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Category: computing – Page 133

Quantum scars boost electron transport and drive the development of microchips

Quantum physics often reveals phenomena that defy common sense. A new theory of quantum scarring deepens our understanding of the connection between the quantum world and classical mechanics, sheds light on earlier findings and marks a step forward toward future technological applications.

Quantum mechanics describes the behavior of matter and energy at microscopic scales, where randomness seems to prevail. Yet even within seemingly chaotic systems, hidden order may lie beneath the surface. Quantum scars are one such example: they are regions where prefer to travel along specific pathways instead of spreading out uniformly.

Researchers at Tampere University and Harvard University previously demonstrated in their article published in “Quantum Lissajous Scars” that quantum scars can form strong, distinctive patterns in nanostructures, and that their shapes can even be controlled. Now, the Quantum Control and Dynamics research group at Tampere University’s Physics Unit is taking these findings further. In their new article, the researchers report that quantum scars significantly enhance electron transport in open quantum dots connected to electrodes. The work is published in the journal Physical Review B.

Steam will stop running on Windows 32-bit in January 2026

Valve has announced that its Steam digital distribution service will drop support for 32-bit versions of Windows starting January 2026.

Two years earlier, in January 2024, Steam also dropped support for Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1, recommending users to upgrade to a newer operating system.

Although Steam will soon stop running on Windows 10 32-bit (the only 32-bit Windows version still supported), it will continue to be supported on Windows 10 64-bit, and 32-bit games will remain playable.

‘Rhythm beats volume’: How the brain keeps the world looking familiar

The brain is famously plastic: Neurons’ ability to change their behavior in response to new stimuli is what makes learning possible. And even neurons’ response to the same stimuli changes over time—a phenomenon known as representational drift. Yet our day-to-day perception of the world is relatively stable. How so?

Resolving such puzzles matters for future brain-computer interfaces, sensory prostheses and therapies for neurological disease. On a quest for an answer, Rice University scientists have built ultraflexible probes thousands of times thinner than a and used them to track neurons in the visual cortex of mice for 15 consecutive days as the animals viewed thousands of images—from line patterns to pictures of the natural world.

The devices, called nanoelectronic threads (NETs), embed seamlessly with , allowing for high-fidelity chronic recordings of .

Chemists create light-switchable magnets that remain active for hours

A research team from the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague) and the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague) has created and described a new type of photoswitch. The molecule, a thienyl-based acylhydrazone, undergoes an unprecedented “closed-to-open-shell” transformation, where light converts it into a stable diradical.

While previously published lifetimes of such triplet states are a few milliseconds, this ’s switched state has a half-life of over six hours. This revolutionary innovation opens the way for optimizing , developing new and spintronic devices, and targeted elimination of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. The work is published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry C.

Photoswitches are molecules that change between two states under the influence of light. This new switch is unique because it transitions from a stable, non-magnetic (closed-shell) state to an exceptionally long-lived magnetic (open-shell triplet) state. In this triplet state, two electrons have parallel spins, making the molecule paramagnetic and highly reactive. This state is crucial for many photochemical processes, including the generation of .

‘Like talking on the telephone’: Quantum computing engineers get atoms chatting long distance

UNSW engineers have made a significant advance in quantum computing: they created ‘quantum entangled states’—where two separate particles become so deeply linked they no longer behave independently—using the spins of two atomic nuclei. Such states of entanglement are the key resource that gives quantum computers their edge over conventional ones.

The research is published in the journal Science, and is an important step toward building large-scale quantum computers—one of the most exciting scientific and technological challenges of the 21st century.

Lead author Dr. Holly Stemp says the achievement unlocks the potential to build the future microchips needed for quantum computing using existing technology and manufacturing processes.

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