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Unravelling Coronal Mass Ejections from Our Solar System’s Origin

Young stars ejecting plasma could give us clues into the Sun’s past Kyoto, Japan — Down here on Earth we don’t usually notice, but the Sun is frequently ejecting huge masses of plasma into space. These are called coronal mass ejections (CMEs). They often occur together with sudden brightenings called flares, and sometimes extend far enough to disturb Earth’s magnetosphere, generating space weather phenomena including auroras or geomagnetic storms, and even damaging power grids on occasion. Scientists believe that when…

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Physics & Astronomy

Breakthrough in Quantum Mechanics: New Insights on Temporal Evolution

Overcoming one of the challenges of quantum mechanics: A major result in quantum mechanics has been achieved: for the first time, the temporal evolution of a quantum system has been manipulated through interaction with light oulses in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV). This achievement has been obtained by a team of researchers coordinated by Prof. Lukas Bruder from the University of Freiburg, in collaboration with 14 international institutes, including the Politecnico di Milano, the Institute of Photonics and Nanotechnologies of the…

Physics & Astronomy

New Radio Astronomy Insights on Planet Formation Dynamics

New radio astronomy observations of a planetary system in the process of forming show that once the first planets form close to the central star, these planets can help shepherd the material to form new planets farther out. In this way each planet helps to form the next, like a line of falling dominos each triggering the next in turn. To date over 5000 planetary systems have been identified. More than 1000 of those systems have been confirmed to host…

Physics & Astronomy

M87: Exploring Innovations in the Brightest Galaxy Cluster

Also known as Virgo A or NGC 4486, M87 is the brightest object in the Virgo cluster of galaxies, the largest gravitationally bound type of structure in the universe. It came to fame in April 2019 after scientists from EHT released the first image of a black hole in its center. Led by the EHT multi wavelength working group, a study published in Astronomy and Astrophysics Journal presents the data from the second EHT observational campaign conducted in April 2018,…

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First Open-Source 5G FR2 MIMO Demonstrator Launched

Fraunhofer HHI and Partners Launch First Open-Source 5G FR2 MIMO Demonstrator. Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institut (HHI) and its partners, Allbesmart, National Instruments (NI), and TMYTEK, have unveiled the world’s first open-source 5G FR2 MIMO demonstrator. This cutting-edge test platform for 5G and future 6G technologies features high-bandwidth capabilities at 28 GHz, allowing users to explore advanced technologies such as joint communication and sensing. The use of multiple antennas enhances link stability and maximizes bitrates. The demonstrator was developed as part of the…

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Advancing Wireless Tech: Hybrid Dual-Analog Beamforming

…with Hybrid Dual-Analog Beamforming for Multi-Users and Blockage Avoidance. In December 2024, the institutes Fraunhofer IAF and HHI as well as LG Electronics, building on their successes from 2022, have once again demonstrated their global leadership in sub-THz 6G wireless network technology: They have successfully executed the world’s first trial of D-band hybrid beamforming with dual-channel analog beamforming radio heads, showcasing a milestone in broadband data transmission at 160 GHz. This technological breakthrough presents advancements in maintaining robust links to…

Physics & Astronomy

Researchers Accelerate Electrons to 10 Billion eV With Lasers

With dual lasers and an advanced gas injector system, researchers at the Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator Center accelerated a high-quality beam of electrons to 10 billion electronvolts in just 30 centimeters. Scientists have used a pair of lasers and a supersonic sheet of gas to accelerate electrons to high energies in less than a foot. The development marks a major step forward in laser-plasma acceleration, a promising method for making compact, high-energy particle accelerators that could have applications in particle…

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New Design for Scaling Superconducting Quantum Devices

New research demonstrates a brand-new architecture for scaling up superconducting quantum devices. Researchers at the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) have  realized a new design for a superconducting quantum processor, aiming at a potential architecture for the large-scale, durable devices the quantum revolution demands. Unlike the typical quantum chip design that lays the information-processing qubits onto a 2-D grid, the team from the Cleland Lab has designed a modular quantum processor comprising a reconfigurable router as a…

