Xin Chen

The Pacific Ocean behaves like a conductor setting the tempo for outages in the American power grid. When the ocean shifts into its cold phase, known as La Niña, lights start going out more often across the US. Researchers traced this connection over 24 years and confirmed that the ocean really does drive the weather, and the weather batters wires and transformers.

In diamond, you can embed a “spy.” Simply replace a carbon atom with nitrogen: you get a defect that responds to magnetic fields and sends a light signal.

In the crystal lattice of iron selenide, iron and selenium atoms alternate like bricks in a wall. But sometimes extra iron atoms sneak into the voids between them, like uninvited guests squeezing into the gaps between bricks.

A pot of water heated from below is a simple example of turbulence. Hot fluid rises, cold fluid sinks, and the flow spontaneously breaks into rotating cells that look like horizontal rolls. In a new study, physicists took a wide rectangular container (ten times longer than its height) and tracked how many such rolls appear.

The layered material (SnS)1.15(TaS2) resembles a stack of paper, where the sheets conduct electricity and the interlayers prevent them from sticking together. At ambient pressure, this material conducts current without resistance, making it a superconductor.

The placenta is like a bustling market where oxygen passes from mother to child. If the stalls are neatly arranged and goods are delivered quickly, everyone gets enough. But when the aisles get clogged, traffic jams start: some places are crowded, others empty.