Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: computing – Page 292

ALMA Observations show how Double, Triple, Quadruple and Quintuple Star Systems Form Simultaneously in a Molecular Cloud

For humans, the chance of giving birth to multiples is less than 2%. The situation is different with stars, especially with particularly heavy stars. Astronomers observe stars that are many times heavier than the sun in more than 80% of cases in double or multiple systems. The key question is whether they were also born as multiples, or whether stars are born alone and approach each other over time.

Multiple births have long been the norm for massive stars. At least on the computer, because in theoretical simulations huge clouds of gas and dust tend to collapse and form multiple systems of massive stars. These simulations depict a hierarchical process in which larger cloud portions contract to form denser cores, and where smaller regions within those “parent cores” collapse to form the separate stars: massive stars, but also numerous less massive stars.

And astronomers do indeed find a wealth of fully formed multiple star systems, especially stars that weigh many times more than the sun. However, this does not yet prove that multiple systems with massive stars are already forming in the primordial cloud, as predicted by simulations.

Nanoscale Power Plants: Turning Heat Into Power With Graphene Ribbons

Quantum physicist Mickael Perrin uses graphene ribbons to build nanoscale power plants that turn waste heat from electrical equipment into electricity.

When Mickael Perrin started out on his scientific career 12 years ago, he had no way of knowing he was conducting research in an area that would be attracting wide public interest only a few years later: quantum electronics.

“At the time, physicists were just starting to talk about the potential of quantum technologies and quantum computers,” he recalls. “Today there are dozens of start-ups in this area, and governments and companies are investing billions in developing the technology further. We are now seeing the first applications in computer science, cryptography, communications, and sensors.”

Shaping the dawn of the quantum age

Electrons that spin to the right and the left at the same time. Particles that change their states together, even though they are separated by enormous distances. Intriguing phenomena like these are completely commonplace in the world of quantum physics. Researchers at the TUM Garching campus are using them to build quantum computers, high-sensitivity sensors and the internet of the future.

“We cool the chip down to only a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero—colder than in outer space,” says Rudolf Gross, Professor of Technical Physics and Scientific Director of the Walther Meissner Institute (WMI) at the Garching research campus. He’s standing in front of a delicate-looking device with gold-colored disks connected by cables: The cooling system for a special chip that utilizes the bizarre laws of .

For about twenty years now, researchers at WMI have been working on quantum computers, a technology based on a scientific revolution that occurred 100 years ago when quantum physics introduced a new way of looking at physics. Today it serves as the foundation for a “new era of technology,” as Prof. Gross calls it.

A Moving Target for Quantum Advantage

Researchers have used quantum computers to solve difficult physics problems. But claims of a quantum “advantage” must wait as ever-improving algorithms boost the performance of classical computers.

Quantum computers have plenty of potential as tools for carrying out complex calculations. But exactly when their abilities will surpass those of their classical counterparts is an ongoing debate. Recently, a 127-qubit quantum computer was used to calculate the dynamics of an array of tiny magnets, or spins—a problem that would take an unfathomably long time to solve exactly with a classical computer [1]. The team behind the feat showed that their quantum computation was more accurate than nonexact classical simulations using state-of-the-art approximation methods. But these methods represented only a small handful of those available to classical-computing researchers. Now Joseph Tindall and his colleagues at the Flatiron Institute in New York show that a classical computer using an algorithm based on a so-called tensor network can produce highly accurate solutions to the spin problem with relative ease [2].

Nobel laureate to build rapid-fire laser-powered nuclear fusion reactor by 2030

Nakamura, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for his pioneering work on the development of blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs), believes that his company can harness their semiconductor expertise to create a secure pathway for achieving nuclear fusion and transforming it into a commercially viable venture.

The precise details of the approach remain undisclosed as Blue Laser Fusion currently has a pending patent.

However, Nakamura is confident in the feasibility of constructing rapid-fire lasers and envisions the establishment of a one-gigawatt generating reactor in either Japan or the US by the end of the decade. Prior to that milestone, the company intends to construct a small-scale experimental plant in Japan before the conclusion of the next year, as reported by Nikkei.

Flying microchips the size of sand are tracking air data. Watch them fly

This microchip is the size of a grain of sand, and its job is to track data.

Inspired by nature, the latest microchip can dissolve and fly.

About the size of a grain of sand, the chips might be the smallest artificial flying structures yet built — gadgets that could one-day monitor air pollution and the spread of airborne diseases.

Why it matters: Size matters and sometimes smaller is better. With the microfliers, their small size is advantageous as it allows them to float like pollen or seeds, collecting environmental data on their tiny microchips along the way. Wireless transmitters can send the data to scientists before the chips land.

Researchers grow a twisted multilayer crystal structure for next-gen materials

Researchers with the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University and the DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) have grown a twisted multilayer crystal structure for the first time and measured the structure’s key properties. The twisted structure could help researchers develop next-generation materials for solar cells, quantum computers, lasers and other devices.

“This structure is something that we have not seen before—it was a huge surprise to me,” said Yi Cui, a professor at Stanford and SLAC and co-author of a paper published in Science describing the work. “A new quantum electronic property could appear within this three-layer twisted structure in future experiments.”

Framework Laptop 16 review: the Franken-notebook

The Framework Laptop 16 is the most customizable laptop we’ve ever seen, with tons of input and port options, and the promise of upgradable graphics. It has a bright screen and solid battery life, but it’s expensive, and you could get something with more performance for the price.

Framework introduces replaceable graphics for the first time, along with customizable keyboards and other accessories.

Innovative silicon nanochip can reprogram biological tissue in living body

Year 2021 Biocomputing is the future for the biological singularity because we could control all inputs and outputs of our bodies even evolve them eventually.

A silicon device that can change skin tissue into blood vessels and nerve cells has advanced from prototype to standardized fabrication, meaning it can now be made in a consistent, reproducible way. As reported in Nature Protocols, this work, developed by researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine, takes the device one step closer to potential use as a treatment for people with a variety of health concerns.

The technology, called tissue nanotransfection, is a non-invasive nanochip device that can reprogram tissue function by applying a harmless electric spark to deliver specific genes in a fraction of a second. In laboratory studies, the device successfully converted into to repair a badly injured leg. The technology is currently being used to reprogram tissue for different kinds of therapies, such as repairing caused by stroke or preventing and reversing nerve damage caused by diabetes.

“This report on how to exactly produce these tissue nanotransfection chips will enable other researchers to participate in this new development in ,” said Chandan Sen, director of the Indiana Center for Regenerative Medicine and Engineering, associate vice president for research and Distinguished Professor at the IU School of Medicine.

/* */