TechXplore October 26, 2020 Machine learning optimizes flexible models to predict data. In scientific applications, there is a rising interest in interpreting these flexible models to derive hypotheses from data. Researchers from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory tested this connection using a flexible, yet intrinsically interpretable framework for modelling neural dynamics. Many models discovered during optimization predict data equally well, yet they fail to match the correct hypothesis. They developed an alternative approach that identifies models with correct interpretation by comparing model features across data samples to separate true features from noise. Their results reveal that good predictions cannot substitute for […]
Infrared light antenna powers molecular motor
EurekAlert October 28, 2020 Light-controlled molecular motors can be used to create functional materials, to provide autonomous motion or in systems that can respond on command. An international team of researchers (the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany) designed a rotary motor that is efficiently powered by near-infrared light, through adding an antenna to the motor molecule. Through a covalent bond, the motor molecule was linked to an ‘antenna’, which can absorb two near-infrared photons. The resulting excitation of the antenna is then passed on to the motor part of the molecule. For the system to work, the energy levels of the antenna […]
An innovative modelling approach to more accurately predict COVID-19 outbreaks
EurekAlert October 26, 2020 Researchers at Leigh University, working under an NIH funded program, have developed a new approach that uses computational models based on data, in concert with human judgement, to produce more accurate forecasts of COVID-19 outbreaks. According to the researchers their approach has the potential to forecast outbreaks more accurately than current ensemble predictions because it incorporates computational models trained on formatted datasets and predictions from humans who have access to unstructured data. They will also model possible interventions by collecting probabilistic predictions from experts on optimal interventions to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S., […]
Keep Focus on Emerging Infections, Disease X: Analysts
Global Biodefense October 24, 2020 According to the latest G-Finder report, compiled by global health think tank Policy Cures Research despite rapid growth of global spending to tackle emerging infectious diseases, which largely impact the developing world, much of the basic research and development takes place in industrial countries. Funding is very much driven by epidemics. It does not square with a forward-looking approach. According to the researchers will never be prepared for the next pandemic if we only invest in R&D targeting diseases grabbing headlines at the time. US share of overall emerging infectious disease research funding was 85 […]
The Lithium-Ion Battery With Built-In Fire Suppression
IEEE Spectrum October 22, 2020 To make lithium-ion batteries lighter, safer and more efficient a team of researchers in the US (Stanford University, SALC National Accelerators Laboratory) redesigned current conductors, thin metal foils that distribute current to and from electrodes, by replacing the all-copper conductor middle, with a layer of lightweight polymer coated in ultrathin copper and embedded fire retardant in the polymer layer to quench flames. The polymer makes the current collector 80 percent lighter, leading to an increase in energy density from 16 to 26 percent. Whenever the battery has combustion issues, the fire retardant embedded inside the […]
Physicists circumvent centuries-old theory to cancel magnetic fields
Phys.org October 28, 2020 Controlling magnetism, essential for a wide range of technologies, is impaired by the impossibility of generating a maximum of magnetic field in free space. An international team of researchers (Spain, Italy, UK) circumvented the limits to shape magnetic fields by creating a device comprised of a careful arrangement of electrical wires. This creates additional fields that counter act the effects of the unwanted magnetic field. While a similar effect has been achieved at much higher frequencies, this team has achieved the same at low frequencies and static fields—such as biological frequencies—which will unlock a host of useful […]
A Quantum Tango between Magnons and Phonons
American Physical Society October 26, 2020 A magnon polaron, hybridized state of a phonon and a magnon, can be formed at the intersection of the magnon and phonon dispersions, where their frequencies coincide. However, the weak interaction of magnons and phonons and their short lifetimes jeopardize the strong coupling required for the formation of a hybridized state. An international team of researchers (Germany, Russia, Ukraine, UK) overcame these limitations by spatial matching of magnons and phonons in a metallic ferromagnet with a nanoscale periodic surface pattern. The spatial overlap results in a high coupling strength which, in combination with their […]
Single-atom alloy: Superb cocatalyst for photocatalysis
Phys.org October 28, 2020 While surface charge state of co-catalysts plays a critical role for boosting photocatalysis, the study on surface charge regulation via their precise structure control, remains rare. Researchers in China have fabricated an MOF-stabilized bimetallic Pd-Pt nanoparticles which feature adjustable Pt coordination environment and the controlled structure from core-shell to single-atom alloy (SAA). They found that Pt surface charge regulation can be alternatively achieved by changing its coordination environment and the structure of Pd-Pt co-catalyst, where the charge between Pd and Pt is redistributed. The optimized Pd-Pt composite exhibits an exceptionally high photocatalytic hydrogen production activity, far […]
Tailoring 2D materials to improve electronic and optical devices
Science Daily October 27, 2020 By altering the material in two different ways — atomically and physically — a team of researchers in the US (Pennsylvania, State University, MIT, Texas A&M University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Rutgers University) was able to enhance light emission and increase signal strength, expanding the bounds of what is possible with devices that rely on these materials. In order to strengthen the coupling, the researchers created a new type of 2D material known as Janus transition metal dichalcogenides by replacing atoms on one side of the layer with a different type of atoms, creating uneven […]
Topological states caught in the act
Nanowerk October 23, 2020 Topological insulators do not conduct electricity in their bulk but channel it along their surface through edge modes. The edge modes can be destroyed only through the use of force. This topological property makes such materials promising candidates in future quantum devices when combined with Floquet engineering. An international team of researchers (USA – SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, The Flatiron Institute, Spain, Germany, Switzerland) has demonstrated that short corkscrew laser flashes can be used to track these short-lived states. In their earlier work the researchers had demonstrated how to make use of circular dichroism […]