Cheap and quick to produce, these digitally manufactured plasma sensors could help scientists predict the weather or study climate change. MIT scientists have created the first completely digitally manufactured plasma sensors for orbiting spacecraft. These plasma sensors, also known as retarding potential analyzers (RPAs), are used by satellites to determine the chemical composition and ion energy distribution of the atmosphere. The 3D-printed and laser-cut hardware performed as well as state-of-the-art semiconductor plasma sensors that are manufactured in a cleanroom, which…
Response time variability can be perceived as human-like. Researchers at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) implemented a non-verbal Turing test that shows that people interacting with the humanoid robot iCub were not able to tell whether the robot was human-controlled or pre-programmed. Humans behave and act in a way that other humans can recognize as human-like. If humanness has specific features, is it possible to replicate these features on a machine like a robot? Researchers at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia…
Tiny imaging device lays groundwork for high-resolution 3D imaging during clinical procedures. Researchers have created a photoacoustic imaging endoscope probe that can fit inside a medical needle with an inner diameter of just 0.6 millimeters. Photoacoustic imaging, which combines light and sound to create 3D images, can provide important clinical information, but until now the instruments have been either too bulky or too slow for practical use as forward-viewing endoscopes. “Traditional light-based endoscopes can only resolve tissue anatomical information on…
An ancient metal used for its microbial properties is the basis for a materials-based solution to disinfection. A team of scientists from Ames National Laboratory, Iowa State University, and University at Buffalo developed an antimicrobial spray that deposits a layer of copper nanowires onto high-touch surfaces in public spaces. The spray contains copper nanowires (CuNWs) or copper-zinc nanowires (CuZnNWs) and can form an antimicrobial coating on a variety of surfaces. This research was initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the…
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory used neutron scattering to determine whether a specific material’s atomic structure could host a novel state of matter called a spiral spin liquid. By tracking tiny magnetic moments known as “spins” on the honeycomb lattice of a layered iron trichloride magnet, the team found the first 2D system to host a spiral spin liquid. The discovery provides a test bed for future studies of physics phenomena that may drive next-generation information…
A Nagoya University research group has developed an AI algorithm that accurately and quickly diagnoses idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease. The algorithm makes its diagnosis based only on information from non-invasive examinations, including lung images and medical information collected during daily medical care. Doctors have waited a long time for an early means of diagnosing idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a potentially fatal disease that can scar a person’s lungs. Except for drugs that can delay the disease’s progression, established therapies…
Semiconductor microfabrication technology enables voltage output greater than 0.5 V. Using a semiconductor microfabrication technology, a research team consisting of NIMS, AIST and the University of Tsukuba has succeeded in developing a thermoelectric device consisting of an array of π junctions, each composed of two types of thermoelectric layers connected by a metal electrode layer (figure (a)). This device demonstrated the ability to generate voltages greater than 0.5 V, meeting a criterion for certain IoT (internet of things) device operations….
An advanced form of cardiac MRI, developed by academics at UCL in collaboration with the Royal Free Hospital, has for the first-time enabled clinicians to measure the effectiveness of chemotherapy in patients with the life-limiting condition ‘stiff heart syndrome’. Researchers say the breakthrough, published in the European Heart Journal, means doctors will now be able to better guide treatment strategies and, by doing so, improve patients’ prognosis. Light-chain cardiac amyloidosis (stiff heart syndrome) occurs when plaques of protein called amyloid build up…
Graphene scientists from The University of Manchester have created a novel ‘nano-petri dish’ using two-dimensional (2D) materials to create a new method of observing how atoms move in liquid Publishing in the journal, Nature, the team led by researchers based at the National Graphene Institute (NGI) used stacks of 2D materials like graphene to trap liquid in order to further understand how the presence of liquid changes the behaviour of the solid. The team were able to capture images of…
… in climate history. Heinrich Events or, more accurately, Heinrich Layers, are recurrent conspicuous sediment layers, usually ten to 15 centimeters thick, with very coarse rock components that interrupt the otherwise fine-grained oceanic deposits in the North Atlantic. Discovered and first described in the 1980s by the geologist Hartmut Heinrich, U.S. geochemist Wally Broecker later officially named them Heinrich Layers, which has become a standard term in paleoceanography. The presence of Heinrich Layers has been established throughout the North Atlantic,…
Seeing the light: Researchers at Oxford University’s Department of Materials, working in collaboration with colleagues from Exeter and Munster have developed an on-chip optical processor capable of detecting similarities in datasets up to 1,000 times faster than conventional machine learning algorithms running on electronic processors. The new research published in Optica took its inspiration from Nobel Prize laureate Ivan Pavlov’s discovery of classical conditioning. In his experiments, Pavlov found that by providing another stimulus during feeding, such as the sound…
Transparent glassy material could be used to provide a light-based readout of stress in the body or buildings. Researchers have created a new glass-ceramic that emits light in response to mechanical stress, a property known as mechanoluminescence. With further development, the new material could be used to create a light source that is switched on by mechanical stress. This could be useful for monitoring stress in artificial joints in the body or providing warnings of dangerous stress or fractures in…
Space study offers clearest understanding yet of the life cycle of supermassive black holes. Research uses X-ray telescopes and a new data analysis technique to describe space objects. Black holes with varying light signatures but that were thought to be the same objects being viewed from different angles are actually in different stages of the life cycle, according to a study led by Dartmouth researchers. The research on black holes known as “active galactic nuclei,” or AGNs, says that it…
… discovered over thousands of years of observations. The secrets of the origin of some of them have not been solved so far. For the first time in the history of observations, scientists from the Helsinki and Ural Federal Universities Jarmo Moilanen and Maria Gritsevich have systematized information about all forms of atmospheric halos recorded by mankind at the end of 2021. From numerous sources of data on observations, the history of which includes 4-5 millennia, 119 different forms of…
A new AI program observed physical phenomena and uncovered relevant variables–a necessary precursor to any physics theory. But the variables it discovered were unexpected. Energy, Mass, Velocity. These three variables make up Einstein’s iconic equation E=MC2. But how did Einstein know about these concepts in the first place? A precursor step to understanding physics is identifying relevant variables. Without the concept of energy, mass, and velocity, not even Einstein could discover relativity. But can such variables be discovered automatically? Doing…
On-chip spectrometer, silicon nanowires determine light spectrum, angle. Image sensors measure light intensity, but angle, spectrum, and other aspects of light must also be extracted to significantly advance machine vision. In Applied Physics Letters, published by AIP Publishing, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Washington University in St. Louis, and OmniVision Technologies highlight the latest nanostructured components integrated on image sensor chips that are most likely to make the biggest impact in multimodal imaging. The developments could enable autonomous vehicles…
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