Sapphire anvils squeeze metals atomically-thin
Hear the biggest stories from the world of science | 12 March 2025
Download the Nature Podcast 12 March 2025
In this episode:
00:46 2D metals made using sapphire press
Taking inspiration from industrial forging, researchers have demonstrated a way to squeeze molten metals into atomically-thin layers, creating relatively large flakes of 2D metals. Using a hydraulic press containing two sapphire anvils, a team was able to create sub-nanometer thick sheets of different metals — these sheets had diameters exceeding 0.1 mm, orders of magnitude larger than other methods have achieved. 2D metals have been theorized to possess several useful properties not seen in their larger, 3D counterparts but have been difficult to make at scale, something this method may help overcome.
Research Article: Zhao et al.
News and Views: Metals squeezed to thickness of just two atoms
09:36 Research Highlights
The discovery of ancient puppets on the remains of a large pyramid offers a glimpse into rituals in Mesoamerica, and how the presence of a certain pattern of sleep brainwaves might help predict which people will recover from an unresponsive state.
Research Highlight: Ancient puppets that smile or scowl hint at shared rituals
Research Highlight: Who’s likely to wake up from a coma? Brainwaves provide a clue
12:17 The virology lessons learnt from the COVID pandemic
SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, has become one of the most closely examined viruses on the planet. In the five years since the pandemic over 150,000 articles have been written about it and 17 million genome sequences have been generated. We discuss the lessons virologists have learnt from this intense study of a single organism, and how these might help the world prepare for future pandemics.
News Feature: Four ways COVID changed virology: lessons from the most sequenced virus of all time
23:36 Briefing Chat
How an AI alert-system could help researchers train their telescopes on a neutron star collision, and how expiration dates on plastic food-waste helped biologists age birds’ nests.
Nature: How AI could let us watch epic star collisions in real time
Science: Plastic waste in bird nests can act like a tiny time capsule
Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
Never miss an episode. Subscribe to the Nature Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music or your favourite podcast app. An RSS feed for the Nature Podcast is available too.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00776-y
This story originally appeared on: Nature - Author:Benjamin Thompson
