Binary pulsars can serve as sensitive accelerometers that probe the gravitational forces in our Galaxy, which could help in building a detailed picture of the dark matter distribution.

A new approach for studying friction on ice helps explain why the ease of sliding depends strongly on temperature, contact pressure, and speed.

A microscope technique that visualizes small objects on a vibrating membrane could deliver atomically resolved MRI scans.

Polarization-sensitive algae could be used to make light-directed active matter that controls fluid flow.

Electron spin waves condense to form an exotic new state that repeats in both space and time.

Unlike most conventional materials, topological insulators generate harmonics when driven with circularly polarized lasers, which opens a window on their surface electronic properties.

Research with immediate applications is easy to justify, but there are economic and philosophical reasons to invest in physics even when the return is not obvious.