IOP Publishing

02/01/2026

How can we help students visualize thermal equilibrium 🔥? Using a simple simulation code, this week's experiment represents the thermalization process between two ideal gases as a game of kinetic billiards 🎱! This model is fully mechanical, free from thermodynamic assumptions, and runs directly in the GlowScript VPython environment, making it suitable for students at many different levels. Want to learn more? Click here: https://ow.ly/v1sZ50XRbRz

31/12/2025

✨ Wishing you all a wonderful new year from everyone at IOP Publishing!

As 2025 comes to a close, we want to thank our incredible community for making this year so impactful. Your support and hard work have been fabulous. Here’s to an even brighter 2026 filled with innovation, discovery, and shared success!

31/12/2025

⚛️ Testing the limits of the Standard Model

Researchers from the CMS collaboration at CERN have analysed data from around 10 billion proton decays, searching for signs that could challenge the Standard Model of particle physics.

This work examines B meson decays into electron-positron and muon-antimuon pairs. If lepton flavour universality holds, both decay paths should occur with equal likelihood — and that’s exactly what they found, within experimental uncertainty.

🎇 While this result supports the Standard Model, it also highlights where physicists might look next in the search for new physics — a fitting mindset as we head into a new year of discovery.

👉 Read the Research Highlight: https://ow.ly/ocSc50WPH7q

Researchers from the CMS collaboration have analysed data from proton-proton collisions in an attempt to find cracks in the Standard Model of particle physics

30/12/2025

Congratulations from all of us at IOP Publishing!

Congratulations to all the physicists, scientists and innovators recognised in the New Year’s Honours alongside fellow extraordinary citizens in so many fields. 🎉

We’re proud to see IOP Fellows Professor Polina Bayvel and Dr John Bagshaw honoured today for their work in fields as diverse as optics and quantum science.

➡️ Dr Bagshaw is the IOP’s former VP for Business and has been awarded a CBE for services to quantum science in the aerospace and defence sectors. With a career spanning four decades in high-technology and engineering industries, he has been a key figure in guiding the integration of cutting-edge quantum sensors, timing systems, and navigation technologies into aerospace applications - delivering new capabilities in precision, security, and resilience for both civilian and defence use.

➡️ Professor Bayvel has been awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to engineering and optical communications. She is Professor of Optical Communications at University College London and has made major contributions to the investigation and design of high-bandwidth multiwavelength optical networking.

Many congratulations also to Daljit Rehal, Chief Digital Information Officer at HMRC, awarded Companion of the Order of the Bath for services to technology and to public service, and to Philip McBride, former MD at Thales Northern Ireland, awarded OBE for services to the defence industry.

Thank you to all members of the physics and wider science community for everything you do for knowledge, innovation and our society.

30/12/2025

🥳

“I felt a deep sense of satisfaction and joy. It was rewarding to see our work published, especially knowing it can contribute to policy conversations that support farmers while strengthening soil biodiversity.”

For Ashiq Parambil-Peedika, co-author of ‘On biodiversity-inclusive carbon crediting in agriculture: insights from crop residue burning’, this publication milestone means his contributions can help shape the future of farming and environmental sustainability.

👉 Read his full testimonial here: https://ioppublishing.org/that-published-feeling/
📖 Read their full publication here: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae2492

International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

26/12/2025

✨ As 2025 ends, we’re celebrating the research that shaped the year. We’re counting down the Top 5 most read articles, highlighting discoveries from astrophysics to climate science and quantum theory. Thank you to our authors and readers for making this an incredible year. Here’s to even more impact in 2026!

Happy Friday! Finally, our top, most read article of 2025 is…

‘New Constraints on DMS and DMDS in the Atmosphere of K218 b from JWST MIRI’ in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists searched for molecules linked to life on a distant planet. This research redefines how we search for life beyond Earth. 🪐

👉 Read more: https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/adc1c8

Institute of Astronomy Cambridge Space Telescope Science Institute

Thanks again to all our authors and researchers who have made this year so impactful!

25/12/2025

✨ As 2025 ends, we’re celebrating the research that shaped the year. We’re counting down the Top 5 most read articles, highlighting discoveries from astrophysics to climate science and quantum theory. Thank you to our authors and readers for making this an incredible year. Here’s to even more impact in 2026!

The second most read article of 2025 was published in Reports on Progress in Physics, ‘Gravity generated by four one dimensional unitary gauge symmetries and the Standard Model’!

This paper explores a bold idea: could gravity and the forces that govern particles be connected through hidden symmetries? It’s a step toward answering one of physics’ biggest questions: how everything fits together. 🧭

👉 Read more: https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6633/adc82e

Aalto University

Excited to see what’s #1? Come back tomorrow! 👀

24/12/2025

✨ As 2025 ends, we’re celebrating the research that shaped the year.
We’re counting down the Top 5 most read articles, highlighting discoveries from astrophysics to climate science and quantum theory. Thank you to our authors and readers for making this an incredible year. Here’s to even more impact in 2026!

The third most read article of 2025: The Astrophysical Journal’s article, ‘Search for Gravitational Waves Emitted from SN 2023ixf’!

This study shows how gravitational waves from a nearby supernova form neutron stars and heavy elements, sharpening the tools for future discoveries and knowledge of our universe. 🌌

👉 Read more: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adc681

Max Planck Institute of Physics Caltech

Check back tomorrow for article #2! 👀

23/12/2025

Have you seen Physics World's 2025 Breakthrough of the Year? This prestigious award was given to Guangyu Zhang, Luojun Du and colleagues at the Chinese Academy of Sciences who produced the first-ever 2D sheets of metal! By heating powders of pure metals between two monolayer-MoS2/sapphire vdW anvils and applying a pressure of 200 MPa, researchers were able to achieve this incredible feat. Learn more about the future technological applications of 2D metals here: https://ow.ly/C1lg50XML3X

23/12/2025

✨ As 2025 ends, we’re celebrating the research that shaped the year. We’re counting down the Top 5 most read articles, highlighting discoveries from astrophysics to climate science and quantum theory. Thank you to our authors and readers for making this an incredible year. Here’s to even more impact in 2026!

The fourth most read article of 2025 was published in Environmental Research Letters: ‘Shutdown of northern Atlantic overturning after 2100 following deep mixing collapse in CMIP6 projections’

This article reveals how climate change could trigger a major ocean current shutdown after 2100, reshaping weather, sea levels, and food security. It’s a wakeup call for climate policy and planning worldwide. 🌊

👉 Read more: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/adfa3b

KNMI - Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch Instituut National Oceanography Centre P*K Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research



See you tomorrow for article #3! 👀

22/12/2025

Would you like to understand the mysteries of our Universe? If so, take a look at this week's ! This book covers everything from basic background physics to big questions such as "Why is the night sky dark?" and “What are dark matter and dark energy?”, giving the reader a holistic understanding of the subject. Whether you're a beginner or an expert, this text has something for every enthusiast. Check it out: https://ow.ly/fcht50XMKQZ