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NSF-DOE Rubin Trifid and Lagoon nebulas

First look: the trailer for Rubin’s movie of the sky

The first images from the extraordinary NSF-DOE Vera C Rubin Observatory have been made public today.

Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell CH

Jocelyn Bell Burnell appointed Companion of Honour

Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell has been appointed Companion of Honour in the King’s Birthday Honours List 2025 for her services to astronomy and physics and to diversity.

Quantum lab

New world record for qubit operation accuracy

Physicists at the University of Oxford have set a new global benchmark for the accuracy of controlling a single quantum bit, achieving the lowest-ever error rate for a quantum logic operation – just 0.000015%, or one error in 6.7 million operations.

Deaglan Bartlett

Meet...Deaglan Bartlett

We work among extraordinary people doing extraordinary things; get to know some of them by reading these quick-fire interviews.

Illustration of photon-photon scattering in the laboratory. Two green petawatt lasers beams collide at the focus with a third red beam to polarise the quantum vacuum. This allows a fourth blue laser beam to be generated, with a unique direction and colour, which conserves momemtum and energy.

Oxford physicists recreate extreme quantum vacuum effects

Physicists have successfully simulated how light interacts with empty space – a phenomenon once thought to belong to science fiction; the findings pave the way for real-world laser facilities to experimentally confirm bizarre quantum phenomena.

The Very Large Array sees fountains of hot gas erupting from a beastly black hole in the heart of a large galaxy known to radio astronomers as Hercules A. For millions of trillions of miles, these jets shoot through space, finally slowing when they reach ancient gaseous hiccups left behind by this galaxy’s earliest days of star-forming fury.

Black holes: nature’s own supercolliders

Scientists could turn to black holes to complement facilities searching for dark matter and similarly elusive particles that hold clues to the universe’s deepest secrets, a new study by Oxford researchers suggests.

One of the Simons Observatory small aperture telescopes (SAT)

Commentary: Professor Alonso on unlocking secrets of the universe with the Simons Observatory

A consortium across six UK universities has been awarded an STFC Astronomy Large Award to fund their work analysing data from the Simons Observatory; Professor David Alonso explains how it could shed light on dark matter, dark energy and the Big Bang.

Image of specialist quantum lab

New quantum visualisation techniques: milestone for quantum computing

A research study led by Oxford University has developed a powerful new technique for finding the next generation of materials needed for large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computing.

Professor Daniela Bortoletto

Professor Bortoletto recognised by European Physical Society

Professor Daniela Bortoletto has been awarded the European Physical Society’s Emmy Noether Distinction 2024 recognising her work in revolutionising silicon detector technology and in supporting women in physics.

Professor Shivaji Sondhi

Professor Sondhi elected Fellow of the Royal Society

Professor Shivaji Sondhi has been elected Fellow of the Royal Society. He is the Wykeham Professor at the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics at the University of Oxford and Professor Emeritus of Physics at Princeton University.

Dr Sridevi Kuriyattil

A day in the life of a quantum physicist

What is quantum physics? And what exactly does a quantum physicist do every day? We speak to Dr Sridevi Kuriyattil to find out more.

Laser table

Professor Walmsley joins government’s Quantum Strategic Advisory Board

Professor Ian Walmsley CBE FRS, recently appointed Director of the Oxford Quantum Institute (OQI), has also been named a member of the National Quantum Strategic Advisory Board.