Quantum computers could someday solve pressing problems that are too convoluted for classical computers, such as modeling complex molecular interactions to streamline drug discovery and materials development.

Matter behaves strangely under extreme conditions, and often, remnants of these behaviors are left behind even when conditions return to normal. The Trinity nuclear test in 1945 left behind such remnants, and now, 80 years after the explosion, researchers have identified another unique example of what happens when various materials are heated to temperatures exceeding 1,500 °C (2,730 °F) and put under pressures tens of thousands of times atmospheric pressure.

Researchers have found our emotions toward politics not only play on our minds, but shape how our bodies respond to political experiences, even driving political participation higher. The new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that political emotions are not simply experienced as everyday feelings directed at political topics, but are felt differently in the body, becoming a key driver of how we participate in democracy.

Plant roots are far more than simple absorption organs: they can adjust their structure to better cope with water stress. Scientists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with the University of Lausanne (UNIL), studied 284 natural varieties of Arabidopsis thaliana and discovered that the amount and distribution of suberin—a protective barrier deposited in roots—vary according to geographic origin and climate. The researchers also identified a new gene regulating suberin that is linked to the water-stress hormone.

The Indonesian seas are a biodiversity hotspot, harboring the highest coral diversity in the tropics and home to an extraordinary variety of marine life. Yet these unique ecosystems have been under growing pressure for years, particularly from increasing heat waves in the ocean. However, heat stress is not the only stressor affecting these sensitive marine creatures.