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Inspired by the brain Babak Bakhit and collaborators are developing a new computer chip material that could slash AI energy use. (Courtesy: Babak Bakhit) A new highly stable and energy-efficient memristor based on a hafnium oxide material can emulate the behaviour of synapses in the brain. The neuromorphic device could help dramatically cut the energy consumed by artificial intelligence (AI) hardware, say its developers at the University of Cambridge in the UK.

Illustration of interacting atoms Independent teams have created collisional quantum gates using fermionic atoms. (Courtesy: iStock/Traffic Analyzer) Collisional quantum gates based on fermionic atoms have been realized independently by researchers in Germany and Switzerland. The gates are a long-proposed building block for quantum processors, but had been very challenging to create.

How many words can you find in the word flower below? Words must be at least four letters long and must always include the middle letter. You can use letters more than once. There are 29 words in total, including at least one that uses all seven letters. This puzzle’s key word is linked to a book review by science writer Anita Chandran How did you get on? 10 words Warming up nicely 16 words Getting hot, hot, hot 22 words Top dog! Fancy some more? Check out our puzzles page.

Join the audience for a live webinar at 8 a.m. BST/5 p.m. AEST on 13 May 2026, sponsored by the IOP Publishing journal, Nano Futures, to explore the very latest developments concerning atomic-scale devices and quantum platforms (Courtesy: Dr Shigeki Kawai) We are pleased to announce a forthcoming webinar that presents the very latest developments concerning atomic-scale devices and quantum platforms, and following on from two roadmap publications in Nano Futures that map out the potential...

Critical moment: the 500 MW prototype fast-breeder reactor is located at Kalpakkam, about 70 km south of Chennai (courtesy: Department of Atomic Energy) India’s first prototype fast-breeder reactor (PFBR) has achieved criticality, marking a significant boost for the country’s nuclear programme. The 500 MW reactor, which is based at Kalpakkam, about 70 km south of Chennai, is intended to be a forerunner for a fleet of six similar fast-breeder reactors.

Join the audience for a live webinar at 3 p.m. BST/10 a.m. EDT on 6 May 2026 Discover the exciting world of epitaxial growth in view of advanced CMOS and 3D DRAM Want to take part in this webinar?

By pairing a ferroelectric capacitor with a linear capacitor, researchers create a power‑efficient device with tuneable memory and strong nonlinear responses Computing illustration (Courtesy: iStock/Devrimb) Reservoir computing is a computational approach well suited to time‑dependent tasks such as speech recognition, because it relies on internal dynamics, nonlinear responses, and short‑term memory of recent inputs.

New research from the Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Institut de Physique de Nice, shows how Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs) become turbulent when driven out-of-equilibrium at small scales Turbulence is everywhere we look: from milk mixing with tea to the wake behind a moving boat. But what happens when quantum mechanics becomes involved? (Credit: iStock/Wirestock) The concept of turbulence is one of physics’ most persistent challenges, defying a simple description despite decades of research.

Tushna Commissariat talks to author and historian Lynn Gamwell about her fascination with abstract art, visualizing the invisible, and how science and art interact – and introduces an edited excerpt from Gamwell’s new book Conjuring the Void: the Art of Black Holes Black Hole, no. 2 Fabian Oefner made this image of gas swirling around a black hole by putting liquid paint on a drill bit and letting the paint spray out by centrifugal force while photographing it with a high-speed camera.