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“Opposites charges attract; like charges repel” is a fundamental principle of basic physics. However, a new study from Oxford University, recently published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, has demonstrated that similarly charged particles in solution can, in fact, attract each other over long distances.

Just as surprisingly, the team found that the effect is different for positively and negatively charged particles, depending on the solvent.

Besides overturning long-held beliefs, these results have immediate implications for a range of processes that involve interparticle and intermolecular interactions across various length-scales, including self-assembly, crystallization, and phase separation.

MIT ’s breakthrough in integrating 2D materials into devices paves the way for next-generation devices with unique optical and electronic properties.

Two-dimensional materials, which are only a few atoms thick, can exhibit some incredible properties, such as the ability to carry electric charge extremely efficiently, which could boost the performance of next-generation electronic devices.

But integrating 2D materials into devices and systems like computer chips is notoriously difficult. These ultrathin structures can be damaged by conventional fabrication techniques, which often rely on the use of chemicals, high temperatures, or destructive processes like etching.

Stimulating gamma brain waves may protect cancer patients from memory impairment and other cognitive effects of chemotherapy.

Patients undergoing chemotherapy often experience cognitive effects such as memory impairment and difficulty concentrating — a condition commonly known as “chemo brain.”

MIT…


A noninvasive treatment may help to counter “chemo brain” impairment often seen in chemotherapy patients: Exposure to light and sound with a frequency of 40 hertz protected brain cells from chemotherapy-induced damage in mice, MIT researchers found.

SpaceX is gearing up for its third attempt to get its massive Starship spacecraft into orbit. In a recent update, the company hinted at a March 14 launch “pending regulatory approval.”

Meanwhile, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is already thinking many steps ahead, envisioning what’ll be like to travel on board the spacecraft all the way to Mars.

“Starship will have a small spin on the way to Mars,” Musk replied after Id Software founder John Carmack suggested SpaceX should try to spin its Dragon astronaut shuttle to test out spin gravity. “Even a tiny gravity vector is better than none.”

In fact, the Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron predicts 95% odds of “go for launch” weather conditions.

SpaceX announced the Starlink 6–43 launch is targeted for 7:05 p.m. EDT Sunday from Launch Complex 40, with backup opportunities available if needed until 11:03 p.m.

The Falcon 9 rocket will deploy another payload of 23 Starlink broadband satellites into low-Earth orbit, adding to SpaceX’s growing constellation.

Albert Einstein in discussion with ‘Zwei-Stein’ v/@phalpern Zwei-Stein (signifying ‘second Einstein’) was one of physicist Wolfgang Pauli’s more flattering nicknames.

Albert Einstein in discussion with ‘Zwei-Stein’ v/@phalpern.

Zwei-Stein (signifying ‘second Einstein’) was one of physicist Wolfgang Pauli’s more flattering nicknames photo credit: Paul Ehrenfest.


Date: Autumn 1926

Excitement about the era of Quantum Error Correction is reaching a fever pitch.


By Prof Michael J Biercuk, CEO and Founder, Q-CTRL

Excitement about the era of Quantum Error Correction (QEC) is reaching a fever pitch. This has been a topic under development for many years by academics and government agencies as QEC is a foundational concept in quantum computing.

More recently, industry roadmaps have not only openly embraced QEC, but hardware teams have also started to show convincing demonstrations that it can really be implemented to address the fundamental roadblock for quantum computing – hardware noise and error. This rapid progress has upended notions that the sector could be stagnating in so-called NISQ era, and reset expectations among observers.

Recent research challenges the long-standing understanding of the end-replication problem in DNA, revealing two distinct issues rather than one.

Half a century ago, scientists Jim Watson and Alexey Olovnikov independently realized that there was a problem with how our DNA gets copied. A quirk of linear DNA replication dictated that telomeres that protect the ends of chromosomes should have been growing shorter with each round of replication, a phenomenon known as the end-replication problem.

Telomerase: A Solution Emerges