Eurekalert November 5, 2019 Researchers in South Africa review the progress being made in using structured light in quantum protocols to create a larger encoding alphabet, stronger security and better resistance to noise. Since patterns of light can be distinguished from each other, they can be used as a form of alphabet. Its information capacity is much higher than polarized light and security is stronger, and the robustness to noise is improved. It turns out that many protocols can be efficiently implemented withotterns of light. Unfortunately, the toolkit to manage these patterns is still underdeveloped and requires a lot of […]
Suspended layers make a special superconductor
Phys.org November 5, 2019 Researchers in the Netherlands created a suspended double layer of molybdenum disulfide with an ionic liquid on both sides that can be used to create an electric field across the bilayer. In the individual monolayer, such a field will be asymmetric, with positive ions on one side and negative charges induced on the other. However, in the bilayer, they could have the same amount of charge induced at both monolayers, creating a symmetrical system. The electric field that was thus created could be used to switch superconductivity on and off. This means that a superconducting transistor […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of November 1, 2019
01. MIT engineers develop a new way to remove carbon dioxide from air 02. Researchers create blueprint for ‘quantum battery’ that doesn’t lose charge 03. Structured light promises path to faster, more secure communications 04. Study shows ability to detect light from UV to the IR optical regimes using spin currents 05. Scientists Built an ‘Artificial Leaf’ That Uses Sunlight to Produce Clean Synthetic Fuel 06. System provides cooling with no electricity 07. Giving valleytronics a boost 08. Removing human bias from predictive modeling 09. An electronic signal expands the material by a factor of 100 10. Climate engineering: International […]
Climate engineering: International meeting reveals tensions
Science Daily October 28, 2019 The “hidden politics” of climate engineering were partially revealed earlier this year at the fourth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-4), when Switzerland proposed a resolution on geoengineering governance. According to a team of researchers in the US (UC Santa Cruz, American University) there are several areas of concern, including: Disagreement among countries about the current state and strength of SRM governance, The domination of research by North American and European scientists, The need to “decouple” governance of SRM and CDR and a significant split between the United States and the European Union over the “precautionary […]
Detector that stops lateral phishing attacks
Science Daily October 29, 2019 Lateral phishing is a phishing email comes from an internal account within the organization. Vast majority of email security systems can’t stop it. According to the FBI data these cyberattacks caused more than $12 billion in losses between 2013-2018. And in the last two years, the attacks have resulted in an increase of 136 percent in losses. A team of researchers in the US (Columbia University, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, industry) has developed a prototype of a machine-learning based detector that automatically detects and stops lateral phishing attacks. They analyzed a dataset of 113 […]
An electronic signal expands the material by a factor of 100
EurekAlert October 29, 2019 Materials, such as solids and gels, that change volume depending on temperature or pH have long been available. An international team of researchers (Sweden, UK) placed a conducting polymer with a thickness of a few micrometres around an electrically conducting carbon fibre. When electrical pulses with magnitudes of +0.5 V or +0.8 V are applied, the material changes its internal structure, then absorbs water and is finally converted to a gel that expands to 14 or 120 times the original volume. When pulses of magnitude +/- 0.5 V are repeatedly applied, the material expands by approximately […]
Four Big Factors Shaping the Future of Data Science
Inside Big Data October 26, 2019 As the field grows four trends emerge, shaping data science in the next five years: Accelerate The Full Data Science Life-Cycle – The new concept of data science automation goes beyond machine learning automation, including data preparation, feature engineering, machine learning, and the production of full data science pipelines; Leverage Existing Resources for Democratization – The shortage of data scientists has created a challenge for anyone implementing AI and ML initiatives, forcing a closer look at how to build and leverage data science resources; Augment Insights for Greater Transparency – Increased regulatory oversight like […]
Giving valleytronics a boost
Science Daily October 28, 2019 Development of valleytronics requires stable valley states and easy identification of the valley indices. An international team of researchers (USA- UC Riverside, Japan, Taiwan) have shown that dark excitons and trions in monolayer WSe2 have much longer lifetime and better valley stability than the common bright excitons and trions, therefore, serve as excellent candidates for valleytronic applications. Until now no method could read the valley indices of the dark excitons and trions because their light emission from either valley has exactly the same energy and polarization, making the two valleys indistinguishable from each other. They […]
How Dust Could Have Brought About The Collapse of a Once Mighty Empire
Science Alert October 28, 2019 New research by an international team of researchers (Japan, Germany) suggests that the Akkadian Empire, based around the city of Akkad in ancient Mesopotamia, may have been brought low by a more unusual cause: dust storms. Fossil samples are windows in time showing that variations in climate significantly contributed to the empire’s decline. Meteorological conditions together, and a harsh environment for growing crops appears, one that most likely lead to civil unrest and societal collapse. All of which means a greater insight not just into the past, but into the changing climate conditions today. Just […]
MIT engineers develop a new way to remove carbon dioxide from air
MIT News October 24, 2019 Most methods of removing carbon dioxide from a stream of gas require higher concentrations, such as emissions from fossil fuel-based power plants. Researchers at MIT have designed a battery with stack of electrodes coated with polyanthraquinone, which is composited with carbon nanotubes. The electrodes have a natural affinity for carbon dioxide and readily react with its molecules in the airstream or feed gas, even when it is present at very low concentration. The battery absorbs carbon dioxide passing over its electrodes as it is being charged up, and then releases pure carbon dioxide as it […]