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Sam Jarman

Sam Jarman

Author

Sam is a freelance science writer who spends most of the year juggling between writing and travelling the world. He has a lifelong interest in astrophysics, but is also fascinated by fast-growing fields in physics including novel materials, medical imaging, and bio-inspired technologies. He also contributes to outlets including Physics World and APS Physics Magazine.

Articles by Sam Jarman

Science X / Perseverance rover uncovers the role of water in Mars's mineral past

NASA's Perseverance rover has spent more than three and a half years exploring Mars's Jezero Crater, building up a remarkable catalog of mineral discoveries.

May 14, 2026
Phys.org / Mostly empty foam overturns assumptions of electron beam stopping

When physicists fire beams of fast electrons at materials, they often need to know exactly how much energy those electrons will lose as they travel through. Through new research published in Physical Review Letters, a team ...

May 13, 2026
Phys.org / Resilient quantum sensor monitors Earth's magnetic field from space for 10 months

From navigation to solar weather forecasting, many different areas of research require space-based sensors to measure Earth's magnetic field as accurately as possible at any given moment. So far, however, existing sensors ...

May 11, 2026
Phys.org / Physicists reveal universal speed limit on quantum information scrambling

Theoretical physicists in the US have discovered a "speed limit" on the time taken for quantum information to spread through larger systems. Publishing their results in Physical Review Letters, Amit Vikram and colleagues ...

Apr 29, 2026
Phys.org / AI slashes the time needed to design better heat-harvesting devices

From wearable technology to industrial heat recovery, thermoelectric generators which convert waste heat into electricity have an enormous range of potential applications. So far, however, designing high-performing versions ...

Apr 28, 2026
Phys.org / Deep under Antarctic ice, a long-predicted cosmic whisper finally breaks through in 13 strange bursts

A detector buried deep in Antarctic ice has captured the first experimental evidence of a predicted but never-before-seen phenomenon: radio pulses generated when high-energy cosmic rays slam into the ice sheet and trigger ...

Apr 26, 2026
Phys.org / More activity means less response in active materials

For some time, researchers have assumed that solid materials could gain more useful properties by making their microscopic components more active. Now, a team led by Jack Binysh at the University of Amsterdam has found that ...

Apr 25, 2026
Phys.org / Physicists revive 1990s laser concept to propose a next-generation atomic clock

Researchers in the US and Germany have unveiled a theoretical blueprint for an atomic clock driven by a highly synchronized laser, where atoms work in concert rather than independently. Publishing their results in Physical ...

Apr 23, 2026
Phys.org / A long-sought quantum computing milestone arrives as fermionic atom gates top 99% accuracy

Two independent research teams have each demonstrated collisional quantum gates using fermionic atoms: a long-sought milestone in quantum computing where logic operations are performed through the direct physical overlap ...

Apr 20, 2026
Phys.org / Laser-plasma accelerator drives free-electron laser for record 8 hours

For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that a laser-plasma accelerator can reliably drive a free-electron laser for more than eight hours. Published in Physical Review Accelerators and Beams, the result was achieved ...

Apr 16, 2026
Phys.org / A monster black hole appeared first, then its galaxy began to grow around it

Using observations gathered by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international team of astronomers have revealed that one supermassive black hole in the early universe must have formed before a galaxy developed around ...

Apr 15, 2026
Phys.org / Droplet impacts reveal surprising physics in shear-thickening fluids

From ketchup to quicksand, non-Newtonian fluids have long fascinated and puzzled scientists. Unlike ordinary fluids, their flow properties change depending on how much force is applied, but the precise mechanics governing ...

Apr 14, 2026
Phys.org / A tabletop ring of atoms brings the universe's doomsday vacuum collapse into the lab

Physicists in China have simulated the effect of "false vacuum decay": a phenomenon believed to play out constantly in the seemingly empty expanses of space, and which one theory even suggests could bring an abrupt end to ...

Apr 13, 2026
Phys.org / 'Ghost tunnels' guide sound waves in one direction while staying invisible to others

Acoustic metamaterials are a fast-evolving family of materials which manipulate sound waves in ever more advanced ways. Now, a team led by Changqing Xu at Nanjing Normal University in China has engineered an acoustic metamaterial, ...

Apr 13, 2026
Phys.org / Astronomers find the strongest evidence yet for the universe's first stars

For decades, astronomers were only able to study the universe's very first stars using theoretical models. Now, observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed what may be the most compelling evidence ...

Apr 12, 2026