Quantum computers have the potential to solve problems far beyond the reach of today’s fastest supercomputers. But today’s machines are notoriously fragile. The quantum bits, or “qubits,” that store and process information are easily disrupted by their environment, leading to errors that quickly accumulate.

One of the most promising approaches to overcoming this challenge is topological quantum computing, which aims to protect quantum information by encoding it in the geometric properties of exotic particles called anyons...

A recent study led by Dilda Berdikhan, a Ph.D. student from the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory (XAO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has uncovered compelling evidence that a cloud–cloud collision has triggered active star formation in the molecular cloud G013.313+0.193 (hereafter G013.313) in the Milky Way. The findings are published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Using observational data from the NanShan 26-m Radio Telescope and the Delingha 13...

Opioids like morphine are widely used in medical practice due to their powerful pain-relieving effects, yet they carry the risk of serious adverse effects such as respiratory depression and drug dependence. For this reason, Japan has strict regulations in place to ensure that these medications are prescribed only by authorized physicians.

In the United States, the opioid OxyContin was once frequently prescribed, triggering a surge in the misuse of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. As a result, the number of deaths caused by opioid overdose surpassed 80,000 in 2023, escalating into a national public health crisis now referred to as the “opioid crisis.”

Opioids may soon have a rival, however...

MIT physicists confirm that, like Superman, light has two identities that are impossible to see at once. Physicists at MIT recreated the double-slit experiment using individual photons and atoms held in laser light, uncovering the true limits of light’s wave–particle duality. Their results proved Einstein’s proposal wrong and confirmed a core prediction of quantum mechanics...