Science Daily October 24, 2018 Researchers in Canada have developed a new class of lubricant-infused surfaces that offer tunable bioactivity together with omniphobic properties by integrating biofunctional domains into the lubricant-infused layer. They created surfaces highly tunable that bind to particular antibodies while repelling nonspecific adhesion of undesirable proteins and cells not only in buffer but also in human plasma or human whole blood to demonstrate how it is beneficial in biomedical implants. The method creates biofunctional, nonstick surfaces that can be used to optimize the performance of devices such as biomedical implants, extracorporeal circuits, and biosensors… read more. TECHNICAL […]
Author Archives: Hema Viswanath
Quantum Technologies Flagship kicks off with first 20 projects
Europa.eu October 29, 2018 The Flagship will fund over 5,000 of Europe’s leading quantum technologies researchers over the next ten years and aims to place Europe at the forefront of the second quantum revolution. Its long-term vision is to develop in Europe a so-called quantum web, where quantum computers, simulators and sensors are interconnected via quantum communication networks. The Flagship will initially fund 20 projects , with a total of €132 million via the Horizon 2020 programme , and from 2021 onwards it is expected to fund a further 130 projects. Its total budget is expected to reach €1 billion, providing […]
New composite material that can cool itself down under extreme temperatures
Science Daily October 26, 2018 Researchers in the UK used a network of multiple microchannels with active flowing fluids as a method and proof of concept to develop a thermally-functional material made of a synthetic polymer. Through modulating volumetric flow rates, they manipulated fluid-material interface for heat transport within a microfluidic platform. The material is enhanced with precise control measures that can switch conductive states to manage its own temperature in relationship to its environment. The research will result in an advanced material that can absorb high solar radiation, as the human body can do, to cool itself autonomously whatever […]
Multi-functional quantum bits for future computers
Eurekalert October 29, 2018 Researchers in Germany are working on Scalable Rare Earth Ion Quantum Computing Nodes (SQUARE) within the framework of the Quantum Technology Flagship funded by the European Commission. SQUARE is aimed at establishing rare earth ions that can be addressed separately as basic building blocks for scalable quantum technologies. In particular, it is planned to demonstrate functional elements of a multi-qubit quantum register that can be read out optically and to realize building blocks of a quantum network. Their work was presented at a recent conference in Germany… read more.
Light-bending tech shrinks kilometers-long radiation system to millimeter scale
Phys.org October 26, 2018 A team of researchers in the US (University of Michigan, Purdue University) used a laser to produce a pulse of visible light that lasts for one trillionth of a second. The array of antennae causes the light pulse to accelerate along a curved trajectory inside the crystal. The light pulse displaced electrons from their equilibrium positions to create dipole moments which accelerated along the curved trajectory of the light pulse resulting in the emission of synchrotron radiation much more efficiently at the terahertz range. The work demonstrates that synchrotron radiation could eventually help develop on-chip terahertz […]
How to mass produce cell-sized robots
MIT News October 23, 2018 Researchers at MIT developed a method for controlling the natural fracturing process of atomically-thin, brittle materials, directing the fracture lines so that they produce miniscule pockets of a predictable size and shape. Embedded inside these pockets are electronic circuits and materials that can collect, record, and output data. The system uses graphene, which forms the outer structure of the tiny syncells. Tiny dots of a polymer material, containing the electronics for the devices, are deposited by an inkjet printer. Syncells has potential for use in industrial or biomedical monitoring… read more. Video TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Feynman’s ratchet is built at last using 19 optical tweezers
Physics World October 26, 2018 “Feynman’s ratchet” is a microscopic heat engine that converts thermal fluctuations into work when connected to two heat sources at different temperatures. It is a way of showing how the second law of thermodynamics cannot be violated. Until now no-one has built such a tiny ratchet because of significant technical challenges that include how to prevent convection from washing out thermal fluctuations. An international team of researchers (USA – Purdue University, University of Maryland, China) has built a ratchet using a 780 nm-diameter ball of silicon dioxide confined to a 1D optical trap set up […]
Entangled Photons Sneak through Hole Unscathed
American Physical Society Focus October 26, 2018 An international team of researchers (Austria, Australia, Spain, Italy) has demonstrated that quantum entanglement can be symmetry protected in the interaction with a single subwavelength plasmonic nanoaperture. By using specially engineered two-photon states to match the properties of the nanoaperture they demonstrated that two-photon entanglement can be either completely preserved or completely lost after the interaction with the nanoaperture, solely depending on the relative phase between the quantum states. The work should help in finding ways to keep delicate quantum information from being destroyed in future nanoscale chips… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
China Wants More Nuclear-Armed Submarines. Should Everyone Be Worried?
Carnegie-Tsinghua October 22, 2018 According to open-source research , China currently has fewer than 300 nuclear warheads and feels that the credibility of its existing nuclear deterrent is not strong enough. China’s main goal is not to significantly increase its number of nuclear weapons. Instead, arm certain submarines with nuclear warheads. The plan is to diversify the structure of its nuclear force and to make sure that each category of nuclear weapons would be as survivable as possible… read more. Related article: Tides of Change: China’s Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarines and Strategic Stability
Artificial intelligence controls quantum computers
Science Daily October 25, 2018 Researchers in Germany show how a network-based “agent” can discover complete quantum-error-correction strategies, protecting a collection of qubits against noise. These strategies require feedback adapted to measurement outcomes. To find strategies without human intervention they developed two-stage learning with teacher and student networks and a reward quantifying the capability to recover the quantum information stored in a multiqubit system. Beyond its immediate impact on quantum computation, the work more generally demonstrates the promise of neural-network-based reinforcement learning in physics… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE