IBM unveils world's first 0.7nm chip; JWST finds buckyballs and a lemon-shaped pulsar planet

IBM unveils world's first 0.7nm chip, boosting AI performance sixfold IBM announced the first sub-1 nanometer node chip technology, with transistors just 0.7nm wide. The new nanostack architecture delivers 70% greater energy efficiency or 50% more power than 2nm chips, potentially enabling AI accelerators to reach 9,000 trillion operations per second. 1

JWST detects new buckyball bands in space, rewriting carbon chemistry Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers discovered near-infrared emission bands from buckminsterfullerene (C60) in the planetary nebula Tc 1 that had eluded Spitzer for 15 years. First-of-their-kind anharmonic quantum calculations confirmed the bands, showing prior fullerene surveys were incomplete. 2

Webb finds lemon-shaped planet with carbon atmosphere orbiting pulsar Astronomers used JWST to observe PSR J2322-2650b, a Jupiter-mass planet orbiting a pulsar every 7.8 hours. The planet is stretched into a lemon shape by gravity and has a carbon-rich atmosphere (C2 and C3) with little oxygen or nitrogen, defying current formation models. 3

Gene-silencing therapy extends survival in ALS mouse model Researchers developed an engineered AAV9 vector delivering artificial microRNAs targeting the SOD1 gene. A single intravenous injection in ALS mice suppressed SOD1, preserved motor neurons and neuromuscular junctions, and significantly improved survival and respiratory function even when given after symptom onset. 4

Hidden starburst galaxy 'Shadow Blaster' traced as neutrino source An international team traced high-energy neutrinos to a galaxy 11 billion light-years away, hidden behind dust clouds. This starburst galaxy, unlike typical neutrino sources, challenges assumptions about what produces the universe's most powerful particles. 5

Strange metal crystal reveals record quantum entanglement signal Physicists at TU Wien measured one of the strongest quantum entanglement signals ever seen in a solid, using a cerium-palladium-silicon crystal chilled near absolute zero. The material, a 'strange metal,' showed particles linked beyond classical limits, confirmed via neutron scattering. 6

QuEra cuts fault-tolerant quantum simulation overhead by 250x QuEra Computing and Los Alamos National Laboratory published a neutral-atom quantum architecture that reduces fault-tolerant simulation overhead 250-fold, needing only 1,500 physical qubits. The design leverages reconfigurable atoms to eliminate costly magic state distillation and gate synthesis steps. 7

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS has 30x more deuterium than solar comets JWST's NIRSpec analysis of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS revealed a deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio 30 times higher than solar system comets and low carbon-13, indicating formation 10-12 billion years ago in a very cold region of the galaxy. 8

Exoplanet's magnetic field connects directly to its star Researchers found that the exoplanet GJ 436b, orbiting a red dwarf every 2.6 days, has magnetic fields that overlap with its host star. This interaction causes periodic brightening in the star's chromosphere, a phenomenon previously only theorized. 9

Most distant Lyman-continuum-emitting galaxy discovered Chinese Academy of Sciences researchers identified the most distant galaxy known to emit Lyman-continuum radiation, providing key evidence for how the early universe became ionized during the Epoch of Reionization. 10

Chiral laser gyroscope breaks through lock-in limit Researchers developed a chiral ring laser gyroscope using a single-isotope gas mixture and Zerodur glass cavity that surpasses the traditional lock-in limit, achieving unprecedented stability and sensitivity for precision rotational measurements. 11

Electrocatalyst simultaneously cleans water and produces chemicals Tohoku University researchers created a nickel-vanadium catalyst that converts biomass-derived compounds into glutaric acid (98.5% efficiency) while transforming nitrate pollutants into ammonia (96.1% efficiency) in a single electrolysis system. 12

First 3D structures of human cone opsins in dark state solved Researchers at Paul Scherrer Institute determined the molecular structure of human cone opsins in their dark state for the first time, offering insights into color vision and retinal diseases like age-related macular degeneration. 13