Anna Demming
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Freelance science journalist/editor specialising in physics annademming.com
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Articles by Anna Demming
Lipid nanoparticles call the shots as mRNA medicine takes off
The therapeutic potential of mRNA had been on the radar for decades but it took an alliance with lipid nanoparticle research to make it a reality. Researchers are now looking for ways to better increase efficacy and reduce side effects to extend the potential of the delivery agents from vaccines to pulmonary and neurological interventions.
Sound waves come in quantum jumps
Making the jump: A render of the nanomechanical resonator used in the sound quantization experiment. The lighter coloured pads below the resonator are the contacts of the superconducting qubit. The dark field behind is the silicon substrate of the superconducting qubit chip. (Courtesy: Erik Szakiel) In the 1980s, scientists measured quantized jumps in the energy of ions for the first time. In the 2000s, it was photons' turn.
Geophysicist identifies a maximum practical viscosity
Flowing apart: The Mid-Atlantic Ridge (shown here in Iceland's Thingvellir National Park) is the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, which are moving apart at a rate of approximately 2.5 cm per year. The extremely slow flow rate of such plates makes them among the Earth's most viscous materials. (Courtesy: iStock/Muhammed Zeynel Ozturk) At what point does a material become so viscous that it cannot flow?
Molecular ratchets: unlocking the chemistry of biological motion
Motor proteins power everything from muscle contraction to bacterial swimming, but replicating their chemically fuelled, directional motion in the laboratory has proved stubbornly difficult.
‘Back to the future’ messages are more efficient
Retrocausal: Solutions to the equations of Einstein's general theory of relativity known as closed time-like curves (CTCs) seem to allow a system’s trajectory to return to a previous point in time. (Courtesy: dudbrain/istock) Science fiction has long embraced the idea of travelling backward in time, but the advent of Einstein’s general theory of relativity transformed these ideas from fantasies into potential – albeit contested – realities.
Physicists create mechanical memory device from slap-bracelet-like structures
In today’s technologies, mechanical mechanisms generally provide the brawn while electronics supplies the brains. This is partly because it is challenging to write information into mechanical memories without resetting each bit individually. However, that could change as researchers led by Pedro Reis at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland and Martin van Hecke at AMOLF in the Netherlands have now found a practical means of writing mechanical bits.
Entangled photons open up potential applications of anti-scattering optics
Selective transmission By combining wavefront shaping with entangled photons, the researchers make scattering media transparent to entangled photons (right) while remaining opaque to classical light (left). (Courtesy: C Vernière et al Nat. Phys. 10.1038/s41567-026-03265-9, 2026, Springer Nature) Engineering light transmission through opaque media is possible thanks to the development of a classical wavefront shaping technique first reported in 2007.
Diving into the health data goldmine Free
“The driver has to work harder than anyone,” Coach Irv tells his newly formed Jamaican bobsleigh team as he is delegating roles in the 1993 film Cool Runnings. “When his buddies are all out drinking beer, he’s up in his room studying pictures of turns.” For the driver, that knowledge is power, informing them of the course they are up against and forearming them of its challenges.
Lunar magnetic field mystery may finally have an explanation
Probing a magnetic field mystery Left to right: Collaborators Claire Nichols, Simon Stephenson and Jon Wade pose with a museum model of the Earth's composition and magnetic field. According to our best understanding of the physics of planetary dynamos, the Moon should never have had a magnetic field larger than the Earth's, yet the Apollo astronauts found many highly-magnetized lunar rocks.
生命発生の力学を「ワインの涙」から解明する
グラスに注いだワインを口にすると、濡れたグラスの内側をワインのしずくが伝って落ちていくのがわかる。 1855年、ケルヴィン卿の兄、ジェームズ・トムソンは、その原理を『Philosophical Magazine』で説明した。「ワインの涙」あるいは「ワインの脚」と呼ばれるこの現象は、アルコールと水の表面張力の違いによって生じるものだと述べ、「この事実によって、不可解に見えるさまざまな動きを説明できる」と記している。 のちにマランゴニ効果と名付けられるこの現象が、胚の発生過程まで左右しているとは、当時のトムソンには想像もできなかっただろう。 2025年3月、フランスの生物物理学者グループが研究結果を報告した。均質な細胞のかたまりが伸びて、前後軸（頭尾軸）を形成する決定的な瞬間に、マランゴニ効果が関与しているという内容だ。前後軸は、最終的な生物体の形を決定づける最初の要因だ。...
