Zhengyang Bai

Scientists used special Rydberg atoms at room temperature to make light move in only one direction. This motion triggers collective oscillations, similar to a time crystal. The discovery helps understand how to control light in tiny optical chips and non-equilibrium systems.

The Lotka-Volterra model, familiar from the population fluctuations of foxes and hares, now works in the quantum world. Scientists lined up giant atoms and made them simulate population battles. Quantum effects don't disrupt but sustain these cycles — a path to the ultrafast simulators of the future