In a breakthrough that could help revolutionize wireless communication, researchers unveiled a novel method for manipulating terahertz waves, allowing them to curve around obstacles instead of being blocked by them. While cellular networks and Wi-Fi systems are more advanced than ever, they are also quickly reaching their bandwidth limits. Scientists know that in the near future they’ll need to transition to much higher communication frequencies than what current systems rely on, but before that can happen there are a number…

… and reduces their energy consumption by up to 25 percent. Smaller batch sizes instead of mass production, more complex production lines, increasing competitive pressure, unstable supply chains: Against this background, the Franco-German research project GreenBotAI addresses robotics. Three main objectives are in focus – ensuring production continuity even in pandemic times, strengthening Europe’s independence in production automation, and significantly reducing the energy consumption of robot applications in European factories. Robotics can be that simple and efficient: controlled by 2D…

​Researchers using Murriyang, CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope, have detected unusual radio pulses from a previously dormant star with a powerful magnetic field. ​New results published today in Nature Astronomy describe radio signals from magnetar XTE J1810-197 behaving in complex ways. ​Magnetars are a type of neutron star and the strongest magnets in the Universe. At roughly 8,000 light years away, this magnetar is also the closest known to Earth. ​Most are known to emit polarised light, though the light this…

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…

Researchers from the University of Portsmouth’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (ICG) have helped to detect a remarkable gravitational-wave signal, which could hold the key to solving a cosmic mystery. The discovery is from the latest set of results announced today (5 April) by the LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA collaboration, which comprises more than 1,600 scientists from around the world, including members of the ICG, that seeks to detect gravitational waves and use them for exploration of fundamentals of science. In May 2023,…

New research traces the fates of stars living near the Milky Way’s central black hole. Despite their ancient ages, some stars orbiting the Milky Way’s central supermassive black hole appear deceptively youthful. But unlike humans, who might appear rejuvenated from a fresh round of collagen injections, these stars look young for a much darker reason. They ate their neighbors. This is just one of the more peculiar findings from new Northwestern University research. Using a new model, astrophysicists traced the…

Fraunhofer IAF achieves record output power with VECSEL for quantum frequency converters. The expansion of fiber optics is progressing worldwide, which not only increases the bandwidth of conventional Internet connections, but also brings closer the realization of a global quantum Internet. The quantum internet can help to fully exploit the potential of certain technologies. These include much more powerful quantum computing through the linking of quantum processors and registers, more secure communication through quantum key distribution or more precise time…

An international team including researchers from the University of Würzburg has succeeded in creating a special state of superconductivity. This discovery could advance the development of quantum computers. Superconductors are materials that can conduct electricity without electrical resistance – making them the ideal base material for electronic components in MRI machines, magnetic levitation trains and even particle accelerators. However, conventional superconductors are easily disturbed by magnetism. An international group of researchers has now succeeded in building a hybrid device consisting…

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF have developed a very compact spectrometer module. It maps spectra from 39 optical fibers onto one camera sensor in a small space. This is made possible by a special micro-optical system. The technology, which has potential for applications in quality assurance and analytics, will be presented at analytica trade fair in Munich from April 9 to 12. The fiber-coupled microspectrometer array maps 39 spectra onto a CMOS sensor….

Kapitza-Dirac effect used to show temporal evolution of electron waves. One of the most fundamental interactions in physics is that of electrons and light. In an experiment at Goethe University Frankfurt, scientists have now managed to observe what is known as the Kapitza-Dirac effect for the first time in full temporal resolution. This effect was first postulated over 90 years ago, but only now are its finest details coming to light. Reinhard Dörner (von links), Markus Schöffler, Sina Jacob, Maksim…

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…

Windows welcome light into interior spaces, but they also bring in unwanted heat. A new window coating blocks heat-generating ultraviolet and infrared light and lets through visible light, regardless of the sun’s angle. The coating can be incorporated onto existing windows or automobiles and can reduce air-conditioning cooling costs by more than one-third in hot climates. “The angle between the sunshine and your window is always changing,” said Tengfei Luo, the Dorini Family Professor for Energy Studies at the University…

An innovative mirror design revolutionizes ultra-intense ultrashort laser focus, enabling the highest intensity condition for ultra-intense ultrashort lasers, a breakthrough in strong-field laser physics. Ultra-intense ultrashort lasers are powerful tools used in various fields like physics, national security, industry, and healthcare. They help researchers delve into strong-field laser physics, laser-driven radiation sources, particle acceleration, and more. “Peak power” measures the intensity of these lasers, like the Nova laser (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, USA) with 1.5 petawatts of peak power,…

Researchers at TU Darmstadt present new approaches to a problem of statistical physics. Whether bacteria in search of food or microrobots that automatically collect toxins or waste, again and again this is a problem in statistical physics that has not yet been clarified satisfactorily: how does an “agent” have to move in order to collect randomly distributed targets as skilfully as possible? Researchers at TU Darmstadt have now presented an approach in the renowned journal Proceedings of the National Academy…

EIC project passes Critical Decision 3A (CD-3A), official OK to procure key components for building state-of-the-art collider. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Under Secretary for Science and Innovation has approved Critical Decision 3A (CD-3A) for the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), a state-of-the-art particle collider for nuclear physics research that will be located at DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and built in partnership with DOE’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab). This milestone gives the project the formal go-ahead to purchase “long-lead procurements”…

Outer space has never before seemed so close, with spaceflight hovering within reach. To enhance the competitiveness of European space transportation systems, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT are developing innovative manufacturing technologies for rocket components in the ENLIGHTEN project. The researchers will be presenting their results at the Hannover Messe (Hall 2, Booth B24) from April 22 to 26, 2024. Min-Uh Ko and his team at Fraunhofer ILT have set their sights on nothing less than…