Science news

18 October 2026

1. 1

   Physicists who discovered altermagnetism, a third form of magnetism, win 2026 Europhysics Prize

   Three physicists, Jairo Sinova of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Libor Šmejkal and Tomas Jungwirth, have been named recipients of the 2026 Europhysics Prize by the European Physical Society Condensed Matter Division. The prize recognizes their work establishing altermagnetism as a distinct form of magnetic order alongside ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism. Physicists had long divided collinear magnets into two categories; altermagnets have magnetic moments that cancel out, yet their electrons show properties previously associated with ferromagnets. This combination could benefit spintronic devices and future information technologies, according to the article. Their theoretical predictions prompted experimental teams worldwide to test the classification, and the field has since grown across Europe, North America and Asia. The award ceremony was scheduled for September 2026 at CMD32 in Graz, Austria.

   Key facts

   • Three physicists named recipients of the 2026 Europhysics Prize
   • Prize awarded by the European Physical Society Condensed Matter Division
   • Altermagnetism described as a third fundamental category of collinear magnetism
   • Altermagnets combine zero net magnetization with ferromagnet-like electron properties
   • Award ceremony scheduled for September 2026 at CMD32 in Graz, Austria

   Commentary

   The discovery itself is the predictable part; what matters is that the theory came first and experiments followed, which makes the prize a reward for prediction rather than measurement. The reported combination of zero net magnetization with spin-polarized currents is what would matter to device makers, though the article offers only the potential, not a demonstrated product. Readers should expect the next test to be whether spintronic applications arrive, since the evidence so far is in the physics, not in working technology.

   Sources: Science Daily

2. 2

   Physicists describe a new quantum state called a fractional Fermi sea

   Physicists led by Hanns-Christoph Nägerl, working with Alvise Bastianello of the CNRS and Université Paris-Dauphine, describe how to engineer an exotic quantum state called a fractional Fermi sea. The study appears in Physical Review Letters. The researchers repeatedly switch the interactions of ultracold cesium atoms, confined to one dimension, between strong repulsion and strong attraction. Rather than becoming disordered, the atoms are driven into a highly excited state that keeps a hidden order. The state shows Friedel oscillations and correlation patterns that differ from predictions of Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid theory, a long-established framework for one-dimensional quantum systems. The findings therefore suggest a type of quantum behavior that this familiar picture cannot fully describe.

   Key facts

   • Yi Zeng is the leading author of the study.
   • Fermions cannot all occupy the same quantum state, so at very low temperatures they form a Fermi sea.
   • Nägerl says the state is 'highly excited, but it is not random.'
   • A companion study describing experimental realization is undergoing peer review.
   • Nägerl said the team is not yet sure what to call the new quasiparticles, suggesting 'super-Fermions'.

   Commentary

   What moved is not the existence of a new state but the claim that forcing interactions through extreme cycles can keep particles organized where ordinary heating would scramble them. Because the evidence so far is theoretical, the decisive test will be whether experiments reproduce these correlation signatures. Readers should treat this as a framework rather than a settled discovery.

   Sources: Science Daily

3. 3

   Researchers report evidence of a second supermassive black hole at the center of galaxy Mrk 501

   Researchers led by Silke Britzen of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy report evidence of a pair of supermassive black holes at the center of the galaxy Mrk 501. The finding, accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, matters because astronomers have rarely identified such close pairs, even though galaxy collisions are common and supermassive black holes may grow by merging. The team's evidence is a second jet, beside the known one, whose movement suggests the two black holes orbit each other. The black holes cannot be resolved individually, so the researchers say they could merge within about 100 years, depending on their actual masses. They propose detecting the gravitational waves the pair should produce using pulsar timing arrays.

   Key facts

   • Radio data gathered on dozens of days over about 23 years underpin the finding.
   • The two black holes appear to complete an orbit around each other roughly every 121 days.
   • Estimated separation between the black holes is 250 to 540 times the Earth-Sun distance.
   • Estimated masses of the black holes range from 100 million to a billion times the Sun's mass.
   • An unusual Einstein ring appeared in June 2022, possibly caused by gravitational lensing.

   Commentary

   The real shift is that the case rests on indirect jet motion rather than imaging, so confirmation depends on pulsar timing arrays detecting a gravitational-wave signal. Since the pair cannot be separated visually, the merger timeline stays conditional on that signal arriving and on uncertain masses.

   Sources: Science Daily

4. 4

   Astronomers find rare white dwarf that would appear green to the human eye

   Astronomers have identified a white dwarf that would appear green to the human eye, CNN reported. Lead author Mark Hollands of the University of Warwick found it by analysing 151 known white dwarfs within 20 parsecs of Earth. Most stars look orange, white or blue, so the green colour stems from chemistry in the star's outer layers. White dwarfs can also hold iron, magnesium and sodium from rocky debris torn apart after straying too close. Hollands said this lets astronomers measure the chemistry of planets that once orbited these stars.

   Key facts

   • The green white dwarf's atmosphere contains mainly calcium, sodium and lithium, which interact with helium.
   • A second white dwarf would look almost salmon pink due to a high density of carbon molecules.
   • The study was published in the journal RAS Techniques and Instruments.
   • Hollands said green examples could rise from one or two to 10 or 20 as data grows.

   Commentary

   The rarity may say more about how few white dwarfs have been measured than about the stars themselves, since the colour is inferred from spectra rather than seen directly. Its status as a rare colour therefore depends on which surveys are completed and how much data they collect.

   Sources: Business Today, Sada Elbalad English

5. 5

   Study links high meat-derived Neu5Gc intake to 63% higher type 2 diabetes risk

   Preliminary findings presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes meeting in Milan link a sugar naturally present in red meat to type 2 diabetes. Researchers led by Dr. Leopold Fezeu of Université Sorbonne Paris Nord analysed data from 89,953 adults in the French NutriNet-Santé study, tracking them for a median of 7.2 years and recording 966 new diabetes cases. The sugar, Neu5Gc, is particularly common in beef and lamb, and the researchers suggest chronic immune inflammation may be the mechanism. However, when total red meat intake was also accounted for, the association was no longer statistically significant, and the researchers said they cannot determine whether the sugar itself is responsible.

   Key facts

   • Adults with the highest meat-derived Neu5Gc intake had a 63% higher type 2 diabetes risk than the lowest group.
   • Accounting for total red meat intake made the association no longer statistically significant.
   • Neu5Gc intake from dairy products was not associated with increased diabetes risk.
   • Researchers estimated obesity accounted for approximately 13% of the association.
   • Men in the highest intake group ate a median of 97 grams of red meat daily.

   Commentary

   The predictable part is the headline; what moved the picture is that the association vanished once total red meat was counted, so the sugar cannot be separated from the meat carrying it. Dairy's null result and the small obesity share point the same way, toward meat rather than the molecule, leaving the inflammation mechanism a hypothesis still awaiting testing.

   Sources: Science Daily