theSIGNAL SCIENCE
23 June 2026
"The most exciting phrase in science is not 'Eureka' but 'That's funny.'"
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Science

World's First Quantum Biosensor Watches Cells Change in Microseconds

A lab in Leiden has installed the world's first quantum biosensor of its kind, and it can catch biological reactions that are faster than a blink of an eye.

Picture a cell inside a human muscle, and something going wrong. A protein shifts. A reaction sparks. The whole sequence takes a microsecond — one millionth of a second.

Blink, and you have already missed it ten thousand times over. For decades, this terrifying speed was exactly what made diseases like muscular dystrophy, Ebola, and cancer so difficult to understand at the molecular level. Now, a laboratory at Leiden University in the Netherlands has done something no other lab in the world has managed before: it has installed a working quantum biosensor capable of catching those invisible moments as they actually happen. The facility belongs to researcher Alireza Mashaghi, whose career has been built at the crossroads of biology, chemistry, and mathematics.

His team built the installation together with the Dutch company QT-Sense, whose quantum sensing technology makes it possible to monitor extraordinarily rapid and subtle chemical changes inside living cells.

Photo: Testalize.me / Unsplash
Researchers Russell Quinn, Alireza Mashaghi, and Vahid Sheikhhassani stand beside Leiden University's pioneering quantum biosensor installation.
Discuss
  • Why might removing the need for chemical dyes be considered a major scientific breakthrough?
  • Mashaghi draws on biology, chemistry, and mathematics together. Why is combining disciplines sometimes necessary in modern science?
  • If a drug targets the right protein but in the wrong location, what kinds of problems could this cause for patients?
  • Do you think quantum technology will change medicine more than digital technology did? Why or why not?
  • Should cutting-edge scientific facilities like this one be shared globally, or is it fair for one university to hold an exclusive advantage?
Science

AI Is Rewriting the University Classroom

At Lingnan University in Hong Kong, a grading system powered by generative AI recently won a Bronze Medal at the International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva. It is called GAAS — and it can assess student work in real time, ending the dreaded wait of weeks for feedback. Prof. S. …
  • Should AI systems ever have the final say in grading student work?
∞
It's incredibly important to know how a certain type of disease develops, and where exactly reactions occur because of the effect of medicine in a biological system with relation to space and time.
Professor Alireza Mashaghi, Principal Researcher, Leiden University
Science

Australians Sue Government at UN Over Climate

Ten Australians — including a wildlife ecologist who fought the devastating 2019 Black Summer bushfires in Queensland and an Indigenous elder from the Kimberley region — have taken their government to the United Nations, arguing that Australia's continued coal and gas exports are violating their human rights. Their personal stories are striking. …
  • Should the UN have binding legal power to punish countries over climate change?
WORLD · Science
Einstein’s “biggest blunder” may finally have an explanation
EUROPE · Science
Europe swelters as more heat records set to tumble
AMERICAS · Science
‘It’s not science, it’s coercion’: health experts decry RFK Jr order on hantavirus quarantine
GLOBAL · Science
My trip to meet the scientists trying to refreeze the Arctic
theSIGNAL IN THE LAB
1VOCABULARY
labellingcrossroads
roguecurriculaprompt engineering
erasinglegally accountable
2GRAMMAR FOCUS
Third conditional — hypothetical past
Use the third conditional to talk about hypothetical situations in the past and their imagined results: 'If + past perfect, would/could/might + have + past participle.' Both the condition and the result are contrary to what actually happened.
would have missed · had not used · could have caused · had known · might have survived · would have received · had ruled
  1. If scientists chemical dyes on the cells, the quantum biosensor might not have been necessary at all.
  2. Researchers those crucial microsecond reactions entirely if the quantum biosensor had not been installed at Leiden University.
  3. If the drug the protein in the wrong location, it could have produced unpredicted side effects.
  4. Brendon Donohue dangerous flooding in Brisbane if the government had taken stronger climate action years earlier.
  5. If universities how quickly AI would transform education, they might have updated their curricula far sooner.
  6. Students at Lingnan University their feedback weeks later if the GAAS system had never been developed.
  7. If the International Court of Justice earlier that countries could be held legally accountable for climate damage, the Australian case might have been filed sooner.
3IDIOMS
Define each idiom in your own words. Then write one sentence of your own using the idiom.
  1. "Blink, and you have already missed it ten thousand times over."
  2. "Built at the crossroads of biology, chemistry, and mathematics."
  3. "Gluing a coin to its wing." (used to describe the problem with chemical dyes)
  4. "Transformed from the inside out."
  5. "Freed from repetitive marking."
  6. "Erasing cultural knowledge that was never written down."
4CRITICAL THINKING
All three articles describe situations where speed or urgency is central — a microsecond protein reaction, real-time AI grading, and escalating climate damage. Do you think modern society is becoming better at responding to things that happen faster than humans can naturally perceive or react, or are we still fundamentally too slow? Use evidence from at least two of the articles to support your view.
5CREATIVE · HEADLINES
Write a headline for the quantum biosensor story in each of the following styles. One line each, no explanation:
  • TABLOID NEWSPAPER
  • LUXURY MAGAZINE
  • ACTIVIST BLOG
6WRITING
The three articles suggest that science, education, and law are all being reshaped by new technologies and new ways of seeing the world. Choose one field and argue whether these changes represent genuine progress for ordinary people, or whether the benefits remain out of reach for most.
7DEGREES OF EXTREMITY
Complete each ladder from mild to strong using words from the articles or related vocabulary.
  • change→→
  • quick→→
  • harm→→
  • worried→→
  • useful→→
  • problem→→
  • examine→→
8SPEAKING
  1. How might GAAS change the relationship between students and teachers?
  2. What responsibilities do wealthy nations have toward climate victims?
  3. Could AI grading systems ever reduce inequality in education?
  4. What makes Indigenous environmental knowledge irreplaceable in climate discussions?
  5. Should coal-exporting nations face trade consequences for climate violations?