'Thermodynamic computer' can mimic AI neural networks - using orders of magnitude less energy to generate images
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Neural networks can generate images, but at an energetic cost versus probabalistic computing-based systems. | Credit: Eugene Mymrin via Getty Images Scientists have built a "thermodynamic computer" that can produce images from random disturbances in data, that is, noise.
Soft electronics and conductive polymers transform medical devices
Flexible electronics that can conduct like biological tissue, degrade harmlessly in the body and interface seamlessly with organs are transforming medical devices.
Hot ancient galaxy cluster challenges current cosmological models – Physics World
Galaxy cluster forming in the early universe Artist’s impression of the SPT2349–56 galaxy cluster. Radio jets from active galaxies are embedded in a hot intracluster atmosphere (red), illustrating a large thermal reservoir of gas in the nascent cluster. (Courtesy: Lingxiao Yuan) As with people, age in cosmology does not always extrapolate.
Qubit ‘recycling’ gives neutral-atom quantum computing a boost – Physics World
Non-profligate protocol: A schematic of the atom recycling approach. (Courtesy: M Norcia/Atom Computing) Errors are the bugbear of quantum computing, and they’re hard to avoid. While quantum computers derive their computational clout from the fact that their qubits can simultaneously court multiple values, the fragility of qubit states ramps up their error rates.
Qubit ‘recycling’ gives neutral-atom quantum computing a boost – Physics World
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LLM “metalinguistic” capabilities are creating a stir - here's why
Drafting an email, summarising a research paper, even generating a description of a seminal optical experiment in the style of a famous Scottish bard (tinyurl.com/36u9wzh2) – these are all tasks we have grown accustomed to large language models (LLMs) completing impressively well.
Volume 23 Issue 1
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Cómo los genes han aprovechado la física para el crecimiento de los seres vivos
La versión original de esta historia apareció en la revista Quanta. Bebe una copa de vino y notarás que el líquido gotea continuamente por el lado mojado del vaso. En 1855, James Thomson, hermano de Lord Kelvin, explicó en la revista Philosophical Magazine que estas “lágrimas” o “piernas” del vino se deben a la diferencia de tensión superficial entre el alcohol y el agua. “Este hecho ofrece una explicación a varios movimientos muy curiosos”, escribió Thomson.
New semiconductor could allow classical and quantum computing on the same chip, thanks to superconductivity breakthrough
Although silicon is next in line for this approach, germanium is already widely used in industry and is extremely compatible with silicon. The researchers outlined their approach in a new study published Oct. 30 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. "I think there is a lot of good reasons to be excited about this," co-author of the study Javad Shabani, a professor of physics at New York University, told Live Science.
Ramy Shelbaya: the physicist and CEO capitalizing on quantum randomness – Physics World
Ramy Shelbaya – co-founder and chief executive of UK firm Quantum Dice – talks to Anna Demming about how the company is using quantum mechanics to generate random numbers, and the challenges and rewards of persuading clients, staff and hardware to work together Ramy Shelbaya has been hooked on physics ever since he was a 12-year-old living in Egypt and read about the Joint European Torus (JET) fusion experiment in the UK.
How Genes Have Harnessed Physics to Grow Living Things
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Sip a glass of wine, and you will notice liquid continuously weeping down the wetted side of the glass. In 1855, James Thomson, brother of Lord Kelvin, explained in the Philosophical Magazine that these wine “tears” or “legs” result from the difference in surface tension between alcohol and water. “This fact affords an explanation of several very curious motions,” Thomson wrote.
How Genes Have Harnessed Physics to Grow Living Things
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Sip a glass of wine, and you will notice liquid continuously weeping down the wetted side of the glass. In 1855, James Thomson, brother of Lord Kelvin, explained in the Philosophical Magazine that these wine “tears” or “legs” result from the difference in surface tension between alcohol and water. “This fact affords an explanation of several very curious motions,” Thomson wrote.
Exotic 'time crystals' could be used as memory in quantum computers, promising research finds
A time crystal formed on top of a superfluid in ultracold conditions. Time crystals could help create quantum computing data storage that lasts minutes, new research shows — a huge improvement on the milliseconds-long duration of existing quantum data storage. In the new research, scientists ran experiments on how time crystals interact with mechanical waves.
Researchers pin down the true cost of precision in quantum clocks – Physics World
Classical clocks have to obey the second law of thermodynamics: the higher their precision, the more entropy they produce. For a while, it seemed like quantum clocks might beat this system, at least in theory. This is because although quantum fluctuations produce no entropy, if you can count those fluctuations as clock “ticks”, you can make a clock with nonzero precision.
