A senior Chinese space scientist and delegate to the country’s national congress is proposing the prioritization of an unprecedented orbiter mission to ice giant Neptune.
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A new of way of searching for dark-matter candidate particles called axions has produced the tightest constraint yet on how they can interact with normal matter. Using a two-city network of quantum sensors based on nuclear spins, physicists in China narrowed the possible values of a parameter known as axion-nucleon coupling below a limit previously set by astrophysical observations. As well as insights on the nature of dark matter, the technique could aid investigations of other beyond-the-Standard-Model physics phenomena such as axion stars, axion strings and Q-balls.
Dark matter is thought to make up over 25% of the universe’s mass, but it has never been detected directly. Instead, we infer its existence from its gravitational interactions with visible matter and its effect on the large-scale structure of the universe.
While the Standard Model of particle physics does not incorporate dark matter, several physicists have proposed ideas for how to bring it into the fold. One of the most promising involves particles called axions. First hypothesized in the 1970s as a way of explaining unresolved questions about charge-parity violation, axions are chargeless and much less massive than electrons. This means they interact only weakly with matter and electromagnetic radiation.
According to theoretical calculations, the Big Bang should have produced axions in abundance. During phase transitions in the early universe, these axions would have formed topological defects – defects that study leader Xinhua Peng of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) says should, in principle, be detectable. “These defects are expected to interact with nuclear spins and induce signals as the Earth crosses them,” Peng explains.
The problem, Peng continues, is that such signals are expected to be extremely weak and transient. She and her colleagues therefore developed an alternative axion search method that exploits a different predicted behaviour.
When fermions (particles with half-integer spin) interact, or couple, with axions, they should produce a pseudo-magnetic field. Peng and colleagues looked for evidence of this interaction using a network of five quantum sensors, four in Hefei and one in Hangzhou. These sensors combined a large ensemble of polarized rubidium-87 (87Rb) atoms with polarized xeon-129 (129Xe) nuclear spins.
“Using nuclear spins has many advantages,” Peng explains. “These include a higher energy resolution detection for topological dark matter (TDM) axions thanks to a much smaller gyromagnetic ratio of nuclear spins; substantial spin amplification owing to the high ensemble density of noble-gas spins; and efficient optimal filtering enabled by the long nuclear-spin coherence time.”
The USTC researchers’ setup also has other advantages over previous laboratory-based TDM searches, including the Global Network of Optical Magnetometers for Exotic physics searches (GNOME). While GNOME operates in a steady-state detection mode, the USTC researchers use a detection scheme that probes transient “free-decay oscillating” signals generated on spins after a TDM crossing. The USTC team also implemented a dual-phase optimal filtering algorithm to extract TDM signals with a signal-to-noise ratio at the theoretical maximum.
Peng tells Physics World that these advantages enabled the team to explore regions of TDM parameter space well beyond limits set by astrophysical searches. The transient-state detection scheme also enables sensitive searches for TDM in the region where the axion mass exceeds 100 peV – a region that GNOME cannot access.
The researchers have not yet recorded a statistically significant topological crossing event using their setup, so the dark matter search is not over. However, they have set more stringent constraints on axion-nucleon coupling across a range of axion masses from 10 peV to 0.2 μeV. Notably, they calculated that the coupling strength must be greater than 4.1 x 1010 GeV at an axion mass of 84 peV. This limit is stricter than those obtained from astrophysical observations, though Peng notes that these rely on different assumptions.
Peng says the technique developed in this study, which is published in Nature, could lead to the development of even larger, more sensitive networks for detecting transient spin signals such as those from TDM. It also opens new avenues for investigating other physical phenomena beyond the Standard Model that have been theoretically proposed, but have so far lacked a pathway for experimental exploration.
The researchers now plan to increase the number of sensor stations in their network and extend their geographical baselines to intercontinental and even space-based scales. Peng explains that doing so will enhance the network’s detection sensitivity and boost signal confidence. “We also want to enhance the sensitivity of individual sensors via better spin polarization, longer coherence times and advanced quantum control techniques,” she says. Switching to a ³He–K system, she adds, could boost their current spin-rotation sensitivity by up to four orders of magnitude.
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German launch startup Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) says it is planning its first launch for this summer after delivering two of its stages to the launch site.
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Program will test large segmented optical system for future surveillance satellites
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NASA has selected the Centaur upper stage currently used on United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket for future flights of the Space Launch System.
