PhD candidates walking in a corridor at the University of Liège, carrying large scientific posters in preparation for the Physics PhD Day.

On the way to the Physics PhD Day at the @universitedeliege.bsky.social

From preparation to presentation!

#PhysicsPhDDay #ScientificPoster #PhDResearch #PhDLife #ScienceCommunication

Gauri with her first scientific poster

Cheikh with his first scientific poster

Gauri & Cheikh are presenting their work today at the #PhysicsPhDDay @universitedeliege.bsky.social

• Particle trapping & releasing by #Leidenfrost droplets
• Heat Transfer Effects of Leidenfrost Jets

A great opportunity for scientific exchange during the #PosterSession.

#Physics #PhDLife

China is an innovation powerhouse — but it should do more fundamental research As the country looks to commercial companies to drive innovation, it has a golden opportunity to support open science and increase its output in key areas.

China’s research landscape shows strong growth in applied science, with fundamental research and open science gaining attention as the country shapes its scientific priorities.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

#ChinaResearch #Innovation #ScienceGrowth #OpenScience #ResearchTrends

Dynamics of Marangoni-driven elliptical Janus particles We investigate the spontaneous motion of an elliptical Janus particle, driven by Marangoni forces, on a water surface to understand how particle shape and size influence its dynamics. The Janus partic...

What controls the motion of self-propelled particles at interfaces? Experiments & simulations show how #Marangoni forces drive elliptical Janus particles, with dynamics strongly shaped by size and eccentricity.

🔗 pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

#ActiveMatter #SoftMatter #FluidDynamics #JanusParticles

NASA plans to send a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars in 2028 Spacecraft would release helicopters to explore martian surface

NASA is planning a nuclear-powered spacecraft to reach Mars faster, possibly by 2028. Beyond propulsion, it raises key challenges in managing extreme heat in space systems.

🔗 www.science.org/content/arti...

#SpaceScience #ThermalPhysics #NuclearEnergy #Mars #Engineering

How I squeeze fresh science from public data For cash-strapped and early-career researchers, archived data sets can fuel new science.

Public data is a goldmine. This Nature story highlights how smart reuse of archived datasets can fuel fresh science.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

#OpenScience #DataScience #ResearchInnovation #PublicData #ScientificDiscovery

Shape, confinement and inertia effects on the dynamics of a driven spheroid in a viscous fluid The dynamics of anisotropic particles in viscous flows underpin a wide range of processes in soft matter, microfluidics, and targeted drug delivery. Here, we investigate the motion of externally drive...

Optimizing particle shape for confined microchannels can boost transport efficiency. Prolate or oblate spheroids outperform spheres under certain conditions, guiding designs in microfluidics & targeted delivery.
🔗 shorturl.at/9uAGW
#Microfluidics #ParticleDynamics #SoftMatter #Colloids #DrugDelivery

Fluid flow: how heat can move from cooler to warmer regions – Physics World New work could help design electronic devices in which heat can be guided in certain directions, minimizing heat loss

EPFL scientists show heat can behave like a fluid, forming vortices that flow against temperature gradients. This could lead to devices that control heat direction & reduce energy loss.

🔗 shorturl.at/xsUoL

#ThermalPhysics #PhononHydrodynamics #HeatFlow #Microelectronics #EnergyManagement

Major conference catches illicit AI use — and rejects hundreds of papers The papers’ watermarks allowed organizers to detect use of large language models in peer review.

Digital watermarking in peer review: ICML 2026 rejected 2% of submissions after catching LLM misuse. A new tool to safeguard research integrity.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

#AIethics #PeerReview #AcademicIntegrity #ArtificialIntelligence #ResearchEthics #LLM

China could be the world’s biggest public funder of science within two years Forecast by science-policy researchers raises questions about where the epicentre of global research will shift to in the coming decade.

China is set to become the world’s largest public funder of research within two years, as US investment stalls. This shift could reshape the global scientific landscape.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

#ScienceFunding #ChinaResearch #GlobalScience #ResearchPolicy #ScienceTrends

Tiny droplets, big potential. Yale scientists studied 5,000 breakups to understand how droplets split under different conditions. A step forward for microfluidics applications.