Physics & Astronomy

Innovative Laser Technologies Enhance SWIR Spectral Range

Current laser technologies for the extended SWIR spectral range rely on expensive and complex materials, limiting their scalability and affordability. To address these challenges, ICFO researchers Dr. Guy L. Withworth, Dr. Carmelita Roda, Dr. Mariona Dalmases, Dr. Nima Taghipour, Miguel Dosil, Dr. Katerina Nikolaidou, Hamed Dehghanpour, led by ICREA Prof. Gerasimos Konstantatos, have presented a novel approach based on colloidal quantum dots in an Advanced Materials article. The team managed to emit coherent light (a necessary condition to create lasers)…

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First Electrically Pumped Semiconductor Laser for Silicon Integration

International research team presents first electrically pumped continuous-wave semiconductor laser suitable for seamless silicon integration. Scientists from Forschungszentrum Jülich, FZJ, the University of Stuttgart, and the Leibniz Institute for High Performance Microelectronics (IHP), together with their French partner CEA-Leti, have developed the first electrically pumped continuous-wave semiconductor laser composed exclusively of elements from the fourth group of the periodic table – the “silicon group”. Built from stacked ultrathin layers of silicon germanium-tin and germanium-tin, this new laser is the first…

Physics & Astronomy

Unlocking Quantum Critical Metals: Insights from Rice University

A new study by Rice University physicist Qimiao Si unravels the enigmatic behaviors of quantum critical metals — materials that defy conventional physics at low temperatures. Published in Nature Physics Dec. 9 , the research examines quantum critical points (QCPs), where materials teeter on the edge between two distinct phases such as magnetism and nonmagnetism. The findings illuminate the peculiarities of these metals and provide a deeper understanding of high-temperature superconductors, which conduct electricity without resistance at relatively high temperatures….

Physics & Astronomy

NASA’s Voyager: A Close-Up Look at Neptune and Beyond

Encountering Neptune in 1989, NASA’s Voyager mission completed humankind’s first close-up exploration of the four giant outer planets of our solar system. Collectively, since their launch in 1977, the twin Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft discovered that Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune were far more complex than scientists had imagined. There was a lot more to be learned. A NASA Hubble Space Telescope observation program called OPAL (Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy) obtains long-term baseline observations of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune in order to understand…

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Autonomous Underwater Robot Boosts Marine Biodiversity Monitoring

DFKI develops autonomous underwater robot to monitor marine biodiversity. Sustainable monitoring of the marine environment is crucial for the environmentally responsible operation of offshore wind farms and the protection of biodiversity. In the SeaMe project, RWE is collaborating with leading research partners to develop innovative technologies for comprehensive ecosystem monitoring. The goal is to replace costly, invasive, and CO2-intensive methods. The German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) is contributing by equipping an autonomous underwater vehicle with oceanographic sensors and…

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Foundations of Future Quantum Technologies: Key Research Insights

“Our results have no clear or direct application right now. It’s basic research that lays the foundation for future technologies in quantum information and quantum computers. There’s enormous potential for completely new discoveries in many different research fields,” says Guilherme B Xavier, researcher in quantum communication at Linköping University, Sweden. But to understand what the researchers have shown, we need to start at the beginning. That light can be both particles and waves is one of the most illogical –…

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Exploring Quantum Transport with a Superconducting Processor

Researchers from Singapore and China have used a superconducting quantum processor to study the phenomenon of quantum transport in unprecedented detail. A better understanding of quantum transport, which can refer to the flow of particles, magnetisation, energy or information through a quantum channel, could propel advances in technologies such as nanoelectronics and thermal management. “We’re quite excited because this is, practically, a new paradigm of doing quantum transport experiments,” says Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) Fellow Dario Poletti, whose co-corresponding…

Physics & Astronomy

New Quantum Standard of Resistance Developed by German Scientists

Scientists at the University of Würzburg and the German national metrology institute (PTB) have carried out an experiment that realizes a new kind of quantum standard of resistance. It’s based on the Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect. The precise measurement of electrical resistance is essential in industrial production or electronics – for example, in the manufacture of high-tech sensors, microchips and flight controls. “Very precise measurements are essential here, as even the smallest deviations can significantly affect these complex systems”, explains…

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Caltech’s Spectral Expansion Tree Enhances Robotic Decision-Making

Caltech’s algorithm called Spectral Expansion Tree Search helps autonomous robotic systems make optimal choices on the move. In 2018, Google DeepMind’s AlphaZero program taught itself the games of chess, shogi, and Go using machine learning and a special algorithm to determine the best moves to win a game within a defined grid. Now, a team of Caltech researchers has developed an analogous algorithm for autonomous robots—a planning and decision-making control system that helps freely moving robots determine the best movements…

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