Jena research team develops AI tool that translates chemical structures into machine-readable codes. Researchers from the University of Jena, the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences and the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague have developed a platform that uses artificial neural networks to translate chemical structural formulae into machine-readable form. With this platform, they have created a tool with which this information from scientific publications can be automatically fed into databases. Until now, this had to be done literally by…

With this new approach, a tailsitter aircraft, ideal for search-and-rescue missions, can plan and execute complex, high-speed acrobatic maneuvers. A tailsitter is a fixed-wing aircraft that takes off and lands vertically (it sits on its tail on the landing pad), and then tilts horizontally for forward flight. Faster and more efficient than quadcopter drones, these versatile aircraft can fly over a large area like an airplane but also hover like a helicopter, making them well-suited for tasks like search-and-rescue or…

Researchers from Austria and USA have designed a new type of quantum computer that uses fermionic atoms to simulate complex physical systems. The processor uses programmable neutral atom arrays and is capable of simulating fermionic models in a hardware-efficient manner using fermionic gates. The team led by Peter Zoller demonstrated how the new quantum processor can efficiently simulate fermionic models from quantum chemistry and particle physics. Fermionic atoms are atoms that obey the Pauli exclusion principle, which means that no…

Airborne computing platform would improve drone communication. A University of Texas at Arlington researcher is constructing an open-networked airborne computing platform to enable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to help first responders better coordinate their efforts during emergency or disaster responses. UT Arlington also is developing a universal plug-in hardware unit that can fit into any UAV to allow for this computing platform to be used. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is funding the research through a $1.8 million grant to…

Using the Fraunhofer Versatile Video Decoder (VVdeC), Electronic Team, Inc. has introduced H.266/VVC Codec support to its popular Elmedia Player. The free media player for macOS is the first to natively support the playback of video encoded with the most recent and most efficient video coding standard Versatile Video Coding (VVC). VVdeC was developed at the “Video Communication and Applications” department of Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institut (HHI). Fraunhofer HHI and Electronic Team, Inc. successfully collaborated to implement native support for the H.266/VVC…

The dynamic interplay where high-performance computing meets biophysical exploration, pushing the frontiers of knowledge and catalyzing a new era of unprecedented discoveries in biology. In a recently published article featured on the cover of the Biophysical Journal, Dr. Rafael Bernardi, assistant professor of biophysics at the Department of Physics at Auburn University, and Dr. Marcelo Melo, a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Bernardi’s group, shed light on the transformative capabilities of the next generation of supercomputers in reshaping the landscape of…

As a manned spacecraft operating in orbit for a long time, a space station embodies a country’s scientific and technological strength comprehensively. China’s manned space project was approved in 1992 with a 3-step strategic plan, and building a space station is the final goal of this plan. In September 2010, China’s manned space station project was officially established. After 11 years of unremitting efforts, on 2021 April 29, the Tianhe core module was successfully launched into orbit by the carrier…

In a recent Science paper, researchers led by JILA and NIST Fellow Jun Ye, along with collaborators JILA and NIST Fellow David Nesbitt, scientists from the University of Nevada, Reno, and Harvard University, observed novel ergodicity-breaking in C60, a highly symmetric molecule composed of 60 carbon atoms arranged on the vertices of a “soccer ball” pattern (with 20 hexagon faces and 12 pentagon faces). Their results revealed ergodicity breaking in the rotations of C60. Remarkably, they found that this ergodicity breaking occurs…

Timothy Gray of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory led a study that may have revealed an unexpected change in the shape of an atomic nucleus. The surprise finding could affect our understanding of what holds nuclei together, how protons and neutrons interact and how elements form. “We used radioactive beams of excited sodium-32 nuclei to test our understanding of nuclear shapes far from stability and found an unexpected result that raises questions about how nuclear shapes evolve,”…

Research team including NOIRLab astronomer identify highly unusual star that may evolve into a magnetar — the most magnetic object in the known Universe. Neutron stars, the compact remains of a massive star following a supernova explosion, are the densest matter in the Universe. Some neutron stars, known as magnetars, also claim the record for the strongest magnetic fields of any object. How magnetars, which are a mere 15 kilometers across, form and produce such colossal magnetic fields remains a mystery. New observations…

Physicists confirm 67-year-old prediction of massless, neutral composite particle. In 1956, theoretical physicist David Pines predicted that electrons in a solid can do something strange. While they normally have a mass and an electric charge, Pines asserted that they can combine to form a composite particle that is massless, neutral, and does not interact with light. He called this particle a “demon.” Since then, it has been speculated to play an important role in the behaviors of a wide variety…

Researchers from the Department of Physics at Universität Hamburg, observed a quantum state that was theoretically predicted more than 50 years ago by Japanese theoreticians but so far eluded detection. By tailoring an artificial atom on the surface of a superconductor, the researchers succeeded in pairing the electrons of the so-called quantum dot, thereby inducing the smallest possible version of a superconductor. The work appears in the latest issue of the journal “Nature”. Usually electrons repel each other due to…

The behavior of drops on surfaces is of interest for a variety of applications. However, properties such as velocity, friction or shape on inclined surfaces depend on a large number of parameters – their behavior is still not completely predictable by theories. Researchers led by Hans-Jürgen Butt of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research have now tackled this problem and developed a simple phenomenological model that allows them to accurately predict the path of a drop. Whether it’s an…

Among the many hazards encountered by space probes, exposure to radiation and huge temperature swings pose particular challenges for their electronic circuits. Now KAUST researchers have invented the first ever flash memory device made from gallium oxide, a material that can withstand these harsh conditions far better than conventional electronics[1]. Gallium oxide is a semiconductor — although it is usually a poor conductor of electricity, incorporating certain impurities can enable it to carry an electrical current. It offers many advantages…

A new study led by Vinod M. Menon and his group at the City College of New York shows that trapping light inside magnetic materials may dramatically enhance their intrinsic properties. Strong optical responses of magnets are important for the development of magnetic lasers and magneto-optical memory devices, as well as for emerging quantum transduction applications. In their new article in Nature, Menon and his team report the properties of a layered magnet that hosts strongly bound excitons — quasiparticles…

New study captures behavior of interacting electrons that give rise to insulating states, addressing a key unsolved puzzle in the field. A Princeton University-led team of scientists has imaged the precise microscopic underpinnings responsible for many quantum phases observed in a material known as magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG). This remarkable material, which consists of twisted layers of carbon atoms arranged in a two-dimensional hexagonal pattern, has in recent years been at the forefront of research in physics, especially in…