A ‘time crystal’ made visible to the naked eye

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‘God’s influencer’ Carlo Acutis was canonized on 7 September by Pope Leo XIV. Acutis was known for his use of digital media to promote Catholic devotion. The work of a devoted teenage tech-wizard is just one way that new technologies are finding their way into religious practice: Jesus chatbots are growing in popularity and have even been used to offer spiritual guidance within churches. In some temples, robotic arms perform the Hindu aarti ritual, in which the perfection of the action is more important than the person performing it. But some worshippers are ambivalent about inviting simulacrums into sacred spaces.

Nature | 5 min read

At a meeting this week in the United Kingdom, scientists are deliberating whether to restrict research that could eventually enable ‘mirror life’ — synthetic cells built from molecules that are mirror images of those found in the natural world. “Pretty much everybody agrees” that mirror-image cells would be “a bad thing”, says synthetic biologist John Glass. Such a cell might proliferate uncontrollably in the body or spread unchecked through the environment, because the body’s enzymes and immune system might not as readily recognize right-handed amino acids or left-handed DNA. But there are disagreements about where to set limits on research — the ability to evade degradation could also make such molecules useful as therapeutic drugs.

Nature | 7 min read

Read more: Life scientist Ting Zhu, whose work explores various mirror-image molecular processes, considers how to bridge divergent views on such research. (Nature | 11 min read)

Using liquid crystals — bar-shaped molecules with properties between those of a liquid and those of a solid — researchers have created a time crystal, a form of matter that shows continuous, repeating patterns over time, that is visible with the naked eye. Simply by shining a light on the liquid crystals, the team created ripples of twisting molecules through them. The ripples kept moving for hours, undulating with a distinct beat, even when the researchers changed the conditions. The rhythm was also out of sync with any incoming force — fulfilling the two defining criteria for a time crystal.

Nature | 5 min read

Reference: Nature Materials paper

Features & opinion

In Brazil, a huge biofactory is breeding mosquitoes by the millions. These are no ordinary mosquitoes: they’re infected with Wolbachia, a bacterium that lowers the odds that they can transmit the virus that causes dengue. The infected bugs are one half of Brazil’s plan to tackle the disease, which racked up 6.6 million probable cases in 2024. The other is a locally produced vaccine, which is awaiting approval from the country’s regulator. As climate change and migration drives the risk of dengue ever higher, these twin advances could be the key to thwarting transmission in Brazil — and around the world.

Nature | 11 min read

Science under Siege, a new book by paediatrician and vaccine specialist Peter Hotez and climate scientist Michael Mann, dissects the forces working to undermine science in the United States and beyond. “As the president of the Union of Concerned Scientists — a science-advocacy non-profit organization that spends its time fighting these known enemies — I found this thorough naming and shaming resonant and indeed cathartic,” writes Gretchen Goldman in her review. The book is “light in specifics on how to fight these forces”, writes Goldman, but provides hopeful examples of when science has prevailed, and of failures to learn from.

Nature | 6 min read

Timing is everything — no more so than in today’s digitally connected world, in which everything from financial markets to emergency services depends on accurate, resilient timing from satellite systems such as the Global Positioning System (GPS). “But this success has bred complacency — and led to underappreciated risk,” argue Leon Lobo, Douglas Paul and Chander Velu, three leading researchers in the field of timing and positioning. They set out how to help to facilitate the development of alternative, land-based time sources worldwide by increasing buy-in from business, linking up existing, heterogeneous local timing systems and creating entirely new uses for time.

Nature | 11 min read

Today I’m gaining a deeper appreciation of Jackson Pollock’s paintings, thanks to chemists who have confirmed that the artist used manganese blue. The vibrant, synthetic pigment — once used to colour the cement for swimming pools — was phased out by the 1990s because of environmental concerns.

This week I’m swimming in the blue (but not dangerously so) waters of the Danube river in Vienna. While I ponder the Pollock-y splashes of nature’s beauty, why not send your feedback on this newsletter to [email protected].

Thanks for reading,

Flora Graham, senior editor, Nature Briefing

With contributions by Jacob Smith

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