🔗 phys.org/news/2026-03...

#Microfluidics #DropletPhysics #SoftMatter #Microreactors #DrugDelivery

AI scientists are changing research — institutions, funders and publishers must respond The ability to automate the discovery process in some areas of scientific inquiry raises unanswered questions about how research should be conducted.

Automating science with AI raises new ethical and procedural questions. Are we ready to rethink how research is conducted?

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

#ArtificialIntelligence #ScientificResearch #AIinScience #ResearchEthics #Innovation

Melting Gives Ice Block a Push A floating block of ice with an asymmetric bottom is propelled through water by its own melting—a process that may be relevant for icebergs.

A floating ice block moves on water thanks to its own melting. Inclined bottoms create underwater jets as cold meltwater sinks, pushing the block. Could iceberg motion be partly self-driven?

🔗 physics.aps.org/articles/v19...

#IcePhysics #FluidFlow #SelfPropulsion #MeltingDynamics #Oceanography

The mid-career reset: how to be strategic about your research direction A decade after completing a PhD, your research can begin to lose direction. So consider each opportunity carefully, says Mohamed Ezat.

Mid-career scientists often drift from their research goals. Mohamed Ezat explains how to recalibrate priorities, choose projects wisely, and define your long-term scientific path.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

#MidCareerScience #ResearchFocus #ScientificGrowth #CareerReset #AcademicStrategy

A bursting bubble can make a puddle jump – Physics World In a breakthrough in droplet physics, researchers find a way to get centimetre-scale water droplets to jump into the air

Inspired by nature, scientists show that bursting bubbles inside droplets can launch centimetre-scale drops. Implications for microscale 3D printing, material deposition, & everyday self-cleaning surfaces.

🔗 shorturl.at/kOGdq

#SoftMatter #FluidDynamics #DropletJumping #SurfaceEnergy #Microfluidics

Drowning in data sets? Here’s how to cut them down to size Indefinite data retention is neither financially nor practically possible, but there are ways to give your data maximal long-term value.

Managing massive scientific data sets is tricky. This Nature piece explains how to store smartly and extract maximum value without drowning in data.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

#BigData #DataManagement #ScienceTools #ResearchData #DataStrategy #MetaData

Jet dynamics of synchronized and unequal-sized dual cavitation bubbles Cavitation occurring in hydraulic machinery often involves the interaction of multiple bubbles, and the collapse jets of unequal-sized bubble pairs can signific

When two #cavitation bubbles of different sizes collapse, they form distinct jet patterns that affect local pressure and energy distribution. Understanding these dynamics helps predict damage in hydraulic systems.

🔗 doi.org/10.1063/5.03...
#BubbleDynamics #FluidMechanics #EnergyTransfer #Hydraulics

Wet towel in space: NASA astronaut demonstrates how surface tension forms a perfect water sphere in microgravity at the ISS

ArXiv, the pioneering preprint server, declares independence from Cornell As an independent nonprofit, it hopes to raise funds to cope with exploding submissions and “AI slop”

Major shift in scientific infrastructure: #arXiv is leaving university governance to become independent. While some see this as a gain in long-term stability, others point to a possible move toward commercialization.

🔗 shorturl.at/Iu5RC

#Preprints #OpenScience #ScientificPublishing #Research

How AI shook the world's largest meeting of physicists Physicists are grappling with how the increasing presence of AI will change the nature of their profession

AI sparked controversy at the global summit of the American Physical Society, raising concerns about authorship, originality and trust in research. How should science adapt?

🔗 www.newscientist.com/article/2520...

#AI #Physics #ResearchIntegrity #Science #Academia

Trump’s new science panel is stuffed with high-tech billionaires The PCAST roster contains few academics and women

With only one academic among 13, Trump’s science council prioritizes tech industry insights over traditional science.

Can fundamental research still thrive?

🔗 www.science.org/content/arti...