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Eutelsat has completed the last step in a 5 billion euro ($5.8 billion) refinancing plan to refresh its OneWeb constellation and support Europe’s IRIS² sovereign connectivity program, the French satellite operator announced March 6.
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Careers in Quantum, which was held on 5 March 2026, is an unusual event. Now in its seventh year, it’s entirely organised by PhD students who are part of the Quantum Engineering Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) at the University of Bristol in the UK.
As well as giving them valuable practical experience of creating an event featuring businesses in the burgeoning quantum sector, it also lets them build links with the very firms they – and the students and postdocs who attended – might end up working for.
A clever win-win if you like, with the day featuring talks, panel discussion and a careers fair made up companies such as Applied Quantum Computing, Duality, Hamamatsu, Orca Computing, Phasecraft, QphoX, Riverlane, Siloton and Sparrow Quantum.
IOP Publishing featured too with Antigoni Messaritaki talking about her journey from researcher to senior publisher and Physics World features and careers editor Tushna Commissariat taking part in a panel discussion on careers in quantum.
The importance of communication and other “soft skills” was emphasized by all speakers in the discussion, but what struck me most was a comment by Carrie Weidner, a lecturer in quantum engineering at Bristol, who underlined that it’s fine – in fact important – to learn to fail.
“If you’re resilient and can think critically, you can do anything,” said Weidner, who is also director of the quantum-engineering CDT. She warned too of the dangers of generative AI, joking that “every time you use ChatGPT, your brain is atrophying”.
Another great talk was by Diya Nair, a computer-science undergraduate at the University of Birmingham, who is head of global outreach and UK ambassador for Girls in Quantum.
The organization is now active in almost 70 countries around the world, with the aim of “democratizing quantum education”. As Nair explained, Girls in Quantum does everything from arrange quantum computing courses and hackathons to creating its crowdfunded quantum-computing game called Hop.
The event also included a discussion about taking quantum research “from concept to commercialization”. It featured Jack Russel Bruce from Universal Quantum, Euan Allen from eye-imaging tech firm Siloton, Joe Longden from Duality Quantum Photonics, and Stewart Noakes, who has mentored numerous companies over the years.
Noakes emphasized that all high-tech firms have three main needs: talent, money and ideas. In fact, as he explained, companies can sometimes suffer from having too much money as well as too little, especially if they grow too fast and hire people on big salaries who might then need to be let go if funding dries up.
Bruce, though, was positive about the overall state of the quatum-tech sector. “For me, the future is bright,” he said. But as all speakers underlined, if you want to join the industry, make sure you’ve got good communciation skills, an open-minded attitude – and a willingness to learn on the go.
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March 6, 2026 – Washington, D.C.—The Commercial Space Federation (CSF) is pleased to welcome Leolabs, the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR), and SurgeStreams. Together, these organizations strengthen […]
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Amid the explosive growth surrounding telecommunications megaconstellations, orbital data centers and next-generation payloads, the space ecosystem is entering a period of rapid and irreversible change. Announcements and filings for satellite constellations numbering in the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands and now even 1 million-plus are becoming commonplace. The waves that even a fraction of […]
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Rocket Lab launched a spacecraft March 5 for a confidential customer, most likely Earth observation company BlackSky.
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China has designated aerospace to be an “emerging pillar industry” in a draft national economic plan, also setting major objectives for the five years ahead.
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MRI is one of the most important imaging tools employed in medical diagnostics. But for deep-lying tissues or complex anatomic features, MRI can struggle to create clear images in a reasonable scan time. A research team led by Thoralf Niendorf at the Max Delbrück Center in Germany is using metamaterials to create a compact radiofrequency (RF) antenna that enhances image quality and enables faster MRI scanning.
Imaging the subtle structures of the eye and orbit (the surrounding eye socket) is a particular challenge for MRI, due to the high spatial resolution and small fields-of-view required, which standard MRI systems struggle to achieve. These limitations are generally due to the antennas (or RF coils) that transmit and receive the RF signals. Increasing the sensitivity of these antennas will increase signal strength and improve the resolution of the resulting MR images.
To achieve this, Niendorf and colleagues turned to electromagnetic metamaterials – artificially manufactured, regularly arranged structures made of periodic subwavelength unit cells (UCs) that interact with electromagnetic waves in ways that natural materials do not. They designed the metamaterial UCs based on a double-square split-ring resonator design, tailored for operation at a high magnetic field strength of 7.0 T.