Have physicists finally solved the ‘golfer’s curse’?
Many experienced golfers have been crushed by it: On a putt, the dimpled white golf ball heads straight into the hole, only to circle the rim and pop back out, sometimes even after the ball has sunk below the surface of the putting green. Known as a “lip out” or the “golfer’s curse,” the strange behavior has bedeviled players for centuries. Now, scientists have elucidated exactly how lip outs occur, identifying a key bit of physics that lets the ball climb back out of the hole.
Genes Have Harnessed Physics to Help Grow Living Things
“The hypothesis is that physics and mechanics can help us understand the biology at the tissue scale,” said Alexandre Kabla, a physicist and engineer at the University of Cambridge. The task now is to understand the interplay of causes, where genes and physics somehow act hand in hand to sculpt organisms. Mechanical models of embryo and tissue growth are not new, but biologists long lacked ways of testing these ideas.
Hydrogen battery breakthrough: new electrolyte enables safer clean energy storage at lower temperatures
Source: © Sergey Klopotov/Shutterstock Hydrogen offers many advantages for clean energy storage, but storing it generally requires either a lot of pressure, a lot of heat or both. To avoid the enormous pressures needed to store pure hydrogen in manageable volumes, researchers have looked at hydrogen compounds.
A new book explores the link between film giant Kodak and the atomic bomb
Despite the digitalization of pictures and movies, some cinephiles and moviemakers still favor film. For instance, Christopher Nolan’s 2023 blockbuster Oppenheimer, a thriller about the theoretical physicist who oversaw the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bomb, was shot on Kodak’s 70 millimeter film. But few of that movie’s fans know what a significant role Kodak itself played in the Manhattan Project.
Reformulation of general relativity brings it closer to Newtonian physics – Physics World
The first-ever detection of gravitational waves was made by LIGO in 2015 and since then researchers have been trying to understand the physics of the black-hole and neutron-star mergers that create the waves. However, the physics is very complicated and is defined by Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity.
Predicted quasiparticles called ‘neglectons’ hold promise for robust, universal quantum computing – Physics World
Quantum computers open the door to profound increases in computational power, but the quantum states they rely on are fragile. Topologically protected quantum states are more robust, but the most experimentally promising route to topological quantum computing limits the calculations these states can perform. Now, however, a team of mathematicians and physicists in the US has found a way around this barrier.
Neuropeptides emerge as primary messengers in brain's fear and panic circuits
Recent advances in measurement techniques have shed light on the different roles of various biomolecules during frightening and stressful situations. Anna Demming looks at how it may lead to new therapeutic interventions for conditions like PTSD Neuropeptides as key messengers: Recent research challenges the traditional view of neuropeptides as mere modulators, showing they can act as primary transmitters in fear and panic responses, with distinct molecular pathways for each.
Scientists discover cosmic ice has complex structure between crystalline and amorphous states, challenging assumptions about water in space
Source: © Michael B Davies, UCL & University of Cambridge Studies of ice as it is found in most of the universe have revealed it is a lot more complex than previously thought. Scientists at University College London and the University of Cambridge in the UK, have now found evidence that, while it does not have the regular repeating arrangement of atoms of fully crystalline materials, neither does it have the completely random arrangement of amorphous materials.
Centrosymmetric crystal displays chiral optical responses previously believed to be impossible
Source: © Mark Seniw / Center for Regenerative/Nanomedicine/Northwestern University Expectations over optical behaviour that have been widely held since Louis Pasteur’s seminal discoveries in 1848 have been upended by a new study. Researchers observed optical behaviours linked to chirality in crystalline lithium cobalt selenium oxide (Li2Co3(SeO3)4), a centrosymmetric crystal that as such cannot be chiral.
Designer protein switches conformations like a natural one
An artificial protein moves between predetermined conformations when exposed to calcium ions. These dynamic structural changes mimic those seen in naturally occurring proteins, which often gain their functionality by switching between subtly different arrangements. Designing useful proteins that do not occur naturally is an art that researchers have been picking away at since the 1980s, greatly accelerated in recent years with the help of machine learning algorithms.
Has bismuth been masquerading as a topological material? – Physics World
Bismuth has puzzled scientists for nearly 20 years. Notably, the question of whether it is topological – that is, whether electrons behave differently on its surface than they do inside it – gets different answers depending on whether you ask a theorist or an experimentalist. Researchers in Japan now say they have found a way to resolve this conflict. A mechanism called surface relaxation, they report, may have masked or “blocked” bismuth’s true topological nature.
