Jiawen Zhang

A regular switch clicks, and current either flows or it doesn't. Now imagine a material that switches itself between 'conducts without loss' and 'resists' under the influence of a magnet. That's exactly the sandwich physicists built: a thin lead film on top of a superconductor made of bismuth, strontium, calcium, copper, and oxygen.

A magnet, like a compass needle, likes to point in a certain direction. But what if the material is layered, like a stack of pancakes? Scientists took just such a magnet made from a compound of chromium, germanium, and tellurium and set out to find out how stubbornly it resists having its magnetization turned.

A drop of honey spreads slowly across a table, while water spreads quickly. The resistance to flow, viscosity, differs from one fluid to another. But what if the viscosity changes on the fly, as the substance compresses or expands?

A huge pool of clear liquid is hidden deep underground. Inside, there is nothing but a pristine 'broth' that flashes with faint light when an invisible particle flies through. This is the JUNO detector—20,000 tons of liquid scintillator built to hunt for neutrinos. The main enemy of such a hunt is not darkness but its own noise.