Researchers from the University of Basel and the NCCR SPIN have achieved the first controllable interaction between two hole spin qubits in a conventional silicon transistor. The breakthrough opens up the possibility of integrating millions of these qubits on a single chip using mature manufacturing processes. The race to build a practical quantum computer is well underway. Researchers around the world are working on a huge variety of qubit technologies. So far, there is no consensus on what type of…

… solving the puzzle of stellar metal pollution. Dead stars known as white dwarfs, have a mass like the Sun while being similar in size to Earth. They are common in our galaxy, as 97% of stars are white dwarfs. As stars reach the end of their lives, their cores collapse into the dense ball of a white dwarf, making our galaxy seem like an ethereal graveyard. Despite their prevalence, the chemical makeup of these stellar remnants has been a…

Parkinson’s disease is one of the most prevalent neurodegenerative conditions. It causes motor impairments such as tremors, slow movement, muscle stiffness, and balance problems. The individual course of the disease cannot be predicted, so experts recommend close patient monitoring. New technological tools aim to facilitate communication between doctors, caregivers, and patients and improve the care situation. In the ParkProReakt project, researchers from Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft are working with partners to create a digital platform and app that, used with wearables, will track…

Precisely measuring the energy states of individual atoms has been a historical challenge for physicists due to atomic recoil. When an atom interacts with a photon, the atom “recoils” in the opposite direction, making it difficult to measure the position and momentum of the atom precisely. This recoil can have big implications for quantum sensing, which detects minute changes in parameters, for example, using changes in gravitational waves to determine the shape of the Earth or even detect dark matter….

The technique opens possibilities for exploring exotic states of matter and building new quantum materials. Proximity is key for many quantum phenomena, as interactions between atoms are stronger when the particles are close. In many quantum simulators, scientists arrange atoms as close together as possible to explore exotic states of matter and build new quantum materials. They typically do this by cooling the atoms to a stand-still, then using laser light to position the particles as close as 500 nanometers…

Research at the south pole studied the mysterious quantum structure of space and time. Einstein’s theory of general relativity explains that gravity is caused by a curvature of the directions of space and time. The most familiar manifestation of this is the Earth’s gravity, which keeps us on the ground and explains why balls fall to the floor and individuals have weight when stepping on a scale. In the field of high-energy physics, on the other hand, scientists study tiny…

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured the sharpest infrared images to date of a zoomed-in portion of one of the most distinctive objects in our skies, the Horsehead Nebula. These observations show the top of the “horse’s mane” or edge of this iconic nebula in a whole new light, capturing the region’s complexity with unprecedented spatial resolution. Webb’s new images show part of the sky in the constellation Orion (The Hunter), in the western side of a dense region…

An international team of researchers has successfully used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to map the weather on the hot gas-giant exoplanet WASP-43 b. Precise brightness measurements over a broad spectrum of mid-infrared light, combined with 3D climate models and previous observations from other telescopes, suggest the presence of thick, high clouds covering the nightside, clear skies on the dayside, and equatorial winds upwards of 5,000 miles per hour mixing atmospheric gases around the planet. The investigation is just the…

A team of international scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT, and the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) collaborated on an experiment to optimise high-intensity high-repetition rate laser technology using machine learning. The experiment represents a significant leap forward in the study, understanding, and practical application of high-intensity lasers. “Our goal was to demonstrate robust diagnosis of laser-accelerated ions and electrons from solid targets at a high intensity and repetition rate,” explains Matthew Hill of…

The TAO telescope in Chile aims to reveal origins of planets, galaxies and more. How do planets form? How do galaxies evolve? And ultimately, how did the universe itself begin? A unique astronomical observatory that researchers hope will unravel some of the biggest mysteries out there marks its opening on April 30, 2024. At an altitude of 5,640 meters, the University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO), built on the summit of a desert mountain in northern Chile, is the highest…

A four-legged robot trained with machine learning by EPFL researchers has learned to avoid falls by spontaneously switching between walking, trotting, and pronking – a milestone for roboticists as well as biologists interested in animal locomotion. With the help of a form of machine learning called deep reinforcement learning (DRL), the EPFL robot notably learned to transition from trotting to pronking – a leaping, arch-backed gait used by animals like springbok and gazelles – to navigate a challenging terrain with…

TUM professor uses ChatGPT for choreographies with flying robots. Prof. Angela Schoellig has proved that large language models can be used safely in robotics. ChatGPT develops choreographies for up to nine flying robots performing to selected music. An additional algorithm guarantees that the drones will fly safely. Prof. Angela Schoellig from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) uses ChatGPT to develop choreographies for swarms of drones to perform along to music. An additional safety filter prevents mid-air collisions. The researchers’…

Some materials are transparent to light of a certain frequency. When such light is shone on them, electrical currents can still be generated, contrary to previous assumptions. Scientists from Leipzig University and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have managed to prove this. “This opens new paradigms for constructing opto-electronic and photovoltaic devices, such as light amplifiers, sensors and solar cells,” says Inti Sodemann Villadiego, Professor at the Institute of Theoretical Physics at Leipzig University. The scientists have published their findings…

A long-awaited breakthrough opens the door to a new type of atomic clock and the investigation of fundamental questions in physics. After decades of investigation, researchers made an extraordinary quantum leap – both figuratively and literally: They have identified the exact laser frequency that excites the atomic nucleus of the element thorium-229 to make a quantum leap from one energy level to a closely adjacent one. This kind of laser nuclear excitations opens the door to new types of atomic…

Samples reveal evidence of changes experienced by the surface of asteroid Ryugu, some probably due to micrometeoroid bombardment. Analyzing samples retrieved from the asteroid Ryugu by the Japanese Space Agency’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft has revealed new insights into the magnetic and physical bombardment environment of interplanetary space. The results of the study, carried out by Professor Yuki Kimura at Hokkaido University and co-workers at 13 other institutions in Japan, are published in the journal Nature Communications. The investigations used electron waves…

Compact, low-power system opens doors for photon-efficient drone and satellite-based environmental monitoring and mapping. Researchers have developed a compact and lightweight single-photon airborne lidar system that can acquire high-resolution 3D images with a low-power laser. This advance could make single-photon lidar practical for air and space applications such as environmental monitoring, 3D terrain mapping and object identification. Single-photon lidar uses single-photon detection techniques to measure the time it takes laser pulses to travel to objects and back. It is particularly…