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Researchers at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague have made progress in the field of assistive technology with the development of a novel auditory human–machine interface using black phosphorus–based tactile sensors. Research led by Prof. Martin Pumera and Dr. Jan Vyskočil has the potential to revolutionize communication for visually or speech-disabled individuals by providing an intuitive and efficient means of conveying information.

Assistive technology that utilizes has traditionally been employed by individuals with or speech and language difficulties. In this study, the focus was on creating an auditory that utilizes audio as a platform for communication between disabled users and society. The researchers developed a piezoresistive tactile sensor using a composite of black phosphorus and polyaniline (BP@PANI) through a simple chemical oxidative polymerization process on cotton fabric.

The unique structure and superior electrical properties of black phosphorus, combined with the large surface area of the fabric, enabled the BP@PANI-based tactile sensor to exhibit exceptional sensitivity, low-pressure sensitivity, reasonable response time, and excellent cycle stability. To demonstrate the real-world application, a was created, incorporating six BP@PANI corresponding to braille characters. This device can convert pressed text into audio, aiding visually or speech-disabled individuals in reading and typing. It offers a promising solution for improving communication and accessibility for this demographic.

A former executive of Samsung Electronics stole the juggernaut’s confidential semiconductor data to build a copycat chip facility in China, South Korean prosecutors alleged on Monday.

The 65-year-old defendant, who also previously worked for Korean chipmaker SK Hynix, has been arrested. He has been accused of violating industrial technology protection laws and stealing trade secrets from 2018 to 2019 to establish a copy of Samsung’s semiconductor plant, just 1.5 kilometers away from Samsung chip factory in Xi’an, China.

The ex-Samsung exec’s attempt to build the copycat chip plant allegedly fell through after his backer, purportedly an undisclosed Taiwanese company, canceled more than a $6 billion (approximately 8 trillion won) investment into the project, prosecutors said. Instead, he received capital from investors in China and Taiwan to produce trial chip products based on Samsung’s technology.

Exploring Mitochondrial Bioenergetics, Optogenetics, Human Health And Aging — Dr. Brandon Berry, Ph.D., University of Washington.


Dr. Brandon Berry, Ph.D. (https://halo.dlmp.uw.edu/people/brandon-berry/) is a postdoctoral researcher in the Kaeberlein Laboratory at University of Washington where his research focuses on how aging and metabolism are linked.

Dr. Berry is interested in how mitochondria, the powerhouses of cells, contribute to and modulate functional decline that occurs during aging, and he is involved in using novel tools, like optogenetics, to precisely control mitochondria and metabolism with light. Through these types of experiments, he can more precisely determine if mitochondrial dysfunction is a cause or a consequence of metabolic aging and may reveal new ways to understand and impact health.

Researchers at Scripps Research have discovered that chronic alcohol consumption can increase sensitivity to pain through two distinct molecular mechanisms: one related to alcohol intake and the other to alcohol withdrawal. This finding, published in the British Journal of Pharmacology, sheds light on the intricate relationship between alcohol and pain.

The researchers sought to better understand the relationship between chronic pain and alcohol use disorder. They wanted to investigate the underlying causes of different types of alcohol-related pain, such as alcoholic neuropathy and allodynia, and how they develop at the spinal cord level. The researchers aimed to examine the role of microglia, immune cells in the central nervous system, in the development of chronic alcohol-induced allodynia and neuropathy.

Alcoholic neuropathy refers to nerve damage caused by long-term excessive alcohol consumption. It is a type of peripheral neuropathy that affects the peripheral nerves, which are responsible for transmitting signals between the brain, spinal cord, and the rest of the body.

The transition to renewable energy, critical for the world’s future, is limited today by energy storage and transmission challenges. Beaming solar power from space is an elegant solution that […] promises a remarkable payoff for humanity: a world powered by uninterruptible renewable energy.


The California Institute of Technology reports the first successful beaming of solar energy from space down to a receiver on the ground, via the MAPLE instrument on its SSPD-1 spacecraft.

Space-based solar power. Credit: Caltech.

A team led by Prof. Guo Guangcan from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) provides a comprehensive overview of the progress achieved in the field of quantum teleportation. The team, which includes Prof. Hu Xiaomin, Prof. Guo Yu, Prof. Liu Biheng, and Prof. Li Chuanfeng from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), CAS, was invited to publish a review paper on quantum teleportation in Nature Review Physics.

As one of the most important protocols in the field of quantum information, has attracted great attention since it was proposed in 1993. Through entanglement distribution and Bell-state measurement, quantum teleportation enables the nonlocal transmission of an unknown quantum state, which has deepened the understanding of quantum entanglement. More importantly, quantum teleportation can effectively overcome the distance limitation of direct transmission of quantum states in quantum communication, as well as realize long-range interactions between different quantum bits in .

The team has been at the forefront of experimental studies on high-dimensional quantum teleportation and quantum networks. Their notable achievements include the successful preparation of the world’s highest fidelity 32-dimensional quantum entanglement, the effective transmission of high-dimensional entanglement over 11 kilometers of optical fiber, and the development of efficient techniques for quantum entanglement detection. They have also made significant progress in areas such as high-dimensional quantum dense coding, high-dimensional quantum guidance, and high-dimensional quantum .

Varda Space Industries aims to kickstart a new era of mass production of pharmaceuticals and other materials from Earth’s orbit.

A California-based startup co-founded by a SpaceX veteran, Varda Space Industries, announced it has successfully deployed its first satellite, W-Series 1, in orbit.

The company aims to kickstart the mass production of materials in space that either can’t be produced on Earth or are developed faster and with higher quality in microgravity conditions.

It has 19 cores which can each carry a signal and can be adopted without any infrastructure changes.

An international collaboration of researchers has achieved a new speed record after transferring 1.7 petabits of data over 41 miles (67 km) of standard optical fiber cable. That’s the equivalent speed of 17 million broadband internet connections.

Optical fiber cables are a critical component of the modern world of the internet, where they connect data centers, satellite ground stations, mobile phone towers as well as continents to one another.