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TOKYO — Japan issued its first warning Thursday about the possibility of a long-feared “megaquake” after a powerful 7.1-magnitude temblor struck off its southern coast, sparking a tsunami advisory but no immediate reports of serious damage or injuries.

The earthquake occurred off the coast of Miyazaki Prefecture on the main island of Kyushu at 4:42 p.m. local time (3:42 a.m. ET), at a depth of about 18 miles, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Three people were reported injured, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said, although he added that there had been no blackouts or damage to the water or communications systems reported in the region. Police in Miyazaki Prefecture said there had been 10 reports of damage. Hayashi urged residents to stay away from the coastline.

Researchers at TMOS, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems, and their collaborators at RMIT University have developed a new 2D quantum sensing chip using hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) that can simultaneously detect temperature anomalies and magnetic field in any direction in a new, groundbreaking thin-film format.

In a paper released in Nature Communications (“Multi-species optically addressable spin defects in a van der Waals material”), they detail a sensor that is significantly thinner than current quantum technology for magnetometry, paving the way for cheaper, more versatile quantum sensors.

Experimental set-up of hBN quantum sennsor. (Image: RMIT University)

Is it possible to live to 120? Yes, according to the burgeoning field of longevity science. Over twelve weeks, reporter Darren Mara puts his own body to the test to find out if aging really is a thing of the past.

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As the Pentagon makes a push toward scaling production of autonomous systems and weapons, Anduril Industries is accelerating its own manufacturing capabilities through a new software-based production hub called Arsenal.

The California-based defense technology company announced Wednesday it will build the first Arsenal facility in the U.S., using funding from a recent $1.5 billion Series F investment round. Chris Brose, Anduril’s chief strategy officer, told reporters the firm’s goal is to consolidate manufacturing in order to “hyperscale” production across its product lines, including uncrewed combat drones and autonomous underwater vehicles.

“When we say hyperscale, we mean the ability to produce tens of thousands of a given system,” he said in a briefing. “This is the target that we’re setting for ourselves right now.”

Metalens is a kind of optical metasurface composed of metaatoms for manipulating incoming light’s amplitude, phase, and polarization. Unlike traditional refractive lenses, metalens can modulate the wavefront from plane to spherical at an interface. It has garnered widespread attention due to its novel physical properties and promising potential applications.