Yuki K. Wakabayashi

A thin film of a complex oxide is like a transfer tattoo: you need to carefully peel it off one surface and stick it onto another without tearing it. Previously, water-soluble layers were used for this, but they either dissolved too slowly or damaged the film itself. Now a new 'glue' has been proposed: barium oxide. It disappears in water within minutes, leaving the film intact.

A baker who never tastes the dough and only looks at the color of the crust is unlikely to bake perfect bread. Materials science has long been similar: automated setups could churn through hundreds of variants but didn't understand why one recipe was better than another.