MIT News April 4, 2023 High-throughput screening of hypothetical metal-organic framework databases can uncover new materials, but their stability in real-world applications is often unknown. Researchers at MIT leveraged community knowledge and machine learning models to identify MOFs that are thermally stable and stable upon activation. They separated the MOFs into their building blocks and recombined them to make a new hypothetical MOF database of over 50,000 structures with orders of magnitude more connectivity nets and inorganic building blocks than were present in prior databases. This database showed a 10-fold enrichment of ultrastable MOF structures that were stable upon activation […]
“Spatial computing” enables flexible working memory
MIT News March 30, 2023 Working memory allows us to remember and selectively control a limited set of items. Neural evidence suggests that working memory is achieved by interactions between bursts of beta and gamma oscillations. However, it is not clear how oscillations, reflecting coherent activity of millions of neurons, can selectively control individual working memory items. An international team of researchers (Sweden, USA – MIT, Cornell University, Princeton University, Germany) has proposed the novel concept of spatial computing where beta and gamma interactions causing item-specific activity flow spatially across the network during a task. This way, control-related information such […]
Using green energy for electrochemical corrosion protection
Phys.org April 4, 2023 Researchers in China developed a melamine foam (MF) /MXene/Ecoflex@TiO2-TENG (FME@TiO2-TENG) based on the composite dielectric MF/MXene/Ecoflex@TiO2 (FME@TiO2) after comprehensively considering charge generation, transport, trapping, and dissipation. Evenly dispersed MXene exhibited strong electronegativity, electrical conductivity, and a formation of many micro-capacitances, which are advantageous for surface charge generation, transfer, and retention in the composite dielectric FME@TiO2. They designed a cathodic protection system to demonstrate its application potential in electrochemistry. The results showed that the FME@TiO2-TENG could be used as an independent power source to provide electrochemical cathodic protection. According to the researchers their work provides guidance for […]
Using quantum fluctuations to generate random numbers faster
Phys.org April 5, 2023 A popular approach to generating quantum random numbers is to use the quantum vacuum state. While convenient, this approach has been generally limited in speed compared to other schemes. Through custom codesign of optoelectronic integrated circuits and side-information reduction by digital filtering, an international team of researchers (Belgium, Denmark, Italy) experimentally demonstrated an ultrafast generation rate of 100 Gbit/s, setting a record for vacuum-based quantum random number generation by one order of magnitude. Their experimental demonstrations were well supported by an upgraded device-dependent framework that was secured against both classical and quantum side information and that […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of March 31, 2023
01. Carbon fiber paper for longer-lasting electric vehicle batteries 02. Improved chip-scale color conversion lasers could enable many next-generation quantum devices 03. Listen up, material! 04. New additives could turn concrete into an effective carbon sink 05. New experiment translates quantum information between technologies in an important step for the quantum internet 06. New microchip links two Nobel Prize-winning techniques 07. Optical switching at record speeds opens door for ultrafast, light-based electronics and computers 08. Photosynthesis ‘hack’ could lead to new ways of generating renewable energy 09. Storing information with spins: Creating new structured spin states with spatially structured polarized […]
Carbon fiber paper for longer-lasting electric vehicle batteries
Nanowerk March 27, 2023 Researchers in South Korea have designed and constructed a hierarchical surface on carbon fiber (CF) using binders in fabricated CF paper (CFP). The lightweight CF with high mechanical properties established a 3D network structure as an alternative to Cu foil. The binders were transformed into oxygen-containing amorphous carbon and sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) using a low-temperature carbonization process which to uniform Li nucleation and a stable solid electrolyte interphase layer with inorganic components. In tests CFP with amorphous carbon and Na2CO3 (ANCFP) showed a low Li nucleation overpotential and smooth dendrite-free Li plating. The ANCFP electrode exhibited […]
Deceptive daisy’s ability to create fake flies explained
Science Daily March 23, 2023 Gene co-option, the redeployment of an existing gene in an unrelated developmental context, is an important mechanism underlying the evolution of morphological novelty. In most cases novel traits emerged by co-option of a single gene or genetic network. An international team of researchers (UK, South Africa) has shown that the integration of multiple co-opted genetic elements facilitated the rapid evolution of complex petal spots that mimic female bee-fly pollinators in the sexually deceptive South African daisy. They explained that co-option of iron homeostasis genes altered petal spot pigmentation, producing a color similar to that of […]
Improved chip-scale color conversion lasers could enable many next-generation quantum devices
Phys.org March 28, 2023 Optical parametric oscillators are widely used to generate coherent light at frequencies not accessible by conventional laser gain. However, chip-based parametric oscillators operating in the visible spectrum have suffered from pump-to-signal conversion efficiencies typically less than 0.1%. A team of researchers in the US (NIST, University of Maryland) demonstrated efficient optical parametric oscillators based on silicon nitride photonics that address frequencies between 260 and 510 THz. Pumping silicon nitride microrings near 385 THz yielded monochromatic signal and idler waves with unprecedented output powers in this wavelength range. They estimated on-chip output powers (separately for the signal […]
Listen up, material!
Nanowerk March 27, 2023 Physical reservoir computing is a computational paradigm that enables spatiotemporal pattern recognition to be performed directly in matter. The use of physical matter leads the way toward energy-efficient devices capable of solving machine learning problems without having to build a system of millions of interconnected neurons. An international team of researchers (Germany, Belgium) proposed a high-performance “skyrmion mixture reservoir” that implemented the reservoir computing model with multidimensional inputs. This implementation solved spoken digit classification tasks with an overall model accuracy of 97.4% and a < 1% word error rate. According to the researchers due to the quality of […]
New additives could turn concrete into an effective carbon sink
MIT News March 28, 2023 According to the researchers at MIT one potential option to move towards the 2050 carbon neutrality goal is the direct gaseous sequestration and storage of anthropogenic CO2 in concrete through forced carbonate mineralization in both the cementing minerals and their aggregates. They investigated the underlying mechanisms and chemomechanics of cement carbonation over time scales ranging from the first few hours to several days using bicarbonate-substituted alite as a model system. They showed that the carbonation of transient disordered calcium hydroxide particles at the hydration site led to the formation of a series of calcium carbonate […]