Nanowerk October 31, 2019 A team of researchers at the Arizona State University describes techniques for affixing the DNA polymerase to electrodes to generate strong conductance signals by means of two specialized binding chemicals biotin and streptavidin. When one electrode was functionalized using this technique, small conductance spikes were generated as the DNA polymerase successively bound and released each nucleotide, like a grasping hand catching and releasing a baseball. When both electrodes were outfitted with streptavidin and biotin, much stronger conductance signals, measuring 3-5 times as large, were observed. The new method hopes to take a different approach, using the […]
Rarely Seen Gravity Waves Captured Rippling in Earth’s Atmosphere
Science Alert October 28, 2019 Gravity waves, also known as buoyancy waves, are a physical phenomenon where waves are generated in any fluid medium, such as waves at the beach, or ripples in a glass of water. They also take place in gases, like our atmosphere, and are called gravity waves because gravity is the force that restores equilibrium. In the atmosphere, they are generally created by obstructions to airflow, such as mountain ranges (on Venus, this creates enormous atmospheric waves), and by collisions between air masses of different temperatures. The latter is what caused the waves over Western Australia. […]
Removing human bias from predictive modeling
Phys.org October 30, 2019 Predictive modeling is increasingly being employed to assist human decision-makers. However, there is growing recognition that employing algorithms does not remove the potential for bias and can even amplify it if the training data were generated by a process that is itself biased. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania propose a method to eliminate bias from predictive models by removing all information regarding protected variables from the data to which the models will ultimately be trained. Motivated by models currently in use in the criminal justice system that inform decisions on pre-trial release and parole, they […]
Researchers create blueprint for ‘quantum battery’ that doesn’t lose charge
Phys.org October 25, 2019 Researchers in Canada have provided a theoretical demonstration that creating a loss-free quantum battery is possible—offering an advantage over previously proposed quantum batteries. To realize their idea, the team considered an open quantum network model with high structural symmetry as a platform for storing excitonic energy. Using this model, they showed it is possible to store energy without any loss, despite being open to an environment. The key is to prepare this quantum network in a dark state when the network cannot exchange energy with its environment, the system becomes immune to all environmental influences. The […]
Scientists Built an ‘Artificial Leaf’ That Uses Sunlight to Produce Clean Synthetic Fuel
Science Alert October 26, 2019 Researchers in the UK have developed a leaf that mimics the photosynthesis as in plants, combining incoming light, water and carbon dioxide with perovskite as a catalyst which produces hydrogen and carbon monoxide to make syngas. According to the researchers, while the efficiency of the machine is low now, it should be possible to improve that with the unique combination of materials and catalysts. This technology is not limited for use in warm countries, or only operating the process during the summer months. It can be used from dawn until dusk, anywhere in the world. […]
Structured light promises path to faster, more secure communications
Science Daily October 29, 2019 Researchers in South Africa review the recent progress in the emergence of a second quantum revolution ushering in control of quantum states, outlining the core concepts in a tutorial manner before delving into the advances made in creation, manipulation, and detection of such quantum states. They cover advances in using orbital angular momentum as well as vectoral states that are hybrid entangled, combining spatial modes with polarization to form an infinite set of two-dimensional spaces: multidimensional entanglement. The authors highlight the work in pushing the boundaries in both the dimension and the photon number, before […]
Study shows ability to detect light from UV to the IR optical regimes using spin currents
EurekAlert October 29, 2019 The spin Seebek effect (SSE) is one of three known ways to generate spin current. The SSE occurs when a thermal gradient is created across a material and, depending on how it is measured, results in an electrical potential. As the spin Seebeck effect is based on creating a temperature difference, a team of researchers in the US (University of Wyoming, Colorado State University) is exploiting this property to produce a device that detects light through pure spin currents which are the magnetic analog of electrical currents. Oriented spin is the magnetic component of fundamental particles, […]
System provides cooling with no electricity
MIT News October 30, 2019 An international team of researchers (USA – MIT, Chile) has developed polyethylene aerogel (PEA)—a solar-reflecting (92.2% solar weighted reflectance at 6 mm thick), infrared-transparent (79.9% transmittance between 8 and 13 μm at 6 mm thick), and low-thermal-conductivity (kPEA = 28 mW/mK) material that can be integrated with existing emitters to address these challenges. Using an experimental setup that includes the custom-fabricated PEA, they demonstrated a daytime ambient temperature cooling power of 96 W/m2 and passive cooling up to 13°C below ambient temperature around solar noon. This work could greatly improve the performance of existing passive […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of October 25, 2019
01. How big ideas can change the world: the revolutionary potential of LiFi 02. Swarm of tiny drones explores unknown environments 03. Valleytronics in a monolayer semiconductor at room temperature 04. Blanket of light may give better quantum computers 05. Extracting hidden quantum information from a light source 06. First Demonstration of a 1 Petabit per Second Network Node 07. A roadmap to make the land sector carbon neutral by 2040 08. Cracking the mystery of nature’s toughest material 09. Scientists develop a lithium-ion battery that won’t catch fire 10. Japan Imports Ebola And Other Deadly Pathogens in The Lead-Up […]
Achieving quantum supremacy
Science Daily October 23, 2019 Using 53 entangled qubits an international team of researchers (USA – Google, UMass Amherst, NASA, Caltech, UC Santa Barbara, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, UC Riverside, industry, Germany) has solved a problem that would take 10,000 years on a classical supercomputer in 200 seconds on their quantum computer. The algorithm was chosen to emphasize the strengths of the quantum computer by leveraging the natural dynamics of the device. They used a method called cross-entropy benchmarking to compare the quantum circuit’s output (a “bitstring”) to its corresponding ideal probability computed via simulation on a classical computer to […]