Nature Physics · 31 August 2026 · From issue 30

Optical control of electrons in a Floquet topological insulator

In a lab experiment, twisted laser light let scientists steer electric currents inside a carbon sheet.

Daniel M. B. Lesko, Tobias Weitz et al.

Integrity screen: passed (3 checks) Checked 2 September 2026. Read the source

The plain-language reading of this paper is in the full issue, for subscribers.

Read the full issue

Get it free, every two days

Five papers free every issue, about 15 emails a month. No spam. Leave in one click.

Also in issue 30 15 papers

In a China model, wind and solar plans boost yearly solar power by over 57,000 gigawatt-hours through cleaner air.
Nature Communications
Women with a common sexually transmitted virus had slightly higher heart disease risk than uninfected women.
PLOS Medicine
In mice, a specific brain circuit controls how fast antidepressant treatments work.
Nature Communications
Water waves flowed almost untouched through a specially patterned messy surface instead of scattering.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
A computer program calculates how easily each tiny part of a protein opens, even in huge proteins.
Nature Communications
In yeast, mice, and human cells, altered proteins caused far more DNA breaks and more cell death.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
In plants, a cell scaffolding protein has a hidden second job turning on defense genes.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
In mice, social rank stays stable even when group members change.
eLife
Unarmed civilian safety workers cut crime at San Francisco intersections without using police force.
PNAS Nexus
In rats, estrogen reduced fatty liver damage caused by low testosterone and a bad diet.
PNAS Nexus
A math model tracking real-time events ranks influence better than fixed, static network scores.
PNAS Nexus
Children of mothers with severe obesity had nearly double the risk of early death.
PLOS Medicine
Solar farms in northern China's deserts also cut nearby dust air pollution, a computer model shows.
Geophysical Research Letters
In a solar simulation, a sun jet appears to fade just because it breaks into threads too thin to see.
The Astrophysical Journal