In their latest study, led by doctoral student Nandita Saha and reported in Advanced Materials, the researchers created a metamaterial-integrated RF antenna (MTMA) by fabricating the UCs into a 5 x 8 array. They built two configurations: a planar antenna (planar-MTMA); and a version with a 90° bend in the centre (bend-MTMA) to conform to the human face. For comparison, they also built conventional counterparts without the metamaterial (planar-loop and bend-loop).
The researchers simulated the MRI performances of the four antennas and validated their findings via measurements at 7.0 T. Tests in a rectangular phantom showed that the planar-MTMA demonstrated between 14% and 20% higher transmit efficiency than the planar-loop (assessed via B₁+ mapping).
They next imaged a head phantom, placing planar antennas behind the head to image the occipital lobe (the part of the brain involved in visual processing) and bend antennas over the eyes for ocular imaging. For the planar antennas, B₁+ mapping revealed that the planar-MTMA generated around 21% (axial), 19% (sagittal) and 13% (coronal) higher intensity than the planar-loop. Gradient-echo imaging showed that planar-MTMA also improved the receive sensitivity, by 106% (axial), 94% (sagittal) and 132% (coronal).
The bend antennas exhibited similar trends, with B₁+ maps showing transmit gains of roughly 20% for the bend-MTMA over the bend-loop. The bend-MTMA also outperformed the bend-loop in terms of receive signal intensity, by approximately 30%.
“With the metamaterials we developed, we were able to guide and modulate the RF fields generated in MRI more efficiently,” says Niendorf. “By integrating metamaterials into MRI antennas, we created a new type of transmitter and detector hardware that increases signal strength from the target tissue, improves image sharpness and enables faster data acquisition.”
Importantly, the new MRI antenna design is compatible with existing MRI scanners, meaning that no new infrastructure is needed for use in the clinic. The researchers validated their technology in a group of volunteers, working closely with partners at Rostock University Medical Center.
Before use on human subjects, the researchers evaluated the MRI safety of the four antennas. All configurations remained well below the IEC’s specific absorption rate (SAR) limit. They also assessed the bend-MTMA (which showed the highest SAR) using MR thermometry and fibre optic sensors. After 30 min at 10 W input power, the temperature increased by about 1.5°C. At 5 W, the increase was below 0.5°C, well within IEC safety thresholds and thus used for the in vivo MRI exams.
The team first performed MRI of the eye and orbit in three healthy adults, using the bend-loop and bend-MTMA antennas positioned over the eyes. Across all volunteers, the bend-MTMA exhibited better transmit performance in the ocular region that the bend-loop.
The bend-MTMA antenna also generated larger intraocular signals than the bend-loop (assessed via T2-weighted turbo spin-echo imaging), with signal increases of 51%, 28% and 25% in the left eyes, for volunteers 1, 2 and 3, respectively, and corresponding gains of 27%, 26% and 29% for their right eyes. Overall, the bend-MTMA provided more uniform and higher-intensity signal coverage of the ocular region at 7.0 T than the bend-loop.
To further demonstrate clinical application of the bend-MTMA, the team used it to image a volunteer with a retinal haemangioma in their left eye. A 7.0 T MRI scan performed 16 days after treatment revealed two distinct clusters of structural change due to the therapy. In addition, one of the volunteer’s ocular scans revealed a sinus cyst, an unexpected finding that showed the diagnostic benefit of the bend-MTMA being able to image beyond the orbit and into the paranasal sinuses and inferior frontal lobe.
The team used the planar antennas to image the occipital lobe, a clinically relevant target for neuro-ophthalmic examinations. The planar-MTMA exhibited significantly higher transmit efficiency than the planar-loop, as well as higher signal intensity and wider coverage, enhancing the anatomical depiction of posterior brain regions.
“Clearer signals and better images could open new doors in diagnostic imaging,” says Niendorf. “Early ophthalmology applications could include diagnostic confirmation of ambiguous ophthalmoscopic findings, visualization and local staging of ocular masses, 3D MRI, fusion with colour Doppler ultrasound, and physio-metabolic imaging to probe iron concentration or water diffusion in the eye.”
He notes that with slight modifications, the new antennas could enable MRI scans depicting the release and transport of drugs within the body. Their geometry and design could also be tuned to image organs such as the heart, kidneys or brain. “Another pioneering clinical application involves thermal magnetic resonance, which adds a thermal intervention dimension to an MRI device and integrates diagnostic guidance, thermal treatment and therapy monitoring facilitated by metamaterial RF antenna arrays,” he tells Physics World.
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