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Category: electronics – Page 20

An architecture for sub-picowatt logic computing based on self-biased molybdenum disulfide transistors

The continuous improvement of circuits and electronic components is vital for the development of new technologies with enhanced capabilities and unique characteristics. In recent years, most electronics engineers have been specifically focusing on reducing the size of transistors, while retaining a low power consumption.

Researchers at University of Science and Technology Beijing recently introduced a new pseudo-CMOS architecture based on self-biased molybdenum disulfide transistors. This architecture, outlined in Nature Electronics, could be used to create highly performing inverters, gate circuits, and other device components.

“The development of integrated circuits (ICs) for efficient computing with low power is a global hot topic and a focus of international competition in cutting-edge fields,” Zheng Zhang, co-author of the paper, told Tech Xplore.

Beyond cute: What tardigrades can teach us about life and death

Tardigrades are often considered the most endearing invertebrates, akin to the capybara of their realm, yet their significance surpasses mere charm.

This year, researchers from Harvard Medical School, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, discovered that when the tardigrades are under stress, their bodies produce unstable free radicals of oxygen and an unpaired electron.

When the amino acid cysteine, which is used in protein production, comes into contact with these oxygen-free radicals, it becomes oxidized, triggering a signal that tells the tardigrade when it’s time to enter into the tun. When the researchers prevented the free radicals from reacting with cysteine, the tardigrades couldn’t enter tun, meaning the cysteine is likely a key to all tardigrades’ survival strategies.

Study co-author Leslie Hicks told New Scientist that, “Cysteine acts like a kind of regulatory sensor. It allows tardigrades to feel their environment and react to stress.”

A new solution for energy transfer to heart pumps mitigates infection

Roughly 1 in 2 wearers of ventricular assist devices are diagnosed with an infection. The reason for this is the thick cable for the power supply. ETH Zurich researchers have now developed a solution to mitigate this problem.

For many patients waiting for a , the only way to live a decent life is with the help of a pump attached directly to their heart. This pump requires about as much power as a TV, which it draws from an external battery via a seven-millimeter-thick cable. The system is handy and reliable, but it has one big flaw: Despite , the point at which the cable exits the abdomen can be breached by bacteria.

ETH Zurich researcher and engineer Andreas Kourouklis is working to soon make this problem a thing of the past. With the support of ETH Zurich Professor Edoardo Mazza and physicians from the German Heart Center in Berlin, Kourouklis has developed a new cable system for heart pumps that doesn’t cause infections. The findings are published in the journal Biomaterials Advances.

Organic semiconductors with proton-hopping promise

Chemists at RIKEN have developed a method for making synthetic derivatives of the natural dye indigo that doesn’t require harsh conditions. This discovery could inspire advances in electronic devices, including light-responsive gadgets and stretchy biomedical sensors.

Semiconductors based on organic molecules are attracting much interest because—unlike conventional rigid semiconductors based on silicon—they could be flexible, ductile and lightweight, opening up new possibilities for designing semiconductor devices.

Organic molecules also have the advantage of realizing a broad range of structures. “Organic semiconductors have flexibility in molecular design, enabling them to adopt new functionalities,” says Keisuke Tajima of the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science, who led the research.

This new sensor is ‘1M times’ more sensitive in detecting lead in water

A new type of ultra-sensitive sensor has been made to detect incredibly low levels of lead ions in water. This advanced sensor may pave the way for developing next-generation water quality monitoring systems.

What distinguishes the sensor is its capacity to detect lead ions at concentrations as low as one femtomole per liter of water, demonstrating an incredibly high degree of sensitivity.

According to the University of California, San Diego experts, this range is “one million times” more sensitive than any known sensing technologies for water contamination monitoring.

Apple Vision Pro teardown reveals the secrets of its mixed-reality magic

Apple’s latest gadget, the Apple Vision Pro, is a mixed-reality headset that promises to immerse users in a new dimension of spatial computing. But what makes this device so special, and how does it work?

To find out, the folks at iFixit did what they do best: they took it apart. In their usual fashion, they documented the process in a video and an article, giving us a glimpse of the inner workings of Apple’s most advanced hardware ever.

The teardown was challenging, as the Apple Vision Pro is complex and delicate. It took a lot of heat, tools, and patience to pry open the front glass, which revealed a maze of wires, sensors, and displays.