Megawatt structured light arrives with 3,070 optical vortices in one array

Optical vortices—light beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM)—are characterized by helical wavefronts and phase ...
eLife

Serotonergic modulation of motor subspace dynamics drives a sleep-independent quiescent state

The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) serotonergic (5-HT) system has been implicated in regulating sleep and motor control; however, its specific role remains controversial. In this study, we found that ...
Tech Xplore

These restless materials don't just bend under pressure—they snap, crawl, walk and dig on their own

When we think of materials, we usually think of substances like metal, concrete, glass or rubber. What these examples have in ...

Simple rules guide how proteins assemble and evolve, study finds

Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have identified simple rules that explain how complex protein structures ...
eLife

REM sleep prefrontal high-frequency oscillation chains mediate distinct cortical – hippocampal reactivation patterns compared to NREM sleep

REM (rapid eye movement) and non-REM (NREM) sleep stages contribute to systems memory consolidation in hippocampal-cortical circuits. However, the physiological mechanisms underlying REM memory ...

A drug discovery bottleneck? How cheaper reagents could speed branched molecule synthesis

When chemists design drug candidates, shape matters enormously. Many active pharmaceutical ingredients contain branched carbon structures—points where the molecular chain forks in a specific direction ...
NPR

Culture

November 24, 2025 • Our annual reading guide returns with 380+ new titles handpicked by NPR staff and trusted critics. Find 13 years of recommendations all in one place — that's more than 4,000 great ...