Quantum twisting microscope measures phasons in cryogenic graphene – Physics World
By adapting their quantum twisting microscope to operate at cryogenic temperatures, researchers have made the first observations of a type of phonon that occurs in twisted bilayer graphene. These “phasons” could have implications for the electron dynamics in these materials. Graphene is a layer of carbon just one atom thick and it has range of fascinating and useful properties – as do bilayer and multilayer versions of graphene.
Epithelial cells send electrical signals, possibly to communicate – Physics World
The nervous system is often considered the body’s wiring, sending electrical signals to communicate needs and hazards between different parts of the body. However, researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have now also measured bioelectronic signals propagating from cultured epithelial cells, as they respond to a critical injury.
JWST reveals exoplanet composition with unprecedented clarity
Exoplanets orbiting a star 133 light years away contain a far greater abundance of carbon than the star itself, according to the first direct spectral data of this kind captured by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The discovery has implications for how these planets formed, suggesting they share a similar evolutionary history to Jupiter and Saturn.
how migrating birds use quantum mechanics to navigate
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‘They have no one to follow’: how migrating birds use quantum mechanics to navigate
To the seasoned ear, the trilling of chiffchaffs and wheatears is as sure a sign of spring as the first defiant crocuses. By March, these birds have started to return from their winter breaks, navigating their way home to breeding grounds thousands of kilometres away – some species returning to home territory with centimetre precision.
AI algorithm used to unpack neuroscience of human language
Now People are using Google’s new AI model to remove watermarks from images Users on social media have discovered a controversial use case for Google’s new Gemini AI model: removing watermarks from images, including from images published by Getty Images and other well-known stock media outfits.
A model stretch: explaining the rheology of developing tissue – Physics World
While the biology of how an entire organism develops from a single cell has long been a source of fascination, recent research has increasingly highlighted the role of mechanical forces.
Superheavy element half-life measurements push back the limits of stability
The limit of known half-lives of superheavy massive nuclei has been pushed down by two orders of magnitude with the observation of the half-life of a neutron deficient rutherfordium isotope. In measuring a half-life so short, researchers demonstrated how certain excited states have longer half-lives, thus fleshing out our understanding of fission.
Squishy silicone rings shine a spotlight on fluid-solid transition – Physics World
People working in industry, biology and geology are all keen to understand when particles will switch from flowing like fluids to jamming like solids. With rigid particles, and even for foams and emulsions, scientists know what determines this crunch point: it’s related to the number of contact points between particles. But for squishy particles – those that deform by more than 10% of their size – that’s not necessarily the case.
Interview with Karen Bandeen-Roche
What first attracted you to gerontology and then frailty? It was an accident, actually. I had just arrived at Johns Hopkins, I was very agnostic as to my interests – this is more than 30 years ago now – and one of the more senior faculty members took me around meeting collaborators of his. By that process, I became connected to two different teams studying disability in older adults.
The machine learning victories at the 2024 Nobel Prize Awards and how to explain them – Real World Data Science
Generative AI Geoffrey Hinton showed that by defining some neurons as a hidden layer and some as a visible layer (a Boltzmann machine3) and limiting the connections so that neurons are only connected with neurons in other layers (a restricted Boltzmann machine4), finding the most likely network would generate networks with meaningful similarities – a type of generative AI. This and many other contributions by Geoffrey Hinton also proved incredibly useful in the progress of machine learning.
Why carbon fibre composites can become a sustainable materials solution
Exploring the work underway to improve carbon fibre composites production and manufacture, the potential of carbon fibre composites in net zero technologies and the innovations addressing their costly production and carbon footprint By Anna Demming 25 Oct 24 Reading time: 14 mins Carbon fibres could be the solution to a lot of the materials challenges to providing energy sustainably, but they do come at a cost. Composites made with these materials combine light weight, strength, and stiffness.
Photoswitch brings energy storage and a cool efficiency boost to photovoltaics
Solar cells may need sunlight, but they generally fare badly in the heat, operating less and less efficiently as they get hotter.
Are we at risk of muting the female voice in the digital world? – Real World Data Science
Gender disparities in ‘fears’ of online harms Safety can be a knotty issue when it comes to enabling women to have a voice online. A study by the Alan Turing Institute5 earlier this year suggested just 23% of women in general feel comfortable expressing political opinions online, compared with 40% of men. This might be down to women in general being exposed to online violence more than men, as previous studies of online harms have suggested.
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