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Lead-free alternative discovered for essential electronics component

Ferroelectric materials are used in infrared cameras, medical ultrasounds, computer memory and actuators that turn electric properties into mechanical properties and vice-versa. Most of these essential materials, however, contain lead and can therefore be toxic.

“For the last 10 years, there has been a huge initiative all over the world to find that do not contain lead,” said Laurent Bellaiche, Distinguished Professor of physics at the University of Arkansas.

The atoms in a ferroelectric material can have more than one . Where two crystalline structures meet is called a phase boundary, and the properties that make ferroelectric materials useful are strongest at these boundaries.

Supercomputer simulates quantum chip in unprecedented detail

A broad association of researchers from across Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California, Berkeley have collaborated to perform an unprecedented simulation of a quantum microchip, a key step forward in perfecting the chips required for this next-generation technology. The simulation used more than 7,000 NVIDIA GPUs on the Perlmutter supercomputer at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) user facility.

Modeling quantum chips allows researchers to understand their function and performance before they’re fabricated, ensuring that they work as intended and spotting any problems that might come up. Quantum Systems Accelerator (QSA) researchers Zhi Jackie Yao and Andy Nonaka of the Applied Mathematics and Computational Research (AMCR) Division at Berkeley Lab develop electromagnetic models to simulate these chips, a key step in the process of producing better quantum hardware.

“The predicts how design decisions affect electromagnetic wave propagation in the ,” said Nonaka, “to make sure proper signal coupling occurs and avoid unwanted crosstalk.”

Cutting Arsenic in Drinking Water Slashed Deaths by 50 Percent

Lowering arsenic in drinking water can slash mortality by up to 50 percent, even for people exposed for decades.

Decades of meticulous well testing and urine monitoring show that safer wells rapidly translate into declining health risks.

Long-term evidence linking arsenic reduction to lower mortality.

Shock Discovery Reveals Sea Urchins Are Basically ‘All Brain’

Sea urchins may just look like a ball of spikes waiting to be stepped on at the tide pool, but there’s much more to these barbed beasts than just roe and teeth.

New research reveals sea urchin nervous systems are far more complex than we knew. These creatures, it turns out, possess ‘all-body brains’ and, at least in their genetic layout, they are remarkably similar to our own.

A team of scientists led by developmental biologist Periklis Paganos from Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn in Italy made the discovery while investigating metamorphosis in purple sea urchins (Paracentrotus lividus), which transform from free-swimming, planktonic larvae to the mature, spine-encrusted form we’re more familiar with.

Strange Structures Found Lurking in The Blood of People With Long COVID

A hidden physical change in the body may be helping to drive the prolonged malaise some people experience after contracting COVID-19.

Analyzing blood samples from patients with long COVID, a team of medical researchers has identified unusual microscopic structures that may contribute to symptoms such as brain fog and fatigue. If this is the case, it offers a hopeful target for future treatment.

“This study shows a robust association between biomarkers indicative of thromboinflammatory activity and long COVID,” the team writes in a paper led by geneticist Alain Thierry of Montpellier University in France.

World’s Largest ‘Modern’ Crater Found Hiding in Plain Sight in China

Nestled on a hillside in Guangdong Province near Zhaoqing City, the Jinlin crater managed to hide in plain sight until researchers identified it as an impact structure.

Only about 200 confirmed impact craters exist worldwide, making each discovery scientifically valuable.

But this one stands out for its exceptional size and youth.

Dragon Breath Uses RONINGLOADER to Disable Security Tools and Deploy Gh0st RAT

The threat actor known as Dragon Breath has been observed making use of a multi-stage loader codenamed RONINGLOADER to deliver a modified variant of a remote access trojan called Gh0st RAT.

The campaign, which is primarily aimed at Chinese-speaking users, employs trojanized NSIS installers masquerading as legitimate like Google Chrome and Microsoft Teams, according to Elastic Security Labs.

“The infection chain employs a multi-stage delivery mechanism that leverages various evasion techniques, with many redundancies aimed at neutralising endpoint security products popular in the Chinese market,” security researchers Jia Yu Chan and Salim Bitam said. “These include bringing a legitimately signed driver, deploying custom WDAC policies, and tampering with the Microsoft Defender binary through PPL [Protected Process Light] abuse.”

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