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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 29/09/2026

In 1983, a Soviet computer detected a U.S. nuclear missile launch. Officer Stanislav Petrov had minutes to decide whether the warning was real. He trusted his judgment, avoiding a potential nuclear disaster. Learn what caused the false alarm in #APSNews: go.aps.org/4dg9hj9 #PhysicsHistory

Stanislav Petrov is seated at a table in his home.

At left, a full-scale model of the Molniya-1 satellite hangs from a ceiling in the Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics. The model features a central component from which six rectangular panels extend. At right, a diagram showing the trajectory of the highly eccentric Molniya orbit.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 28/09/2026

⭐ What determines whether a dying star explodes or collapses into a black hole? New simulations of 195 stars suggest that neutrino flavor conversion can predict a star’s fate. Read more in Physical Review D: go.aps.org/4jcy9Mv

A graph shows successful (green) and failed (black) stellar collapse outcomes across stars with zero-age main-sequence masses from nine to 120 times the mass of the sun. Results are shown for simulations without neutrino flavor conversion and with conversion occurring at three different core densities. The patterns of successful and failed outcomes vary substantially across stellar masses and conversion assumptions.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 25/09/2026

What can “expert eyes” reveal about a physics department? APS Climate Site Visits bring an outside perspective to help departments, labs, and consortia assess their environment, hear feedback, and identify opportunities for positive change. Learn more: go.aps.org/4780UCv

Two people sitting and talking together, while one has their laptop open on their lap.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 25/09/2026

International students are a vital part of the U.S. physics community. But shifting immigration and research policies are making it harder for them to plan their education and careers. Learn what’s at stake, and how physicists can help, in #APSNews: go.aps.org/4AExdGW

Two people are placing pins on a large, colorful map of the world. One person is focusing on a specific area of the map. They are both wearing coats and holding what appear to be travel documents or guides. The setting looks like a public event or a museum.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 24/09/2026

Scientists have directly observed Kelvin wave turbulence along the core of an air-water vortex in the lab for the first time, confirming theoretical predictions for how energy transfers across scales. Read more in @physrevlett.aps.org: go.aps.org/3T0oVbr

A series of three side-by-side photos capture Kelvin wave turbulence along an air-water vortex filament. A 40-centimeter-long vortex set against a black backdrop is bounded on the bottom by a red tube and on the top by an immersed gray annulus, where the vortex is forced by gentle random horizontal oscillations — generating interacting Kelvin waves that transport energy along the filament.

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Reposted by American Physical Society

APS journals @apsjournals.aps.org · 23/09/2026

“The beauty of biological physics lies in this richness and diversity.” Incoming PRX Life chief editor Ariel Amir talks bacteria, immune-cell swarms, interdisciplinary research, and his vision for the journal in #APSNews: go.aps.org/4iBy5FJ

Amir stands at a blackboard covered with equations.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 23/09/2026

Physics educators: Are you looking to build community and find support throughout your teaching journey? The Physics Teacher Community Guide is here to help. Connect with fellow educators, discover resources, and strengthen your teaching practice: go.aps.org/46FHK6T

A teacher works with four children gathered around a model in a classroom.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 22/09/2026

Connect with your physics community. Explore cross-disciplinary research. Inspire others as a presenter at the world's largest physics conference. Abstracts for #APSSummit27 are due in just one month. Submit today: go.aps.org/4roG0Zi

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 22/09/2026

Could spinning stellar-mass #BlackHoles emit a hidden particle signal? 🕳️ Scientists propose "scalar sirens" — persistent emissions of hypothetical particles — as a new way to study the Milky Way's black holes. Read more in @physrevlett.aps.org: go.aps.org/4gYf3bg

Diagram showing a spinning black hole (labeled with spin a* and mass MBH) surrounded by a superradiant "SR cloud," emitting concentric wave-like ripples outward in all directions. The black hole sits at position r₀BH from the Galactic Center (marked "GC" with a red X), with its orbital velocity vφBH shown as a blue arrow. A red arrow points from the black hole toward a sun-and-Earth icon labeled with angular velocity ωφ₀. A second blue arrow near the icon shows its velocity relative to the black hole (v₀BH = −vBH₀), illustrating the relative motion used to model the emitted signal.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 21/09/2026

For international physics students, proposed visa rules could mean added pressure to finish a Ph.D. on a shorter timeline. #APSNews spoke with members of the physics community about what the changes could mean: go.aps.org/4yNjtba

A government webpage about student visas pulled up on a phone or tablet. The device is sitting on a keyboard that can be seen in the background.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 18/09/2026

A newly discovered double neutron star system passed a test of general relativity. Its short, low-inclination orbit could help astronomers study how it warps spacetime and measure the primary pulsar’s moment of inertia. Read more in @physrevlett.aps.org: go.aps.org/4xWM6m7

Mass-mass diagram showing constraints on the masses of two neutron stars in a binary system. Three colored regions derived from different relativistic measurements overlap in a small area, indicating that the measurements are consistent with general relativity. A gray region shows masses excluded by the system's mass function.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 17/09/2026

Physicists know a lot. But what are we surprisingly bad at? 👀 Drop yours below. Bonus points if it’s something you feel like you should be good at. You know, like math.

A tweet from the American Physical Society (@APSphysics) that asks, "Physicists: What's something you’re surprisingly bad at?"

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 16/09/2026

📣 Thousands of you submitted public comments, and now Congress has delayed implementation of the Office of Management and Budget’s proposed changes to federal grantmaking. But there’s more work to be done. Learn what happens next in #APSNews: go.aps.org/3USvPQw

The capitol building in Washington, D.C.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 16/09/2026

Humans and #AI play chess differently when the tension rises. Researchers mapped the web of attacks and defenses and found that AI sustains complex, highly interconnected positions longer, while humans tend to simplify sooner. Read more in APS Open Science: go.aps.org/4dzOVkI

Network diagram showing a chess position as a web of interactions. Black and white pieces are labeled with chess notation and connected by numerous colored lines representing attacks and defenses. The pieces are densely interconnected, with several major pieces and pawns clustered near the center and edges.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 14/09/2026

Ants meet head-on on a narrow path. Who turns around? 🐜 A study in Physical Review E shows that when ants meet up while relocating to a new nest, the one bound for the old nest turns back. Game theory suggests this reflects "sampling equilibrium": go.aps.org/4iS7zYD

A line of ants travels along a narrow branch with green grass in the background.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 14/09/2026

New U.S. visa rules may affect international students, scholars, and the departments that support them. That’s why we’ve created a new toolkit with information and resources on navigating the changes. Check it out: go.aps.org/4xQxBjK

Three students sitting on a cement bench in the city. They are discussing work with papers and textbooks on their laps.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 11/09/2026

Physics sparks connection at #APSSummit27 – across disciplines, across continents, across boundaries. Become a presenter, fuel that spark, and advance the future of physics. 🌟 The call for abstracts, registration, and housing is now open: go.aps.org/4xMDmz1

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Reposted by American Physical Society

APS journals @apsjournals.aps.org · 10/09/2026

Nominations are open for the inaugural PRX Energy Breakthrough Award. This award honors early-career researchers who have made a substantial breakthrough in renewable and sustainable energy in the past two years. Nominate yourself or a colleague by Oct. 4: go.aps.org/4yqnK3M

Solar panels installed among a lush green forest, illustrating the concept of renewable and sustainable energy generation.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 10/09/2026

New in @physrevlett.aps.org: Black hole seeds could have formed during the universe’s “Dark Ages” if gas collapsed directly inside dark matter halos instead of first forming stars — potentially helping explain the abundance of early #SupermassiveBlackHoles. 🔗 go.aps.org/4yxgraU

Plot showing the conditions under which dark matter halos in the early universe can form black hole seeds via direct collapse, plotted as initial density perturbation versus wavenumber. A pale diagonal band, labeled 'NQPBHs,' marks the parameter space between primordial black holes (top) and standard direct-collapse black holes (bottom), bounded by contours for virial temperature and collapse redshift.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 09/09/2026

This fall, hundreds of classrooms got hand boilers, infrared thermometers, and volcanic rocks that eat carbon dioxide. It's not a chemistry set, it's this year's free PhysicsQuest kit for teaching climate physics. Read how it came together in #APSNews: go.aps.org/4xLt4iA

Teachers gather at a table and try out experiments from the PhysicsQuest kit.

Three teachers sit at a desk; one teacher uses a device to measure the temperature of his palm while two other teachers look on.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 08/09/2026

A new framework maps the collective movement of starfish embryos as topological “flowscapes,” revealing circulating flows, irreversible pathways, and structural transitions that emerge as they self-organize. Read more in @physrevx.aps.org: go.aps.org/4r3NH71

Microscopy video of starfish embryos moving in coordinated, swirling patterns, with red and blue arrows overlaid to show the direction of movement.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 05/09/2026

Could you build a laser that shoots a high-energy neutrino beam? Two new studies in @physrevlett.aps.org say no. One shows emission can't beat the rate of standard, natural decay; the other finds a Bose-Einstein condensate boost would still fall 16 orders short: go.aps.org/4h5RZY3

Diagram illustrating bosonic and fermionic emission. Part (a) shows bosonic emission with multiple red arrows depicting photons emitted. Part (b) shows fermionic emission with some emissions crossed out, highlighting restrictions. Each part has energy levels labeled |e⟩ and |g⟩.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 04/09/2026

The results are in! 🎉 Congratulations to our newly elected leaders who will take the helm Jan. 1. Thank you to everyone who voted and to all of the candidates. Meet the winners: go.aps.org/4ey5Fau

A graphic in the APS colors of blue, green, and white, with a header that says "Results are in!” and an image of a computer keyboard with one key labelled “Vote.”

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 03/09/2026

New U.S. visa rules may affect international students, scholars, and the departments that support them. Join us Sept. 30 from 3 to 4 p.m. ET for a webinar on the new duration of status rule and the resources in available in our policy toolkit: go.aps.org/46BITMA

A person pulling a suitcase across a skyway at sunset. A plane appears to be taking off in the background.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 02/09/2026

Why does one superhydride outperform its close cousins? A Physical Review B study shows how scandium changes LaSc₂H₂₄’s electronic structure and hydrogen-hydrogen bonds — boosting the interactions that enable superconductivity at high temperatures and pressures: go.aps.org/4wYmHqE

Crystal structure diagram of the superhydride LaSc2H24, showing large green spheres representing lanthanum atoms surrounded by hexagonal and pentagonal cages formed by smaller pink, teal, and brown atoms representing hydrogen and scandium, illustrating the clathrate-like hydrogen cage structure responsible for its high-temperature superconductivity.

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APS journals @apsjournals.aps.org · 01/09/2026

We’re excited to share that Ariel Amir has been named chief editor of PRX Life. Ariel is a professor at @WeizmannScience working at the intersection of physics, applied mathematics, and biology to identify the laws that govern living systems:https://go.aps.org/4zOzBud

A person with brown hair wears a black, short-sleeved collared shirt standing and smiling with their arms crossed in front of a green grassy field showered in sunlight. Although blurred, trees and shrubs are visible in the background, including a tree trunk directly to the right of the person.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 31/08/2026

What happens when you vibrate water covered in Styrofoam beads? In extreme conditions, the beads can behave like molecules in a solidifying glass — or form waves that shove particles aside, opening large cavities. More in Physical Review Fluids: go.aps.org/3SIcyAy

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 30/08/2026

This month in #PhysicsHistory: Using Japan's Super-Kamiokande detector, scientists found neutrinos have mass, overturning a longstanding assumption about these “ghost particles.” Read more in #APSNews: go.aps.org/4qDbBpD

A group of researchers in a control room celebrate, clapping and raising their arms, as the Super-Kamiokande detector resumes data collection. A credit to Kamioka Observatory, ICRR (Institute for Cosmic Ray Research), The University of Tokyo is written in white in the bottom left corner.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 28/08/2026

Julia Phillips was abruptly dismissed from the National Science Board in April, along with every other member. But she’s still fighting for science. She spoke with #APSNews about the stakes for U.S. Science and why we need to act quickly: go.aps.org/4xUmKVm

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 27/08/2026

How easily could quantum computers break blockchain cryptography? New estimates show the resources needed keep shrinking, and some transactions could be attacked before they even confirm. More in PRX Quantum: go.aps.org/4wHJkzA

Line chart titled "Race Against the Block: Attack Speed vs. Network Variance" showing probability of a successful quantum attack over time for four cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin's curve (orange) rises slowly, reaching about 41% risk of theft at the roughly 9-minute mark where a quantum computer could derive a private key, while Litecoin, Zcash, and Dogecoin curves rise much faster toward 100% due to their shorter block times.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 26/08/2026

🐶 It’s #NationalDogDay! Drop an emoji to tell us what physics phenomenon your dog is: 🌀 Chaotic system — unpredictable zoomies ⚡ Kinetic energy — never walks 🌡️ Thermodynamic system — seeks warmth 🪐 Orbital mechanics — follows you everywhere

A black dog is standing on grass near a small blue pool, looking up to catch a tennis ball in its mouth. Text on the image reads, "What kind of physics phenomenon is your dog?" The top right corner has "#NationalDogDay.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 25/08/2026

A new all-optical scheme teleported a 100-pixel image at once via quantum entanglement, beating the classical fidelity limit. All 100 channels transfer simultaneously instead of one by one — a step toward scalable quantum networks. More in @physrevlett: go.aps.org/4gbp98g

Diagram of a neural network layer showing three blocks. The left block has dots connected by lines to the center block, which in turn connects by lines to the right block. The lines represent connections between nodes in the network.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 24/08/2026

This October, APS will become the U.S. institutional representative to @iupap_physics, an international organization founded in 1922 to foster collaboration among physicists worldwide. Read more in #APSNews: go.aps.org/3S20kTa

Several dozen assembly attendees, wearing name tag lanyards, pose in front of a screen with additional attendees on Zoom.

A convention center hall shows concentric rings of seating, filled with attendees watching a speaker present.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 21/08/2026

Research published in @physrevlett.aps.org reports new measurements showing how niobium-94 absorbs neutrons — data that helped models reproduce the unexpectedly high molybdenum levels seen in presolar grains: go.aps.org/4qvbLj2

Line and scatter plot titled with y-axis “MACS [mb]” and x-axis “kT [keV]”. A black curve labeled KADoNiS decreases steadily from upper left to lower right. It's surrounded by a gray shaded band (CERN n_TOF ±1σ_stat), a narrower red shaded band (CERN n_TOF ±1σ_sys), and blue (ENDF/B-VIII.1), green (JEFF-4), and orange (TENDL-2025) curves that follow similar declining trends. Scattered data points represent data from earlier studies: an orange pentagon (J. Holmes 1976), red square (M. Harris 1981), black circle (T. Rauscher 2000), blue star (S. Goriely 2002), and gray diamond (S. Goriely 2005).

Photo of a scientific detector setup in a lab. A large octagonal array of gray metal detector modules surrounds a central circular sample holder Above the array, a large cylindrical metal chamber with a flanged bottom hangs from above. Bundles of red, blue, black, and dark wires run through the setup and connect to instrumentation racks on the right side of the frame.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 20/08/2026

In the spirit of transparency, we'd like to make clear that this post contains an AI-generated image. We failed to recognize it as such in the transition to our new AI policy. Learn more about our updated policy: www.aps.org/about/news/2...

aps.org

American Physical Society releases updated AI policy for APS journals

The American Physical Society is a nonprofit membership organization working to advance physics by fostering a vibrant, inclusive, and global community dedicated to science and society.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 19/08/2026

Underwater whale tracking led to a surprising discovery: wave interference can make whale calls appear to travel faster than sound. A study in Physical Review E argues light could do the same — without violating Einstein’s theory of general relativity: go.aps.org/4g4AmYh

Three stacked waveform plots of amplitude versus time (0 to 1 second), each showing a wave pulse that grows and shrinks in amplitude. Panel A shows a single symmetric wave packet peaking near 0.5 seconds, aligned with a dashed vertical line marking the packet's center. Panel B shows two overlapping wave packets combining into a taller envelope, with a marked peak occurring exactly at the 0.5-second center line. Panel C shows the same two wave packets now interfering destructively, producing a much flatter, lower-amplitude envelope whose peak (marked with a dot) is shifted noticeably earlier than the 0.5-second center line — illustrating how interference can shift the apparent arrival time of a wave's energy.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 17/08/2026

The moon's surface gets churned by impacts, scrambling its record of ancient supernovae. But a new model — published in @physrevlett — accounts for those impacts and correctly predicts where iron-60 from supernovae sits in Apollo regolith samples. 🔗 go.aps.org/4qf2tHs

Diagram titled 'Lunar Surface' at top and 'Depth' along the left axis, with 'Atoms' along the bottom axis. A colorful, nebula-like image labeled 'Cosmic Explosion Debris' fills the upper portion of the depth-vs-atoms plot, with a dashed blue line curving downward to show the debris concentration tapering off with depth. To the right, a grayscale image of the full Moon.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 16/08/2026

We asked, you answered. Check out some of our followers’ physics research — explained badly. 😅

A series of comments on a social media post. The original post by Fabricio Jiménez Morales mentions looking for new physics phenomena. Comments include humorous takes on physics experiments. Names mentioned: Fabricio Jiménez Morales, pezulillo, tzepgimm, b_pursel, Katie Ruth Williams.

Four humorous social media comments. The commenters use fictional names. One mentions simulating rocks, another asks ancient ice crystals about the past, the third speaks about protons and children, and the fourth claims to be a cosmic fingerprint officer for spacetime earthquakes.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 14/08/2026

The African Network of Women in Astronomy addresses stereotypes in the field and mentors future generations of women in space science to ensure their success. Read more about the organization’s work in the African Physics Newsletter. go.aps.org/3yPsg2z

Four board members from the African Network of Women in Astronomy smile in front of a yellow-and-black backdrop at the African Astronomical Society conference held in March 2026 in Botswana, South Africa.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 14/08/2026

It’s kinda chic to be part of APS. ✨

Image of shelves with numerous volumes of scientific journals. Text overlay reads, "Kinda chic to publish your research with APS."

A group of people are engaged in conversation on a staircase inside an ornate building, featuring elaborate arches and a statue. A text overlay says, "Kinda chic to help shape science policy."

Presentation at an APS meeting. A person stands onstage with a microphone, presenting in front of a large screen displaying images of telescopes, including NASA's JWST and Planck. Another person is seated at a table with a laptop. The slide includes the name Wendy L. Freedman and the University of Chicago, dated March 18, 2026. A text overlay at the top reads, "Kinda chic to present your work at an APS meeting.

Three individuals are smiling and standing in front of a blue banner at an American Physical Society event. They are wearing conference lanyards. Overlaid text reads, "Kinda chic to join a community for your physics discipline."

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 13/08/2026

In @physrevlett.aps.org, researchers successfully entangled two quantum memory nodes, each a cloud of laser-cooled atoms, at a distance of 420 kilometers — more than four times farther than the previous record. Read the study: go.aps.org/4c2ogN1

A photograph of the experimental setup for quantum memory with laser-cooled atoms.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 12/08/2026

Your physics career isn’t one-size-fits-all, so your membership shouldn’t be either. We’ve introduced new membership plans designed to give you more flexibility and access. Learn more: go.aps.org/3Zsq8sW

Two people are shown smiling in a circular inset image against a blue background, accompanied by text advertising two membership plans with pricing starting at $25. In a separate inset, two more people stand in a convention setting near a "Membership International" sign.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 11/08/2026

Physicists have measured the faint neutrino signal from a nuclear reactor after shutdown. The results show how these elusive particles could be used to non-intrusively monitor nuclear plants in real time. More in @physrevlett.aps.org: go.aps.org/45WElA0

Cutaway illustration of an underground detector hall, showing a cylindrical antineutrino detector tank lined with photomultiplier tubes, with technicians working on an overhead platform.

Fisheye photograph taken from directly above inside an open detector vessel, showing hundreds of gold-colored photomultiplier tubes arranged in concentric rings radiating outward. Two technicians in white protective suits and helmets are visible near the center, standing on a small central platform during detector construction or maintenance.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 10/08/2026

Tell us about your research in the least interesting way possible. Do you convince electrons to take unusual paths? Smash things together and see what falls out? Let us know below.

A tweet from the American Physical Society reads, "Us: Explain your physics research badly. You: I weigh stuff you can't see.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 08/08/2026

Using canary respiration data and a biomechanical model, a study in PRX Life shows that strong breaths push the bird’s respiratory system into a non-linear regime — allowing it to sing louder and faster than it could at its natural resonance. Read more: go.aps.org/3ROvMnK

A graph showing respiratory frequency in Hertz on the x-axis and air sac pressure response on the y-axis. A dashed line that drops quickly from its peak at y = 1 is labeled quiet. A solid line and dots that follow a slower decrease from y = 1 is labeled song. A cartoon of a canary next to two music notes is in the top right corner.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 07/08/2026

Research in Physical Review D proposes a source for “unidentified falling objects” in @cern.bsky.social’s LHC: axion quark nuggets. These hypothetical dark matter clumps could affect beam performance and offer a path toward a broadband acoustic dark matter detector: go.aps.org/458lcuM

Scientific diagram illustrating dust particles inside the Large Hadron Collider beam screen. A cross-sectional view shows several dust particles resting on the inner surface of the beam screen in an ultrahigh vacuum. Enlarged insets show a dust particle sitting on microscopic surface impurities and compare the forces acting on particles attached to the top versus the bottom of the beam screen, including adhesive, release, and gravitational forces.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 06/08/2026

Want the latest in plasma physics and beyond? Check out @apsjournals.aps.org.

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American Physical Society @apsphysics.aps.org · 05/08/2026

@physgal.bsky.social Can our main American Physical Society account also be added? Thank you!

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