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Blog – Page 14

In the quest to take the “forever” out of “forever chemicals,” bacteria might be our ally. Most remediation of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) involves adsorbing and trapping them, but certain microbes can actually break apart the strong chemical bonds that allow these chemicals to persist for so long in the environment.

Now, a University at Buffalo-led team has identified a strain of bacteria that can break down and transform at least three types of PFAS, and perhaps even more crucially, some of the toxic byproducts of the bond-breaking process.

Published in this month’s issue of Science of the Total Environment, the team’s study found that Labrys portucalensis F11 (F11) metabolized over 90% of perfluorooctane (PFOS) following an exposure period of 100 days. PFOS is one of the most frequently detected and persistent types of PFAS and was designated hazardous by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last year.

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Chirality refers to objects that cannot be superimposed onto their mirror images through any combination of rotations or translations, much like the distinct left and right hands of a human. In chiral crystals, the spatial arrangement of atoms confers a specific “handedness,” which—for example—influences their optical and electrical properties.

A Hamburg-Oxford team has focused on so-called antiferro-chirals, a type of non-chiral crystal reminiscent of antiferro-magnetic materials, in which anti-align in a staggered pattern leading to a vanishing net magnetization. An antiferro-chiral crystal is composed of equivalent amounts of left-and right-handed substructures in a unit cell, rendering it overall non-chiral.

The research team, led by Andrea Cavalleri of the Max-Planck-Institut for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, used light to lift this balance in the non-chiral material boron phosphate (BPO4), in this way inducing finite chirality on an ultrafast time scale.

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Quantum computers have the potential of outperforming classical computers on some optimization tasks. Yet scaling up quantum computers leveraging existing fabrication processes while also maintaining good performances and energy-efficiencies has so far proved challenging, which in turn limits their widespread adoption.

Researchers at Quantum Motion in London recently demonstrated the integration of 1,024 independent silicon quantum dots with on-chip digital and analog electronics, to produce a quantum computing system that can operate at extremely low temperatures. This system, outlined in a paper published in Nature Electronics, links properties of devices at with those observed at room temperature, opening new possibilities for the development of silicon qubit-based technologies.

“As grow in complexity, new challenges arise such as the management of device variability and the interface with supporting electronics,” Edward J. Thomas, Virginia N. Ciriano-Tejel and their colleagues wrote in their paper.

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While entangled photons hold incredible promise for quantum computing and communications, they have a major inherent disadvantage. After one use, they simply disappear.

In a new study, Northwestern University physicists propose a new strategy to maintain communications in a constantly changing, unpredictable quantum network. By rebuilding these disappearing connections, the researchers found the network eventually settles into a stable—albeit different—state.

The key resides in adding a sufficient number of connections to ensure the network continues to function, the researchers found. Adding too many connections comes with a high cost, overburdening the resources. But adding too few connections results in a fragmented network that cannot satisfy the user demand.

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The vast majority of photoresins for 3D printing (also referred to as additive manufacturing or AM) and related technologies are toxic, non-biodegradable, and sourced from unsustainable feedstocks. Non-traditional approaches to 3D printing offer a way to break free of the traditional confines of unsustainable petroleum-based reagents and chemical methods that require toxic monomers.

A recent collaboration between the University of Wisconsin’s Prof. AJ Boydston (Department of Chemistry) and Prof. Audrey Girard (Department of Food Science) has accomplished the first demonstration of via denaturation (AMPD).

The paper is published in the journal Green Chemistry.

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Perovskite solar cells are attracting attention as next-generation solar cells. These cells have high efficiency, are flexible, and can be printed, among other features. However, lead was initially used in their manufacture, and its toxicity has become an environmental issue.

Therefore, a method for replacing lead with tin, which has a low environmental impact, has been proposed. Nevertheless, tin is easily oxidized; consequently, the efficiency and durability of tin are lower than those of lead perovskite solar cells.

To improve the durability of tin perovskite by suppressing tin oxidation, a method that introduces large organic cations into tin perovskite crystals to form a two-dimensional layered structure called Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) tin-based perovskites has been proposed. However, the internal state of this structure and the mechanism by which it improves performance have not been fully elucidated.

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Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have created a new thermometer using atoms boosted to such high energy levels that they are a thousand times larger than normal. By monitoring how these giant “Rydberg” atoms interact with heat in their environment, researchers can measure temperature with remarkable accuracy. The thermometer’s sensitivity could improve temperature measurements in fields ranging from quantum research to industrial manufacturing.

Unlike traditional thermometers, a Rydberg doesn’t need to be first adjusted or calibrated at the factory because it relies inherently on the basic principles of quantum physics. These fundamental quantum principles yield that are also directly traceable to international standards.

“We’re essentially creating a thermometer that can provide accurate temperature readings without the usual calibrations that current thermometers require,” said NIST postdoctoral researcher Noah Schlossberger.

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Polarization is a key parameter in light–matter interactions and is consequently closely linked to light manipulation, detection, and analysis. Terahertz (THz) waves, characterized by their broad bandwidth and long wavelength, pose significant challenges to efficient polarization control with existing technologies. Here, we leverage the mesoscale wavelength characteristics of THz waves and employ a mirror-coupled total internal reflection structure to mechanically modulate the phase difference between p-and s-waves by up to 289°. By incorporating a liquid crystal phase shifter to provide adaptive phase compensation, dispersion is eliminated across a broad bandwidth. We demonstrate active switching of orthogonal linear polarizations and handedness-selective quarter-wave conversions in the 1.6–3.4 THz range, achieving an average degree of linear/circular polarization exceeding 0.996. Furthermore, arbitrary polarization at any center frequency is achieved with a fractional bandwidth exceeding 90%. This customizable-bandwidth and multifunctional device offers an accurate and universal polarization control solution for various THz systems, paving the way for numerous polarization-sensitive applications.

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Quantum entanglement contains important information about quantum systems, but its calculation is challenging. Here the authors develop a quantum Monte Carlo technique for full tomography on microscopic subregions of a system, enabling extraction of multipartite quantum entanglement in large scale models.

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Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have identified a groundbreaking new superconducting material. By combining iron, nickel, and zirconium in specific ratios, they synthesized a novel transition metal zirconide, with varying proportions of iron and nickel.

While pure iron zirconide and nickel zirconide do not exhibit superconductivity, the new mixtures demonstrate superconducting properties, forming a “dome-shaped” phase diagram characteristic of unconventional superconductors. This finding represents a significant step forward in the search for high-temperature superconducting materials that could have widespread applications.

Superconductors are already integral to advanced technologies, such as superconducting magnets in medical imaging devices, maglev trains, and power transmission cables. However, current superconductors require cooling to extremely low temperatures, typically around 4 Kelvin, which limits their practicality. Researchers are focused on discovering materials that achieve zero electrical resistance at higher temperatures, especially near the critical threshold of 77 Kelvin, where liquid nitrogen can replace liquid helium as a coolant—making the technology more accessible and cost-effective.

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