How long does a neutron live?: Unlike the proton, whose lifetime is longer than the age of the universe, a free neutron decays with a lifetime of about 15 minutes. Measuring the exact lifetime of neutrons is surprisingly tricky; putting them in a container and monitoring their decay can lead to errors because some neutrons will be lost owing to interactions with the container walls. To overcome this problem, Pattie et al. measured the lifetime in a trap where ultracold polarized neutrons were levitated by magnetic fields, precluding interactions with the trap walls (see the Perspective by Mumm). This more precise determination of the neutron lifetime will aid our understanding of how the first nuclei formed after the Big Bang. Science , this issue p. 627 ; see also p. 605

Data-driven science and technology offer transformative tools and methods to science. This review article highlights the latest development and progress in the interdisciplinary field of data-driven plasma science (DDPS), i.e., plasma science whose progress is driven strongly by data and data analyses. Plasma is considered to be the most ubiquitous form of observable matter in the universe. Data associated with plasmas can, therefore, cover extremely large spatial and temporal scales, and often provide essential information for other scientific disciplines. Thanks to the latest technological developments, plasma experiments, observations, and computation now produce a large amount of data that can no longer be analyzed or interpreted manually. This trend now necessitates a highly sophisticated use of high-performance computers for data analyses, making artificial intelligence and machine learning vital components of DDPS. This article contains seven primary sections, in addition to the introduction and summary. Following an overview of fundamental data-driven science, five other sections cover widely studied topics of plasma science and technologies, i.e., basic plasma physics and laboratory experiments, magnetic confinement fusion, inertial confinement fusion and high-energy-density physics, space and astronomical plasmas, and plasma technologies for industrial and other applications. The final section before the summary discusses plasma-related databases that could significantly contribute to DDPS. Each primary section starts with a brief introduction to the topic, discusses the state-of-the-art developments in the use of data and/or data-scientific approaches, and presents the summary and outlook. Despite the recent impressive signs of progress, the DDPS is still in its infancy. This article attempts to offer a broad perspective on the development of this field and identify where further innovations are required.

Radiographic imaging and tomography (RadIT), which started with Röntgen’s seminal X-ray work in 1895, now include an increasing number of imaging and tomography (IT) modalities. In addition to the original absorption-based X-ray radiography, others include phase contrast X-ray imaging, coherent X-ray diffractive imaging, MeV X- and γ-ray radiography, X-ray computed tomography, proton IT, neutron IT, positron emission tomography (PET), high-energy electron radiography, and cosmic-ray muon tomography. Scintillators are widely used in RadIT as the detector frontend that converts ionizing radiation into signals and data. We give an overview of the status and needs of scintillator applications in RadIT. More than 160 kinds of scintillators were presented during the SCINT22 conference, and offered ample options for novel RadIT applications. New trends in scintillators for RadIT applications include inorganic and organic scintillator composites or heterostructures, liquid phase synthesized perovskites and single-crystal micrometer-thick films, use of multi-physics models and data science to guide scintillator and RadIT optimization, structural innovations such as photonic crystals, nano-scintillators enhanced by the Purcell effect, heterostructural scintillating fibers, and multilayer configurations. RadIT have also been recognized as powerful tools for scintillator discovery and development.