Science Daily January 30, 2020 Quantum control of complex objects in the regime of large size and mass provides opportunities for sensing applications and tests of fundamental physics. An international team of researchers (Austria, MIT) has demonstrated a quantum interface that combines optical trapping of solids with cavity-mediated light matter interaction. Precise control over the frequency and position of the trap laser with respect to the optical cavity allows laser-cooling an optically trapped nanoparticle into its quantum ground state of motion from room temperature. The cooling, in combination with optical trap manipulation, may enable otherwise unachievable superposition states involving large […]
Reducing risk, empowering resilience to disruptive global change
MIT News January 23, 2020 The MIT Joint Program on the Science of Global Change launched in 2019 its Adaptation-at-Scale initiative (AS-MIT) seeks evidence-based solutions to global change-driven risks. Using its Integrated Global System Modeling (IGSM) framework, as well as a suite of resource and infrastructure assessment models, AS-MIT targets, diagnoses, and projects changing risks to life-sustaining resources under impending societal and environmental stressors, and evaluates the effectiveness of potential risk-reduction measures. At an MIT Joint Program workshop aimed at providing decision-makers with actionable information on key global change concerns, the conference covered risks and resilience strategies for food, energy, […]
Smaller detection device effective for nuclear treaty verification, archaeology digs
Phys.org January 29, 2020 Researchers at MIT describe the Monte Carlo (MC) based design of a compact epithermal Neutron Resonance Transmission Analysis (NRTA) radiographic instrument, which uses a moderated, compact deuterium-tritium neutron source and an epithermal neutron detector. The MC simulations presented in this work demonstrate accurate time-of-flight reconstructions for transmitted neutron energies, capable of differentiating isotopic compositions of nuclear material with high levels of accuracy. A new generation of miniaturized neutron sources will allow this technique to achieve measurements with greater precision and speed, with significant impact on a variety of engineering and societal problems. The instrument would have […]
What a pair! Coupled quantum dots may offer a new way to store quantum information
Science Daily January 29, 2020 An international team of researchers (USA – NIST, University of Maryland, Japan, Canada) created weakly coupled quantum dots by using the ultrasharp tip of a scanning tunneling microscope as a stylus hovering the tip above an ultracold sheet of graphene briefly increasing the voltage of the tip penetrating through the graphene into an underlying layer of boron nitride. It stripped electrons from atomic impurities in the layer and created electric charge which corralled freely floating electrons in the graphene, confining them to a tiny energy well. When a magnetic field of 4 to 8 tesla […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of January 24, 2020
01. Computing with spins of light 02. Record-breaking terahertz laser beam 03. Printing objects that can incorporate living organisms 04. Researchers find a way to harness the entire spectrum of sunlight 05. Suspending Threats in Mid-Air: Army Laser Beam Capable of Detecting Chem-Bio Warfare Agents 06. Will the future’s super batteries be made of seawater? 07. Deep learning enables real-time imaging around corners 08. Laser diode emits deep UV light 09. A new stretchable battery can power wearable electronics 10. Coating helps electronics stay cool by sweating And others… Air pollution in New York City linked to wildfires hundreds of […]
Air pollution in New York City linked to wildfires hundreds of miles away
Science Daily January 22, 2020 Biomass burning, which occurs on a large-scale during wildfires and some controlled burns, is a major source of air pollutants that impact air quality, human health, and climate. Particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) has been shown to have particularly serious health effects when inhaled. Researchers at Yale University monitored the air quality at 5 sites in Cnnecticut and New York metropolitan area. In August of 2018, they observed two spikes in the presence of air pollutants found in the smoke of wildfires and controlled agricultural burning. Using data from […]
Coating helps electronics stay cool by sweating
EurekAlert January 22, 2020 For cooling in phones, phase change materials, such as waxes and fatty acids are used for absorbing heat produced by devices when they melt. However, the total amount of energy exchanged during the solid-liquid transition is relatively low. Researchers in China found MOFs were the most promising for absorbing moisture from the air and release water vapor when heated as they can store a large amount of water and thus take away more heat when heated. They found that MIL-101Cr coating was able to delay the temperature rise of the sheets, and the effect increased with […]
Computing with spins of light
Phys.org January 21, 2020 In the XY model of a spin system used for solving complex problems particles form vortex-like patterns around multiple focal points. An international team of researchers (Japan, USA -Stanford University) improved an experimental set up that emulates the XY model by designing a laser system that generates pulses of light particles within a one-kilometer-long optical fiber cavity. The pulses generated 5,000 spins, i.e. flows of light particles going down 5,000 different drains, within the cavity. It enabled long simulations over several minutes within a stable system. This improves on previous oscillators that produced only 100 spins […]
Deep learning enables real-time imaging around corners
Science Daily January 16, 2020 A team of researchers in the US (Stanford University, Princeton University, Southern Methodist University, Rice University) developed an imaging system which uses a commercially available camera sensor and a powerful laser source that is similar to the one found in a laser pointer. The laser beam bounces off a visible wall onto the hidden object and then back onto the wall, creating a speckle pattern that encodes the shape of the hidden object. It can distinguish submillimeter details of a hidden object from 1 meter away. The system can be combined with other imaging systems […]
Joint Call to Action on Pandemic Preparedness and Response: 7 Recommendations for Readiness
Global Biodefense January 20, 2020 The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, World Economic Forum and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have issued 7 recommendations in a joint call for action for new public-private cooperation to improve Pandemic Preparedness and Response. Recommendations have been reviewed, built upon and agreed to since first introduced at the Event 201 pandemic exercise conducted in October 2019 that featured a fictional coronavirus igniting a major pandemic and 15 global corporate and health stakeholders from key industries responding. The next severe pandemic will not only cause great illness and loss of life but could also […]