#ResearchPolicy #AI #QuantumTech #STEMEquity #ScienceLeadership

Droplet scientists push the boundary between living and non-living matter – Physics World Systems governed by chemistry and physics, not biology, can behave in surprisingly lifelike ways, as Giorgio Volpe, Rob Malinowski and Joe Forth explain

Scientists are creating “animate” droplets that can act, adapt, and respond on their own, blurring the line between living and non-living matter.

Could this inspire new ways to control liquids?

🔗 shorturl.at/tpTFn

#SoftMatter #ActiveMatter #DropletPhysics #AutonomousSystems #FluidDynamics

Energy transfer of two spherical oscillating bubbles in a free field Cavitation bubbles often appear as populations in a wide range of naval and biomedical applications. While the oscillations of an isolated spherical bubble are

Energy redistribution between bubbles depends on initial size & pressure. Understanding these mechanisms helps improve models of bubble clouds in fluids, relevant from naval to biomedical apps.

🔗 doi.org/10.1063/5.03...

#bubblyliquids #fluiddynamics #bubbledynamics #EnergyTransfer #cavitation

LeidenForce Portraits - Meet Cheikh Tidiane Dioum YouTube video by LeidenForce

Discover the first episode of the #TrueForce Portraits – #LeidenForce talents on the boil. It features Cheikh T. DIOUM, #PhDstudent recruited by @marca-be.bsky.social at @universitedeliege.bsky.social, within the PtYX lab.
📽️ youtu.be/L1qVxEtmeH4
#MSCA #HorizonEU #Leidenfrost #Research #FluidDynamics

La Nasa suspend son projet de station orbitale Gateway et va créer une base sur la Lune La Nasa a annoncé le 24 mars 2026 qu'elle allait suspendre le projet de construction d'une station spatiale autour de la Lune nommée Gateway afin de concentrer ses efforts sur la création d'une base s...

No Gateway station? NASA is reconsidering its lunar plans, focusing more on a Moon base. This raises new scientific and engineering challenges in extreme environments.

🔗 www.sciencesetavenir.fr/espace/la-na...

#SpaceScience #MoonBase #NASA #Engineering #Physics

Can China keep up its extraordinary research growth? Evidence of a pivot towards other sources of funding and collaboration suggest it is looking for ways to maintain its rapid pace of change.

China leads in the number of highly cited papers, but can it maintain its research momentum through new funding and collaborations? A global view of scientific growth.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

#ScienceGrowth #ResearchFunding #ChinaScience #Innovation #GlobalScience

"And the discipline and delight of our present work will consist, not in the discovery of independent phenomena, but in the discovery of bonds and connexions which show the various parts and powers of Nature to be as definitely related to each other as are the organs and processes of the living body itself." John Tyndall

Matter for Thought - Timeless insights for Modern Physics

👨‍🔬Quote by John Tyndall, Irish physicist

📚Source: "Heat as a Mode of Motion" (1874)

#Physics #NatureConnections #ScientificQuotes #Thermodynamics #SciencePhilosophy

Controlling condensation and boosting heat transfer via droplet jumping—An electrostatic spraying strategy To address the technical challenge of frequent condensation on radiant cooling panels (RCPs) in high-humidity environments, this study innovatively employed an

From condensation to self-cleaning: electrostatically sprayed coatings trigger droplet jumping and limit water buildup. Airflow and surface orientation also shape performance in cooling systems.

🔗 doi.org/10.1063/5.03...

#Condensation #FluidPhysics #ThermalEngineering #SurfaceScience #HVAC

Olga Shishkina, Detlef Lohse: Ultimate regimes in horizontal and internally heated convection https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.08164 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2604.08164 https://arxiv.org/html/2604.08164

How does lava turn into hair-like glass? Experiments show gas-rich molten rock can be stretched into thin filaments, like molten sugar. A new mechanism for the formation of “Pele’s hair”.

🔗 doi.org/10.1038/d415...

#FluidDynamics #Volcanoes #Glass #Geophysics #Physics