Physicists find that causal loops, where two events separated in time influence each other in paradoxical ways, are allowed in many theoretical universes, some of which share features with our own.
Time loops may not be forbidden
Posted in physics
Molecular machines that kill infectious bacteria have been taught to see their mission in a new light.
New nanoscale drills have been developed that are effective at killing bacteria. These novel molecular machines are activated by visible light and can punch holes through the cell membranes of bacteria in just two minutes. As bacteria have no natural defenses against this mechanism, it could be a useful strategy to treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The latest iteration of nanoscale drills developed at Rice University are activated by visible light rather than ultraviolet (UV), as in earlier versions. These have also proven effective at killing bacteria through tests on real infections.
Russian scientists have synthesized a new ultra-hard material containing scandium and carbon. It consists of polymerized fullerene molecules with scandium and carbon atoms inside. The work paves the way for future studies of fullerene-based ultra-hard materials, making them a potential candidate for use in photovoltaic and optical devices, elements of nanoelectronics and optoelectronics, biomedical engineering as high-performance contrast agents, etc. The research study was published in the journal Carbon.
The discovery of new, all-carbon molecules known as fullerenes almost forty years ago was a revolutionary breakthrough that paved the way for fullerene nanotechnology. Fullerenes have a spherical shape made of pentagons and hexagons that resembles a soccer ball, and a cavity within the carbon frame of fullerene molecules can accommodate a variety of atoms.
An international team consisting of Russian and German scientists has made a breakthrough in the creation of seemingly impossible materials. They have managed to create the world‘s first quantum metamaterial which can be used as a control element in superconducting electrical circuits.
Metamaterials.
Metamaterials are engineered materials that have properties not usually found in nature.
Recently, researchers have been incorporating graphene-based materials into superconducting quantum computing devices, which promise faster, more efficient computing, among other perks. Until now, however, there’s been no recorded coherence for these advanced qubits, so there’s no knowing if they’re feasible for practical quantum computing.
In a paper published today in Nature Nanotechnology, the researchers demonstrate, for the first time, a coherent qubit made from graphene and exotic materials. These materials enable the qubit to change states through voltage, much like transistors in today’s traditional computer chips — and unlike most other types of superconducting qubits. Moreover, the researchers put a number to that coherence, clocking it at 55 nanoseconds, before the qubit returns to its ground state.
The work combined expertise from co-authors William D. Oliver, a physics professor of the practice and Lincoln Laboratory Fellow whose work focuses on quantum computing systems, and Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics at MIT who researches innovations in graphene.
Meet the 10-foot-tall (3 meters) Mars Ascent Vehicle.
The 10-foot-tall (3 meters) Mars Ascent Vehicle will blast rock, sediment and atmospheric samples off Mars in the early 2030s, in the first-ever rocket launch from the surface of another planet.
System uses tiny magnetic beads to rapidly measure the position of muscles and relay that information to a bionic prosthesis.
Large language models are widely adopted in a range of natural language tasks, such as question-answering, common sense reasoning, and summarization. These models, however, have had difficulty with tasks requiring quantitative reasoning, such as resolving issues in mathematics, physics, and engineering.
Researchers find quantitative reasoning an intriguing application for language models as they put language models to the test in various ways. The ability to accurately parse a query with normal language and mathematical notation, remember pertinent formulas and constants and produce step-by-step answers requiring numerical computations and symbolic manipulation are necessary for solving mathematical and scientific problems. Therefore, scientists have believed that machine learning models will require significant improvements in model architecture and training methods to solve such reasoning problems.
A new Google research introduces Minerva, a language model that uses sequential reasoning to answer mathematical and scientific problems. Minerva resolves such problems by providing solutions incorporating numerical computations and symbolic manipulation.
The Space Force has assumed command of a new unit that will be focused on keeping an eye out for foreign threats in space, but it comes as Congress is warning the small service branch that it has to prepare to slow its growth.
Delta 18 and the brand-new National Space Intelligence Center were officially commissioned late last month at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. It will be staffed by nearly 350 civilian and military personnel.
Delta 18’s mission is to “deliver critical intelligence on threat systems, foreign intentions, and activities in the space domain to support national leaders, allies, partners and joint war fighters,” according to a press release.
North Korean-backed hackers are targeting hospitals and healthcare organizations in the U.S. with ransomware, a trio of government agencies that includes the Federal Bureau of Investigation warn in a cybersecurity alert.