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Category: computing – Page 45

Mechanistic understanding could enable better fast-charging batteries

Fast-charging lithium-ion batteries are ubiquitous, powering everything from cellphones and laptops to electric vehicles. They’re also notorious for overheating or catching fire.

Now, with an innovative computational model, a University of Wisconsin–Madison has gained new understanding of a phenomenon that causes lithium-ion batteries to fail.

Developed by Weiyu Li, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at UW–Madison, the model explains lithium plating, in which fast charging triggers metallic lithium to build up on the surface of a battery’s anode, causing the battery to degrade faster or catch fire.

Designer bacteria for cancer therapy

In this study, researchers engineered an attenuated strain, Designer Bacteria 1 (DB1), which efficiently survives and proliferates in tumor tissues while being cleared in normal tissues, achieving a remarkable “tumor-targeting” effect as well as “tumor-clearing” effect.

To understand how DB1 simultaneously achieves these effects, researchers investigated the interactions between the bacteria and tumors. They discovered that DB1’s antitumor efficacy is closely linked to tissue-resident memory (TRM) CD8+ T cells within the tumor, which are reinvigorated and expanded following DB1 therapy. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) plays a crucial role in mediating this effect, with efficacy depending on the high expression of interleukin-10 receptor (IL-10R) on CD8+ TRM cells.

To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the high expression of IL-10R on CD8+ TRM cells, researchers conducted a series of computational and quantitative experiments. They found that IL-10 binds to IL-10R on CD8+ TRM cells, activating the STAT3 protein and further promoting IL-10R expression. This established a positive feedback loop, enabling cells to bind more IL-10 and creating a nonlinear hysteretic effect, whereby CD8+ TRM cells “memorize” previous IL-10 stimulation during tumorigenesis. The high expression of IL-10R on CD8+ TRM cells was exploited by a bacteria-induced IL-10 surge, which activated and expanded CD8+ TRM cells to clear tumor cells.

To examine the source of IL-10 within the tumor microenvironment (TME) after bacterial therapy, researchers found that tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) upregulate IL-10 expression following DB1 stimulation via the Toll-like Receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling pathway. Interestingly, IL-10 reduced the migration speed of tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs), aiding DB1 in evading rapid clearance. These processes depended on high IL-10R expression in tumor-associated immune cells, highlighting the critical role of IL-10R hysteresis.

A research team elucidated the mechanism behind bacterial cancer therapy using a genetically engineered bacterial strain. Their findings were published in Cell.

Exploring the use of antitumor bacteria in cancer therapy dates back to the 1860s. Despite this long history, however, clinical application of bacterial-based cancer therapy has faced significant challenges in terms of safety and efficacy.

Continue reading “Designer bacteria for cancer therapy” | >

Scientists simulate ‘baby’ wormhole without rupturing space and time

Researchers have announced a groundbreaking experiment that simulated a traversable wormhole using a quantum computer. While no physical rupture in space-time was created, the study offers a significant step toward understanding Einstein-Rosen bridges, theoretical constructs first described by Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen. Published in the journal Nature, the findings represent a promising avenue for probing quantum gravity experimentally.

A Glimpse of Wormhole Dynamics

The experiment, conducted on Google’s Sycamore quantum processor, involved simulating two minuscule black holes connected by a tunnel-like space-time structure. A quantum message was transmitted between these points, and researchers observed behaviors consistent with wormhole-like dynamics. Study co-author Joseph Lykken, a physicist at Fermilab, remarked, “It looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck,” indicating the simulation closely mimicked a theoretical wormhole.

Error correction method reduces photon requirements for quantum computing

An invention from Twente improves the quality of light particles (photons) to such an extent that building quantum computers based on light becomes cheaper and more practical. The researchers published their research in the journal Physical Review Applied.

Quantum computers are at a tipping point: tech giants and governments are investing billions, but there are two fundamental obstacles: the quantity of qubits and the quality of these qubits. UT researchers have invented a component for a photonic quantum computer that exchanges quantity for quality, and have shown that this exchange yields more computing power.

“Our discovery brings a future with a lot closer. That means improved medicines, new materials and safer communications. But also applications that we cannot yet imagine today,” says lead researcher Jelmer Renema. “This technology is an essential part of any future photonic quantum computer.”

Scientists discover “Half-Ice, Half-Fire” — A new exotic phase of matter

Discovering and controlling exotic physical states is key in condensed matter physics and materials science. It has the potential to drive advancements in quantum computing and spintronics.

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While studying a ferrimagnet model, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory uncovered a new phase of matter called “half-ice, half-fire.” This state is a twin to the “half-fire, half-ice” phase discovered in 2016.

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

People living in Bronze Age-era Denmark may have been able to travel to Norway directly over the open sea, according to a study published in PLOS One by Boel Bengtsson from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and colleagues. To complete this study, the research team developed a new computer modeling tool that could help other scientists better understand how ancient peoples traversed the sea.

The Bronze Age cultures of what are now northern Denmark and southwestern Norway are quite alike, with similar artifacts, burial systems, and architecture. Cultural exchange between the two regions was likely made possible by vessels traveling along the coastlines of Scandinavia, following a 700-kilometer route across Denmark, up the coast of Sweden and back down to southwestern Norway.

However, the researchers of this new paper suggest, the cultural similarities between these two regions invite speculation that ancient people may also have traveled directly between the two sites—over more than 100 kilometers of open ocean.

Scientists unveil new way to electrically control spin for ultra-compact devices using altermagnetic quantum materials

Spintronics, an emerging field of technology, exploits the spin of electrons rather than their charge to process and store information. Spintronics could lead to faster, more power-efficient computers and memory devices. However, most spintronic systems require magnetic fields to control spin, which is challenging in ultracompact device integration due to unwanted interference between components. This new research provides a way to overcome this limitation.

As published in Materials Horizons, a research team led by the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) has introduced a novel method to control electron spin using only an . This could pave the way for the future development of ultra-compact, energy-efficient spintronic devices.

Their findings demonstrate how an emerging type of magnetic material, an altermagnetic bilayer, can host a novel mechanism called layer-spin locking, thus enabling all-electrical manipulation of spin currents at room temperature.

The Exotic Particle That Might Finally Make Quantum Computers Reliable

Scientists have developed a more stable platform for Majorana zero modes, exotic particles that could revolutionize quantum computing. Using a carefully engineered three-site Kitaev chain composed of quantum dots and superconducting links, the team achieved greater separation of MZMs, boosting th