Information Technology

Information Technology

Pathway to Flash-Like Memory: New Quantum Material Discovered

Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory. Rice University physicists have discovered a phase-changing quantum material — and a method for finding more like it — that could potentially be used to create flash-like memory capable of storing quantum bits of information, or qubits, even when a quantum computer is powered down. Phase-changing materials have been used in commercially available non-volatile digital memory . In rewritable DVDs, for example, a laser is used to heat minute bits of…

Information Technology

Efficient and Trustworthy AI Solutions for Industry

There is a high demand for AI solutions in industrial applications. These solutions need to be efficient, trustworthy and secure in order to be used in series production or quality control, for example. However, the new possibilities opened up by generative AI also raise questions. Can users rely on what a chatbot says? How can vulnerabilities in an AI model be detected early on during development? At the Hannover Messe 2024, the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems…

Information Technology

AI Enhances Super-Resolution Microscopy Techniques

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) might be best known from text or image-creating applications like ChatGPT or Stable Diffusion. But its usefulness beyond that is being shown in more and more different scientific fields. In their recent work, to be presented at the upcoming International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR), researchers from the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) in collaboration with colleagues from Imperial College London and University College London have provided a new open-source…

Information Technology

Smartphone Memory Tests Detect Early Alzheimer’s Signs

… Can Identify Early Signs of Alzheimer’s disease. Dedicated memory tests on smartphones enable the detection of “mild cognitive impairment”, a condition that may indicate Alzheimer’s disease, with high accuracy. Researchers from DZNE, the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States who collaborated with the Magdeburg-based company “neotiv” report these findings in the scientific journal “npj Digital Medicine”. Their study is based on data from 199 older adults. The results underline the potential of mobile…

Information Technology

Mini Satellite Advances Quantum Communication in Space

Researchers from Jena, Würzburg and Potsdam have successfully developed a design for the smallest system of its kind so far to take highly secure quantum communication to space: Led by Fraunhofer IOF, the project CubEniK developed an ultracompact payload for a satellite the size of a shoe box, a so called “CubeSat”. The goal of the mini satellite is to transmit a secure quantum key over a distance of 300 kilometers between two ground stations in Jena and Munich. When…

Information Technology

MIT Engineers Enhance Household Robots With Common Sense Skills

With help from a large language model, MIT engineers enabled robots to self-correct after missteps and carry on with their chores. From wiping up spills to serving up food, robots are being taught to carry out increasingly complicated household tasks. Many such home-bot trainees are learning through imitation; they are programmed to copy the motions that a human physically guides them through. It turns out that robots are excellent mimics. But unless engineers also program them to adjust to every…

Information Technology

Innovative Method for Addressing Qubits with Magnetic Disks

HZDR team develops new method for addressing qubits. Quantum computers promise to tackle some of the most challenging problems facing humanity today. While much attention has been directed towards the computation of quantum information, the transduction of information within quantum networks is equally crucial in materializing the potential of this new technology. Addressing this need, a research team at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) is now introducing a new approach for transducing quantum information: the team has manipulated quantum bits, so…

Information Technology

Artificial Nanofluidic Synapses Store Computational Memory

In a step toward nanofluidic-based neuromorphic – or brain-inspired – computing, EPFL engineers have succeeded in executing a logic operation by connecting two chips that use ions, rather than electrons, to process data. Memory, or the ability to store information in a readily accessible way, is an essential operation in computers and human brains. A key difference is that while brain information processing involves performing computations directly on stored data, computers shuttle data back and forth between a memory unit…

Information Technology

Compact Photonic Chip Generates High-Quality Microwave Signals

In a new Nature study, Columbia Engineering researchers have built a photonic chip that is able to produce high-quality, ultra-low-noise microwave signals using only a single laser. The compact device — a chip so small, it could fit on a sharp pencil point — results in the lowest microwave noise ever observed in an integrated photonics platform. The achievement provides a promising pathway towards small-footprint ultra-low-noise microwave generation for applications such as high-speed communication, atomic clocks, and autonomous vehicles. The challenge…

Information Technology

Loop DoS: Targeting Application-Layer Protocols Explained

A new Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack targets application-layer protocols that draw on the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) for end-to-end communication. ‘Application-layer Loop DoS Attacks’ pair servers of these protocols in such a way that they communicate with each other indefinitely. The vulnerability affects both legacy (e.g., QOTD, Chargen, Echo) and contemporary (e.g., DNS, NTP, and TFTP) protocols. Discovered by researchers of the CISPA Helmholtz-Center for Information Security, the attack puts an estimated 300,000 Internet hosts and their networks at risk. The…

Information Technology

Quantum Computers Tackle Travelling Salesman Challenge

The travelling salesman problem is considered a prime example of a combinatorial optimisation problem. Now a Berlin team led by theoretical physicist Prof. Dr. Jens Eisert of Freie Universität Berlin and HZB has shown that a certain class of such problems can actually be solved better and much faster with quantum computers than with conventional methods. The present work (arrow) shows that a certain part of the combinatorial problems can be solved much better with quantum computers, possibly even exactly….

Information Technology

Innovative Mixed Light Field Technique Enhances Projection Mapping

A novel mixed light field technique that utilizes a mix of ray-controlled ambient lighting with projection mapping (PM) to obtain PM in bright surroundings has been developed by scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology. This innovative technology utilizes a novel kaleidoscope array to achieve ray-controlled lighting and a binary search algorithm for removing ambient lighting from PM targets. It provides an immersive augmented reality experience with applications in various fields. Projection mapping (PM) is a fascinating technology that provides an…

Information Technology

Integrated Light: The Future of Computer Chips Explained

While computer chips are getting smaller and faster every year, one challenge remains unsolved: combining electronics and photonics on a single chip. Although components such as micro LEDs are available as individual chips and waveguides as tiny fibre optic cables, the materials required are too different for a harmonised chip. A new type of etching process could now be the decisive breakthrough for combining light sources and optical fibres. In the OptoGaN project, researchers from the TU Braunschweig and the…

Information Technology

ANYmal: Quadrupedal Robot Masters Parkour Skills

ANYmal has for some time had no problem coping with the stony terrain of Swiss hiking trails. Now researchers at ETH Zurich have taught this quadrupedal robot some new skills: it is proving rather adept at parkour, a sport based on using athletic manoeuvres to smoothly negotiate obstacles in an urban environment, which has become very popular. ANYmal is also proficient at dealing with the tricky terrain commonly found on building sites or in disaster areas. The quadrupedal robot Anymal…

Information Technology

UMass Research: Analog Computing Solves Complex Equations Efficiently

…and use far less energy. UMass Amherst research demonstrates that a memristor device can solve complex scientific problems using significantly less energy, overcoming one of the major hurdles of digital computing. A team of researchers including University of Massachusetts Amherst engineers have proven that their analog computing device, called a memristor, can complete complex, scientific computing tasks while bypassing the limitations of digital computing. Many of today’s important scientific questions—from nanoscale material modeling to large-scale climate science—can be explored using…

Information Technology

Satellites Enable Secure Quantum Communications Over Distances

Quantum cryptography across large distances. Through steady advances in the development of quantum computers and their ever-improving performance, it will be possible in the future to crack our current encryption processes. To address this challenge, researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are participating in an international research consortium to develop encryption methods that will apply physical laws to prevent the interception of messages. To safeguard communications over long distances, the QUICK³ space mission will deploy satellites. How can…

Feedback