Physicists discover strange spinning crystals that behave like living matter

Spinning crystals that twist, shatter, and rebuild themselves may hold the key to next-generation materials.. Physicists have uncovered the fascinating world of “rotating crystals” — solids made of spinning particles that behave in strange, almost living ways. These odd materials can twist instead of stretch, shatter into fragments, and even reassemble themselves.

It may sound unbelievable, but crystals made of rotating particles are real. A group of physicists from Aachen, Düsseldorf, Mainz, and Wayne State University (Detroit, USA) has explored these unusual materials and their remarkable behavior. These crystals can easily split into separate fragments, form unusual grain boundaries, and display controllable structural defects...

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Astronomers discover a gigantic bridge of gas connecting two galaxies

Astronomers have made a groundbreaking discovery of a colossal bridge of neutral hydrogen gas linking two dwarf galaxies. Scientists at The University of Western Australia’s node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) have made a remarkable discovery: a massive structure stretching about 185,000 light-years between two galaxies, NGC 4532 and DDO 137, located some 53 million light-years from Earth.

According to a study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the team also detected a huge tail of gas extending another 1.6 million light-years beyond the bridge, making it the largest feature of its kind ever recorded.

Lead researcher Professor Lister Staveley-Smith from ICRAR UWA explained that the finding provides an important n...

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Why Some 80-Year-Olds Have the Memory of 50-Year-Olds

This shows an older woman and a brain.
SuperAgers score at least 9 out of 15 on a delayed word recall test — on par with individuals in their 50s and 60s. Credit: Neuroscience News

For 25 years, scientists have studied “SuperAgers”—people aged 80 and above whose memory rivals those decades younger. Research reveals that their brains either resist Alzheimer’s-related plaques and tangles or remain resilient despite having them.

These individuals maintain a youthful brain structure, with a thicker cortex and unique neurons linked to memory and social skills. Insights from their biology and behavior could inspire new strategies to protect cognitive health into late life.

For the past 25 years, researchers at Northwestern Medicine have been examining people aged 80 and older, known as “SuperAgers,” to uncover why...

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Ultracompact semiconductor could power next-gen AI and 6G chips

chip
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A research team, led by Professor Heein Yoon in the Department of Electrical Engineering at UNIST has unveiled an ultra-small hybrid low-dropout regulator (LDO) that promises to advance power management in advanced semiconductor devices. This innovative chip not only stabilizes voltage more effectively, but also filters out noise—all while taking up less space—opening new doors for high-performance system-on-chips (SoCs) used in AI, 6G communications, and beyond.

The new LDO combines analog and digital circuit strengths in a hybrid design, ensuring stable power delivery even during sudden changes in current demand—like when launching a game on your smartphone—and effectively blocking unwanted noise from the power supply.

What sets this developmen...

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