Scientists have just created an entirely new state of matter made out of subatomic particles. The bosonic correlated insulator, to be precise, is both a new material and a new state of matter, said researchers from California, Arizona and Japan. There are four fundamental states of matter, liquid, solid, gas and plasma – an electrically charged gas found in situations like stars and lightning strikes. But there are many others when you drill down to quantum level (that means at an atomic and subatomic level). The scientists said this is a new one. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The new material is a lattice-shaped pattern, formed from a layer of the two different types of subatomic particles: bosons and fermions. Bosons are a type of particle which is difficult for scientists to create and manipulate because they do not interact with each other. Fermions are more stable – particles such as electrons – and interact through electrostatic force. The material sees the two different types of particle combining and interacting in a new way, with the particles eventually form into a crystalline state, which in turn creates a material which has an insulating effect. “Conventionally, people have spent most of their efforts to understand what happens when you put many fermions together,” says condensed matter physicist Chenhao Jin from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). “The main thrust of our work is that we basically made a new material out of interacting bosons.” The new material doesn’t yet have any practical uses, but exotic creations like this help scientists understand how the universe is put together, the team said. “What happened here is that we discovered the correlation that drove the bosons into a highly ordered state,” said physicist Richen Xiong, from UCSB. The scientists think the discovery could lead to them finding more materials like this further down the line. “We know that some materials have very bizarre properties,” said Xiong. “And one goal of condensed matter physics is to understand why they have these rich properties and find ways to make these behaviours come out more reliably.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander only touched down on the Moon a month ago, but already it's made some major contributions to science. The spacecraft arrived on the satellite's unexplored south pole on 23 August, securing India's place as the first country to achieve this ambitious feat. Its rover, named Pragyan (or "wisdom" in Sanskrit) then embarked on an exploration of the rocky terrain, equipped with two instruments for conducting chemical experiments. And now, India's space agency, the ISRO, has published the ground-breaking data collected by the bold robot. Pragyan's findings offered a new, detailed insight into what makes up the lunar soil. And whilst scientists were unsurprised by the presence of iron, titanium, aluminium and calcium in the rocks, they were stunned to note a much higher concentration of sulphur than expected. The discovery is significant for a number of reasons. Most significantly, perhaps, because the sulphur could be used to help create a human base on the Moon. As Jeffrey Gillis-Davis, a planetary scientist, pointed out in a piece for Science Alert: "Astronauts and robots could travel from the south pole base to collect, process, store and use naturally occurring materials like sulfur on the Moon – a concept called in-situ resource utilization. "In-situ resource utilization means fewer trips back to Earth to get supplies and more time and energy spent exploring. Using sulfur as a resource, astronauts could build solar cells and batteries that use sulfur, mix up sulfur-based fertilizer and make sulfur-based concrete for construction." Gillis-Davis went on to explain that sulfur-based concrete has a number of advantages over the more common variety used in building, pointing out that it "hardens and becomes strong within hours rather than weeks, and it's more resistant to wear". "It also doesn't require water in the mixture, so astronauts could save their valuable water for drinking, crafting breathable oxygen and making rocket fuel," he added. The presence of sulphur near the Moon's south pole also suggests that highland soils at the lunar poles could have very different compositions to highland soils at the lunar equatorial regions. This would have key implications for our understanding of how the Moon works as a geological system, given that sulfur mainly comes from volcanic activity. Still, there's plenty of work to be done. And while this is all just one small step in Chandrayaan-3's mission, it could mean a great leap in how we view our dear celestial companion. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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David Hockney has unveiled his latest Christmas-themed artwork to bring “joy and hope” to people in London. The Bigger Christmas Trees artwork at Battersea Power Station depicts two large green and purple striped Christmas trees, each with a gold star at the top. The artwork is being displayed on the landmark’s two chimneys, which measure 100 metres (328 feet) and overlook the River Thames. “Battersea Power Station is such a beautiful building, I wanted to decorate it in a way that I hoped would bring joy and hope to Londoners,” said Hockney, 86. The artist, who is known for using a range of mediums including apps on iPhones, used an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil to create the design. Hockney has used Apple products in his artwork for more than 15 years including the first iPhone model in 2007. Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing Greg Joswiak described Hockney’s artwork as a “gift” for London. He said: “David is one of the world’s most important and influential artists, and we couldn’t be more excited to see his latest creation lighting up Battersea Power Station. “It is a privilege for us that he chooses iPad for his work, and to create this beautiful Christmas gift for the people of London.” Hockney’s other work using an iPad includes a stained glass window and a piece to highlight the natural world, which he created during the Covid-19 pandemic. In November, he unveiled his David Hockney: Drawing from Life exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, in London, which showcases a portrait of singer Harry Styles. Styles is depicted wearing an orange and red cardigan with a pearl necklace and blue jeans in one of 30 displays at the gallery. The Bigger Christmas Trees artwork will be displayed in a 10-minute animation on two of Battersea Power Station’s towers from 5pm to 10pm every evening until Christmas Day. Read More Apple names its App Store apps of the year £16bn Adobe takeover could harm competition in digital design market – watchdog Young people the biggest users of generative AI, Ofcom study shows Software firm Cloudsmith announces £8.8m investment UK and South Korea issue warning over North Korea-linked cyber attacks Data protection watchdog warns websites over cookie consent alerts

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