… that affect satellite communications. A study from an international team led by researchers from Nagoya University in Japan and the University of New Hampshire in the United States has revealed the importance of the Earth’s upper atmosphere in determining how large geomagnetic storms develop. Their findings reveal the previously underestimated importance of the Earth’s atmosphere. Understanding the factors that cause geomagnetic storms is important because they can have a direct impact on the Earth’s magnetic field such as causing…
In recent years, engineers at ETH Zurich have developed the technology to produce liquid fuels from sunlight and air. In 2019, they demonstrated the entire thermochemical process chain under real conditions for the first time, in the middle of Zurich, on the roof of ETH Machine Laboratory. These synthetic solar fuels are carbon neutral because they release only as much CO2 during their combustion as was drawn from the air for their production. Two ETH spin-offs, Climeworks and Synhelion, are…
Breakthrough realized for retaining quantum information in a single-electron quantum bit. Coherence stands as a pillar of effective communication, whether it is in writing, speaking or information processing. This principle extends to quantum bits, or qubits, the building blocks of quantum computing. A quantum computer could one day tackle previously insurmountable challenges in climate prediction, material design, drug discovery and more. A team led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has achieved a major milestone toward…
Columbia chemists discover ballistic flow in a quantum material. The finding could help overcome shortcomings in semiconductors. Semiconductors—most notably, silicon—underpin the computers, cellphones, and other electronic devices that power our daily lives, including the device on which you are reading this article. As ubiquitous as semiconductors have become, they come with limitations. The atomic structure of any material vibrates, which creates quantum particles called phonons. Phonons in turn cause the particles—either electrons or electron-hole pairs called excitons—that carry energy and…
Nanoturbines: the heart of advancements Flow-driven turbines lie at the heart of many revolutionary machines that have shaped our societies, from windmills to airplanes. Even life itself depends critically on turbines for fundamental processes, such as the FoF1-ATP synthase that produces fuels for biological cells and the bacterial flagella motor that propels bacteria. “Our nanoturbine has a 25-nanometer diameter rotor made from DNA material with blades configured in a right-handed or left-handed sense to control the direction of rotation. To…
The low-cost FibeRobo, which is compatible with existing textile manufacturing techniques, could be used in adaptive performance wear or compression garments. Instead of needing a coat for each season, imagine having a jacket that would dynamically change shape so it becomes more insulating to keep you warm as the temperature drops. A programmable, actuating fiber developed by an interdisciplinary team of MIT researchers could someday make this vision a reality. Known as FibeRobo, the fiber contracts in response to an increase…
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have improved flaw detection to increase confidence in metal parts that are 3D-printed using laser powder bed fusion. This type of additive manufacturing offers the energy, aerospace, nuclear and defense industries the ability to create highly specialized parts with complex shapes from a broad range of materials. However, the technology isn’t more widely used because it’s challenging to check the product thoroughly and accurately; conventional inspection methods may not find…
Aalto University researchers will probe the secrets of dark matter using a quantum detector of unprecedented sensitivity. In the pitch dark of the cosmos lurks an invisible kind of matter. Its presence is seen in the rippling ebb and flow of galaxies, but it’s never been directly observed. What secrets lie beneath the surface, brewing in the deep? Physicists have long theorized about the composition of dark matter, which is thought to be five times more abundant than regular matter….
A new tool to rapidly grow cancer-killing white blood cells could advance the availability of immunotherapy, a promising therapy which harnesses the power of the body’s immune response to target cancer cells. Washington State University researchers have developed a minifridge-sized bioreactor that is able to manufacture the cells, called T cells, at 95% of the maximum growth rate – about 30% faster than current technologies. The researchers report on their work in the journal Biotechnology Progress. They developed it using…
Newly discovered mechanism contributes to a better understanding of molecular foundations of fertility. Special proteins – known as membrane transporters – are of key importance for the mobility of sperm cells. A research team from the Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center (BZH) headed by Prof. Dr Cristina Paulino has, with the aid of cryo-electron microscopy, for the first time succeeded in decoding the structure of such a transporter and its mechanism. According to the researchers, these findings will enable a better…
Quantum physicists at Delft University of Technology have shown that it’s possible to control and manipulate spin waves on a chip using superconductors for the first time. These tiny waves in magnets may offer an alternative to electronics in the future, interesting for energy-efficient information technology or connecting pieces in a quantum computer, for example. The breakthrough, published in Science, primarily gives physicists new insight into the interaction between magnets and superconductors. Energy-efficient substitute “Spin waves are waves in a…
In physics, quasiparticles are used to describe complex processes in solids. In ultracold quantum gases, these quasiparticles can be reproduced and studied. Now, for the first time, Austrian scientists led by Rudolf Grimm have been able to observe in experiments how Fermi polarons – a special type of quasiparticle – can interact with each other. Their findings have been published in Nature Physics. An electron moving through a solid generates a polarization in its environment due to its electric charge….
Using a network of radio telescopes on Earth and in space, astronomers have captured the most detailed view ever of a jet of plasma from a supermassive black hole. The jet travels at nearly the speed of light and shows complex, twisted patterns near its source. These patterns challenge the standard theory that has been used for 40 years to explain how these jets form and change over time. A major contribution to the observations was made possible by the…
Hussam Amrouch has developed an AI-ready architecture that is twice as powerful as comparable in-memory computing approaches. As reported in the journal Nature, the professor at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) applies a new computational paradigm using special circuits known as ferroelectric field effect transistors (FeFETs). Within a few years, this could prove useful for generative AI, deep learning algorithms and robotic applications. The latest AI chips deliver twice the performance of their predecessors. New AI chips are based…
Constantly increasing data volumes, ever more complex calculation and modeling – working with large amounts of data is crucial in many fields of research. The new high-performance computer “Marvin” now makes it easier for University of Bonn researchers to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning. Featuring a scalable GPU partition, Marvin is among the world’s top 500 most powerful computers. Funded in part under the Excellence program, the acquisition of Marvin comes as part of the University of Bonn digital…
“SpreeTec next”: Powder Bed-Based Additive Laser Manufacturing System to Give New Impetus to Lusatia Region. The Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden will install a Europe-wide unique industrial 3D printer. The Additive Manufacturing system from manufacturer Farsoon is based on selective laser beam melting in a powder bed. It can produce substantial components with complex geometries from aluminum, titanium, nickel, iron, copper, and other metallic powders layer by layer. Fraunhofer IWS scientists are directing their research…
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