Press release information of School of Science, the University of Tokyo.
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RIKEN launches international initiative with Fujitsu and NVIDIA for “FugakuNEXT” development
Quasicrystals (QCs) are fascinating solid materials that exhibit an intriguing atomic arrangement. Unlike regular crystals, in which atomic arrangements have an ordered repeating pattern, QCs display long-range atomic order that is not periodic. Due to this ‘quasiperiodic’ nature, QCs have unconventional symmetries that are absent in conventional crystals. Since their Nobel Prize-winning discovery, condensed matter physics researchers have dedicated immense attention towards QCs, attempting to both realize their unique quasiperiodic magnetic order and their possible applications in spintronics and magnetic refrigeration.
Although theoreticians have long expected the establishment of antiferromagnetism in select QCs, it has yet to be directly observed. Experimentally, most magnetic iQCs exhibit spin-glass-like freezing behavior, with no sign of long-range magnetic order, leading researchers to question whether antiferromagnetism is even compatible with quasiperiodicity — until now.
In a groundbreaking study, a research team has finally discovered antiferromagnetism in a real QC. The team was led by Ryuji Tamura from the Department of Materials Science and Technology at Tokyo University of Science (TUS), along with Takaki Abe, also from TUS, Taku J. Sato from Tohoku University, and Max Avdeev from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and The University of Sydney. Their study was published in the journal Nature Physics on April 11, 2025.
Quasicrystals are intriguing materials with long-range atomic order that lack periodicity. It has been a longstanding question whether antiferromagnetism, while commonly found in regular crystals, is even possible in quasicrystals. In a new study, researchers have finally answered this question, providing the first definitive neutron diffraction evidence of antiferromagnetism in a real icosahedral quasicrystal. This discovery opens a new research area of quasiperiodic antiferromagnets, with potential applications in spintronics.
Thermodynamic computing system for AI applications
Recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms have highlighted the need for alternative computing hardware in order to truly unlock the potential for AI. Physics-based hardware, such as thermodynamic computing, has the potential to provide a fast, low-power means to accelerate AI primitives, especially generative AI and probabilistic AI. In this work, we present a small-scale thermodynamic computer, which we call the stochastic processing unit. This device is composed of RLC circuits, as unit cells, on a printed circuit board, with 8 unit cells that are all-to-all coupled via switched capacitances. It can be used for either sampling or linear algebra primitives, and we demonstrate Gaussian sampling and matrix inversion on our hardware. The latter represents a thermodynamic linear algebra experiment. We envision that this hardware, when scaled up in size, will have significant impact on accelerating various probabilistic AI applications.
#Repost Nature Publishing
Current digital hardware struggles with high computational demands in applications such as probabilistic AI. Here, authors present a small-scale thermodynamic computer composed of eight RLC circuits, demonstrating Gaussian sampling and matrix inversion, suggesting potential speed and energy efficiency advantages over digital GPUs.
New Graphene Technology Matures Brain Organoids Faster, May Unlock Neurodegenerative Insights
Researchers from University of California San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute have developed a novel method to stimulate and mature human brain organoids using graphene, a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon. Published in Nature Communications, the study introduces Graphene-Mediated Optical Stimulation (GraMOS), a safe, non-genetic, biocompatible, non-damaging way to influence neural activity over days to weeks. The approach accelerates brain organoid development — especially important for modeling age-related conditions like Alzheimer’s disease — and even allows them to control robotic devices in real time.
“This is a game-changer for brain research,” said Alysson Muotri, Ph.D., corresponding author, professor of pediatrics, and director of the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute Integrated Space Stem Cell Orbital Research Center. “We can now speed up brain organoid maturation without altering their genetic code, opening doors for disease research, brain–machine interfaces and other systems combining living brain cells with technology.”
[SCRUBBED] Watch the largest and most powerful rocket launch live! Starship Flight 10
[TIME SUBJECT TO CHANGE] Liftoff NET 6:30 p.m. central [23:30 UTC] — One hour launch windowSpaceX is launching the 10th full stack Starship with its Super He…
How to Spot (and Fix) 5 Common Performance Bottlenecks in pandas Workflows
Slow data loads, memory-intensive joins, and long-running operations—these are problems every Python practitioner has faced. They waste valuable time and make iterating on your ideas harder than it should be.
This post walks through five common pandas bottlenecks, how to recognize them, and some workarounds you can try on CPU with a few tweaks to your code—plus a GPU-powered drop-in accelerator, cudf.pandas, that delivers order-of-magnitude speedups with no code changes.
Don’t have a GPU on your machine? No problem—you can use cudf.pandas for free in Google Colab, where GPUs are available and the library comes pre-installed.
World’s first spinal cord transplant to take place in Israel, could allow patients to walk again
According to the World Health Organization, over 15 million people worldwide are living with spinal cord injuries, with the majority resulting from traumatic causes such as falls, road traffic accidents, and violence.
Currently, spinal cord injuries cannot be fully cured, so treatment focuses on stabilizing the patient, preventing further damage, and maximizing function. Emergency care often involves immobilizing the spine, reducing inflammation, and sometimes performing surgery to repair fractures or relieve pressure.
Rehabilitation includes physical and occupational therapy, as well as assistive devices like wheelchairs and braces. While experimental therapies—including stem cells and robotic devices—are being explored, no treatment yet reliably restores full spinal cord function.
Spinal cord injuries are one of the few human injuries where the body cannot naturally heal itself, and the tissue is both structurally complex and extremely sensitive.
“The spinal cord transmits electrical signals from the brain to all parts of the body. When it is severed by trauma—such as a car accident, a fall, or a combat injury—the chain is broken. Think of an electrical cable that has been cut: when the two ends no longer touch, the signal cannot pass, and the patient remains paralyzed below the injury,” explained Professor Tal Dvir, head of the Sagol Center for Regenerative Biotechnology and the Nanotechnology Center at Tel Aviv University, who is leading the effort. Dvir is also the chief scientist at Matricelf, the Israeli biotech company commercializing the technology.
Tel Aviv University announced on Wednesday that the surgery will take place in Israel, marking a historic milestone in regenerative medicine.
UPDATE: SpaceX Starship’s Historic 10th Flight Test | Launch, Landing, & Reentry Countdown
Join us LIVE for SpaceX’s Starship 10th Flight Test, streaming as soon as Sunday, August 24, 2025.This mission marks a major step forward following the Flight 9 investigation and Ship 36 static fire anomaly. Engineers have introduced critical hardware and operational upgrades to improve performance and reliability. For this flight, the Super Heavy Booster will conduct multiple experimental maneuvers, including: Landing burn tests to refine precision booster recovery Payload deployment trials to validate orbital operations Reentry experiments advancing Starship’s long-term reusability.
#SpaceX #Starship #StarshipFlight10 #ElonMusk #SpaceXLIVE #SuperHeavy #StarshipLaunch.
Credit: spacex.
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