News & Comment

Most researchers would agree that science communication is important. Still, academia would benefit from a more proactive approach — one that embeds communication in research culture.

Max Planck introduced units of length, time and mass defined solely in terms of fundamental constants. As Saurya Das explains, these units define a system in which quantum mechanics, relativity, gravity and thermodynamics meet on equal footing.

International metrological decision-making processes are exceedingly complex. Shanay Rab and Richard Brown explain how it works.

The advent of the laser transformed spectroscopy into a tool for precision measurements across scales, from nuclei to stars. In this Editorial we reflect on its far-reaching influence.

Fifty years ago, the theoretical concept behind free-electron lasers was proposed. Since then, these light sources, operating from millimetre to X-ray wavelengths, have been indispensable for many areas of science.

Early radiography methods, such as conventional X-ray scans, gave physicians only limited information about what happens inside the body. Rachel Toth tells us how this case was cracked with computed tomography.

The information contained in the nomination process for the Nobel Prize highlights the ever-changing meaning of scientific recognition.

Quantum technologies could be transformative for healthcare. Alex Jones, Ian Gilmore and Peter Knight discuss the role of metrology in the adoption of these technologies.

One hundred years ago, Enrico Fermi and Paul Dirac worked out how fermions distribute across the quantum states available to them. Their intuition laid the statistical foundation for the study of systems ranging from solids to white dwarfs.

As our metrology column turns ten years, there is no better way to celebrate than to look at the definitions of a year, finds Stefanie Reichert.

A recently proposed class of magnets, so-called altermagnets, combine features of ferromagnets and antiferromagnets. We discuss the scientific appeal of altermagnets, current controversies and challenges for their practical use.

How proteins — sequences of amino acids — fold determines their function. We discuss efforts towards the establishment of metrics traceable to the International System of Units that link the sequence of a protein to its structure and function.

Despite being derived from the unit of time, the hertz is a unit in its own right. It has remained a much beloved unit since its establishment almost one hundred years ago, as Karen Mudryk recounts.