Anthony James Leggett: Explorer of quantum mechanics, from fluids and solids to the macroscopic world.

September 29, 2026| Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Tony Leggett (1938-2026) was one of the great theoretical physicists of his generation, specializing in the quantum mechanics of fluids and solids. Rightly recognized by the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics for his explanation of the experiments discovering the superfluidity of helium-3, he will be remembered equally for his pioneering inquiries into the transition from the quantum to the classical world and the extent to which we can observe quantum phenomena on macroscopic scales.

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Cassiterite U-Pb geochronology: A framework for tin provenance in the Bronze Age world.

The origin of Bronze Age tin is one of the most compelling mysteries in global archaeology. A number of studies were carried out to identify fingerprints to determine tin sources, but all failed to suit the contexts of Bronze Age China. This study provides the first comprehensive provenance analysis of the tin ore utilized during the Shang dynasty of China. Using U-Pb dating analysis on cassiterite grains surviving in various contexts including primary smelting site, metal resource hoard, and br

Physical/TechSeptember 29, 2026

Host-mediated insecticide sequestration in target-site-resistant pests impacts parasitoid fitness and evolution.

Insecticide resistance poses a major challenge to global pest management, yet its cascading effects on ecological networks remain poorly understood. Here, we show that target-site-resistant herbivorous insects can accumulate unmetabolized insecticides and inadvertently function as "toxic prey," impairing the fitness of their natural enemies. Using neonicotinoid- and spinosyn-resistant Myzus persicae and genetically modified Drosophila melanogaster , we demonstrate that resistant hosts surviving

Physical/TechSeptember 29, 2026

Human learning is an understudied but promising lever for boosting human-AI synergy.

Humans collaborating with AI hold the promise of achieving superior outcomes compared to either acting alone (i.e., human-AI synergy). However, the conditions that facilitate such synergy when humans are advised by AI are not well understood. A recent meta-analysis showed that, on average, human-AI combinations do not outperform the better individual agent. We argue that this pessimistic conclusion arises from insufficient attention to human learning in experimental designs. To substantiate this

Physical/TechSeptember 29, 2026

Experience-driven plasticity in the secondary somatosensory cortex in people born without hands.

In congenital handlessness, where individuals rely on their feet for compensatory manual functions, reorganization in the primary somatosensory cortex (SI) appears to be limited to local shifts by adjacent body parts. It remains unclear how congenital handlessness and lifelong compensatory foot use shape the sensorimotor system beyond SI, and whether compensatory abilities can drive broader functional reorganization. Here, we used task-based and resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) to investigate

Physical/TechSeptember 29, 2026

Splicing suppression alters the STING transcription start site to attenuate antiviral innate immunity.

The cGAS (cyclic GMP-AMP synthase)-STING (Stimulator of interferon genes) pathway plays a central role in antiviral innate immunity in vertebrates. Recent studies have shown that invertebrates possess a related cGLR (cGAS-like receptor)-STING pathway. However, due to the lack of direct evidence demonstrating viral evasion of cGLR-STING-mediated immunity, the functional importance of cGLR-STING pathway in antiviral responses remains uncertain in invertebrates. Here, we show that an insect picorna