Nature Physics, Published online: 14 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41567-026-03251-1
The isomeric state of thorium-229, a candidate for nuclear clocks, can decay through internal conversion and radiative decays. Now experiments suggest indirect evidence for a higher-order decay process through an electronic transition.
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- Lifetime of the singly charged <sup>229</sup>Th nuclear isomer
- Wetting beyond equilibriumNature Physics, Published online: 10 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41567-026-03252-0 Wetting is well understood for equilibrium conditions. Simulations probing wetting by active matter now demonstrate the emergence of stabilizing particle currents and provide the basis for a formalism describing wetting for non-equilibrium systems.
- Metamaterials that learn to change shapeNature Physics, Published online: 07 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41567-026-03226-2 Physical networks can learn to accomplish tasks on the fly by adjusting their internal parameters. Now it is shown that such physical learning can be achieved in metamaterials that can learn to change shape.
- Double-edged role of interactions in superconducting twisted bilayer grapheneNature Physics, Published online: 07 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41567-026-03243-1 It is unclear whether the superconducting pairing in moiré graphene is driven primarily by electronic interactions. Now, by tuning the electrostatic environment, the authors show that these interactions may play a crucial role in both mediating the pairing and screening it.
- Self-organized elastic membranes with life-like oscillatory dynamicsNature Physics, Published online: 07 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41567-026-03238-y Chaotic flows generated by a microtubule-based active fluid are shown to enhance the motion of passive actin fibres and assemble them into a hierarchical elastic membrane. Active flows also actuate the multiscale dynamics of the emerging membrane, and non-reciprocal feedback between the active and elastic stresses yields macroscopic oscillations.
- Length-scale dependence of the anomalous atomic motion in metallic glassesNature Physics, Published online: 06 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41567-026-03228-0 Synchrotron experiments show that the anomalous hyper-diffusive atomic motion in metallic glasses corresponds to a regime of medium-length-scale order, resulting from internal stresses developed throughout the glass transition.
- Quantum ground-state cooling of two librational modes of a nanorotorNature Physics, Published online: 06 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41567-026-03219-1 Controlling the rotational motion of nanoscale objects by trapping and cooling is a prerequisite for exploring quantum rotational phenomena. Now, two orthogonal librational modes of a levitated nanorotor are cooled into their quantum ground state.
- A crystal of neutral excitonsNature Physics, Published online: 03 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41567-026-03244-0 Interlayer excitons are neutral particles, which are prevalent in transition metal dichalcogenide heterostructures. Now, long-range repulsive interactions between these neutral particles leads to the formation of a crystal.
