the Big Bang' to keep the Voyager probes exploring interstellar space. The two spacecraft, launched in 1977, are running low on electricity from their aging nuclear power sources. In April, engineers shut down an instrument on Voyager 1 called the Low-energy Charged Particles experiment to buy about a year of time. The Big Bang plan swaps a group of powered devices all at once, turning some off and replacing others with lower-power alternatives to keep the spacecraft warm enough to keep working. Tests on Voyager 2 are planned for May and June, with Voyager 1 to follow no sooner than July. If all goes well, the probes could keep doing science into the early 2030s, with Voyager 1 possibly reaching 200 astronomical units from Earth around 2035.
A study from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology shows that a gene variant inherited from Neanderthals still shapes muscle and jaw structure in some people today. The variant affects the growth hormone receptor, which controls how the body responds to growth hormone. Lab-grown mouse cells carrying the Neanderthal receptor grew about 40% more when exposed to growth hormone. Data from more than 1.1 million adults across five biobanks showed carriers have roughly 270 to 285 grams of extra lean mass and slightly more height. The variant is common in people with European and Asian ancestry and rare or absent in sub-Saharan Africa.
Astronomers using the GRAVITY instrument at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer have found a star, named S301, that passes closer to Sagittarius A* than any known star. Sagittarius A* is the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The discovery could let scientists measure the spin of the black hole for the first time. The team plans to keep tracking the star through its orbit.
Astronomers have found a faint star whipping around Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, on the tightest orbit ever recorded. The star, named S301, passes closer to the black hole than any other known star. The discovery was made with the GRAVITY instrument at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer in Chile. The star's extreme orbit could allow scientists to measure the spin of the black hole for the first time. A spinning black hole drags space around with it, and measuring that effect reveals how the black hole formed and grew. The findings were reported by the European Southern Observatory team.
Hong Wang, a 35-year-old mathematician at New York University and France's Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques, has won the 2026 Fields Medal, one of the most prestigious prizes in mathematics. She is the third woman to receive the award in its 90-year history, after Maryam Mirzakhani in 2014 and Maryna Viazovska in 2022, and the first Chinese woman. The International Mathematical Union honored her for solving the three-dimensional Kakeya conjecture, a problem about how needles rotate in space that had stumped mathematicians for half a century. Her proof was described by experts as a once-in-a-century achievement. Wang is one of four medalists this year, alongside Yu Deng, John Pardon and Jacob Tsimerman.
An international team of physicists says it has found the strongest evidence yet for the glueball, a mysterious particle made almost entirely of gluons. Researchers at the Beijing Spectrometer III collaboration presented their results at the International Conference on High Energy Physics in Brazil. The particle, known as X(2370), was first detected in 2011. The team says it has no quark flavors, behaving exactly as predicted for a particle built from pure force. Glueballs were predicted in the early 1970s but had never been confirmed. Researchers from 15 countries spent 15 years on the search.
Hong Wang, a mathematician at New York University, has become the third woman to win the Fields Medal, one of the highest honors in mathematics. Wang was recognized for helping solve a geometry problem that had stood for decades, combining tools from harmonic analysis and geometric measure theory in a new way. The Fields Medal is awarded every four years to mathematicians under 40. Wang joins Maryam Mirzakhani, who won in 2014, and Maryna Viazovska, who won in 2022. Colleagues said her proof was elegant and opened new research directions. The award is being celebrated as a milestone for diversity in mathematics, where women remain a minority at the highest levels. Wang said she hopes the prize encourages young students to pursue the field.