Issue #7 — Transitions

Basically, Science

The basic research newsletter from ISTA

The natural world, our collective knowledge, and even our shared perception of reality is in a permanent state of flux. In this issue, we look at Transitions.

Explore how the universe as we know it could exist in a false sense of stability, see the glaciers destined to melt, and find out what happens when good oxygen turns bad.

ISTA quantum physicists collaborated with colleagues at the Forschungszentrum Jülich, where this D-Wave quantum annealer is situated. © Forschungszentrum Jülich/Sascha Kreklau

Simulating the Transition at the End of the Universe

Our universe might be trapped in a metastable state, called a false vacuum, awaiting a cosmic transition to a more stable true vacuum. Quantum physicists have now modeled this transition, showing how ‘bubbles’ of true vacuum form and interact. The findings could shed light on how our universe came to be and how this transition might unfold.

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Researchers installed a simple automatic weather station on the Otemma Glacier in Switzerland, in June 2022. © Thomas Shaw/ISTA

Glaciers Fighting Back but Destined to Melt

Glaciers are fighting back against rising temperatures, but they are locked in a losing battle. By analyzing an unprecedented global data set of on-glacier observations, we now know their self-cooling power will peak by the mid-2030s. After that, a steady transition will set in as these natural ice reserves move toward inevitable melt.

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ISTA scientists have put the destructive singlet oxygen on a leash.© Shutterstock

When Good Oxygen Turns 'Bad'

Oxygen gives us life, but in its 'bad' form it is a destructive force. Triplet and singlet oxygen share the same molecule yet behave differently: the former benign, the latter damaging. Now that singlet oxygen has been tamed, we can understand how the harmless triplet form transitions into its volatile alter ego—and how that dark side can be used for good.

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Editor's Pick

Winner of the Ig Nobel Prize in Physics for 2025: cacio e pepe, prepared to scientific perfection at ISTA. © ISTA

Clumpy to Creamy: The Secret of Perfect Pasta

‌You may have been making cacio e pepe all wrong. The recipe for repeatable perfection—according to science—has now been revealed. With the right amount of starch and a gentle heat, the cheese proteins pass through a crucial transition, avoiding the unwanted “mozzarella phase” and settling into a smooth, creamy sauce.

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Watch

Moving from Transistors to Quantum Computers

The phone you use every day is running out of space. At the heart of the device is the Central Processing Unit (CPU) made up of billions of transistors. The problem is the technology is leveling off; we're struggling to fit any more hardware into it.

“What we need are new ideas,” says Assistant Professor Kimberly Modic. “We need to find the right material to replace this entire architecture to move forward and have quantum computers.”

One idea in the search is to use a combination of high magnetization and angular rotation, essentially turning materials around in a strong magnetic field. This combination, in certain conditions, unlocks previously “inaccessible” material properties and allows scientists to witness unexplored phase transitions and previously unseen physics

In Profile

After five years at Caltech, USA, Ilaria Caiazzo started her research group at ISTA, investigating star lives and afterlives. © ISTA

In Between Worlds

Assistant Professor Ilaria Caiazzo has never shied away from transition. Her career path has taken her from philosophy student to astrophysicist, and from movie producer dealing with stars on screen to stellar astronomer studying the stars above. Now she delves deep into the cosmos, tracing the shifting life cycles of stars in extreme environments.

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ISTA Campus

Record 80 New PhD Students Join ISTA

Students from 32 countries across five continents made the transition to research students. Over half of the arrivals (55%) come from Europe, with the remainder hailing from Africa, Asia, North America, and South America. This new record underscores the Institute’s rising profile as an internationally renowned center for both cutting-edge research and training

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