Global density and biomass of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal networks - Science | AAAS

We’re sharing this article early to provide faster access to peer-reviewed, accepted research. It is citable and carries a permanent DOI. This version is subject to further edits and will be replaced automatically by the final Version of Record. All legal disclaimers apply. AbstractOptical cavities enable strong, long-range, light-matter interactions that drive collective ordering, such as superradiant self-organization in ultracold atomic gases. Extending these ideas to solid-state electron systems could enable continuous-wave optical control of electronic order, but is impeded by the mismatch between optical wavelengths and electronic length scales. Here, we propose a platform for realizing superradiant charge density waves in doped, driven transition-metal dichalcogenides coupled to an optical cavity. A nanoscale grating generates electric fields at large in-plane optical momenta, allowing cavity photons to couple efficiently to electronic density fluctuations through exciton-polaron processes. Using a linear-stability analysis, we determine the threshold for superradiant ordering and map out the driven phase diagram.

A research group led by scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has found compelling evidence of pair-density waves on the surface of uranium ditelluride. These structures persisted at temperatures higher than the superconducting transition temperature, ScienceAlert reports. The results were published in the journal PNAS. Electron pairs form patternsIn the superconducting state, electrons can form Cooper pairs and move through a material without electrical resistance or energy loss through heating. The existence of pair-density waves, or PDWs, was theoretically predicted as early as 2007. In this state, Cooper pairs form spatially repeating patterns resembling waves in sand. Uranium ditelluride enters a superconducting state at temperatures below approximately 2.1 kelvin, or about minus 271 degrees Celsius. The material also interests physicists as a possible rare spin-triplet superconductor: in such a system, paired electrons also have a small magnetic orientation. More current news is available on the UA. News Telegram channel Telegram. Observations of magnetic field and temperatureSigns of PDW had previously been recorded in uranium ditelluride.

If successful, bits of dust, soil and rocks from Phobos will arrive on Earth in 2031. “There’s a lot of adrenaline and a lot of excitement and a lot of wow,” said NASA astrophysicist Tom Statler, who’s involved with the project. Japan has an edge going in, with two asteroid sample returns already under its cosmic belt. Phobos is a lumpy, potato-shaped rock just 14 miles (22 kilometers) or so across. Examining pieces of it can explain how Mars’ moons — and possibly moons elsewhere — came to be. Dubbed MMX for Martian Moons Exploration, the $578 million mission features a hefty 5-ton spacecraft that should reach Mars by late next summer. It will sync up with Phobos’ tight orbit around the red planet, before ejecting the French-German rover that’s named Idefix after the white terrier in the Asterix comics. No bigger than a microwave oven, Idefix will plop onto Phobos by itself, bouncing for several minutes before coming to a halt in the moon’s extraordinarily low gravity. The four-wheeled rover is designed to right itself if it lands upside down. All bets are off, though, if it sinks into soft soil or gets wedged between rocks, said the French Space Agency’s Julien Baroukh.

The latest chemistry news, including important research advances, business and policy trends, chemical safety practices, career guidance, and more. In 2025 scientists put the methane-sensing capabilities of 12 spectral-imaging satellites to the test. Some were designed specifically to measure atmospheric methane; others were repurposed for the task. Now the researchers have shared their results: each of the satellites can be used to detect methane, but some are better than their counterparts for quantifying the potent greenhouse gas (Nature 2026, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-11115-0).

The captivating shapes of wind-carved crags called yardangs are revealed in this zoomed-in crop of a broader panorama captured by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover on Aug. 11, 2026. Scientists are eager to learn more about how the yardang layer formed. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSSCuriosity’s latest panorama sharpens the view of a Martian rock layer that looks out of place and may have formed from ancient volcanic ash. A band of wind-carved cliffs stretches roughly 10 miles (16 kilometers) across the northwestern reaches of Mount Sharp on Mars, and NASA’s Curiosity rover is climbing toward it. A newly released panorama offers the most detailed view yet of these formations, known as yardangs, which mission scientists have long wanted to examine up close. This artist’s concept shows Mount Sharp, the 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain that NASA’s Curiosity has been ascending since 2014. The location of the yardang layer, which the rover recently captured from a distance, is indicated by an ellipse annotation on the mountain’s northwestern shoulder. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/MSSS“The yardang layer looks out of place.

The ExoMars 2016 orbiter survived the Mars arrival. Sadly, its Schiaparelli lander did not.