MIT Technology Review April , 2019 Most Chinese researchers can read English, and nearly all major research developments in the Western world are immediately translated into Chinese, but the reverse is not true. Therefore, the Chinese research community has a much deeper understanding than the English-speaking one of what’s happening on both sides of the aisle. As China’s AI industry continues to grow, this could prove a major disadvantage for people in the West. Westerners have a hyped-up view of China’s AI capabilities. Westerners also lack a genuine understanding of the technical skills and capacity of Chinese companies. A few […]
Warfighters need trusted sensors
Defense Systems April 16, 2019 More and more warfighters around the globe are starting to carry commercial smartphones leveraging the smartphone’s sensors to provide features ranging from blue force tracking to encrypted calling. The Pentagon has banned mobile devices from secure spaces, as smartphone sensors are a potential mother lode for hostile nation-states looking to gather mission-critical information. DOD is working with innovative industry partners on developing trusted sensors in form factors that include a wrist-worn wearable and an intelligent smartphone case that only allows interaction with approved, vetted and signed software. Because these devices operate independently of the vulnerable […]
Ultrafast Cluster Electronics
Next Bi Future April 12, 2019 Researchers in Japan combined quantum chemical and molecular dynamic calculations to predict how clusters of molecules behave and interact over time providing critical insight for future electronics. They used their method to predict the changes in a computer-simulated cluster of benzene molecules over time. When light is applied to the T-shaped benzene clusters, they reorganize themselves into a single stack; an interaction known as pi-stacking. This modification from one shape to another changes the cluster’s electrical conductivity, making it act like an on-off switch. They simulated the addition of a molecule of water to […]
SLAC develops novel compact antenna for communicating where radios fail
Science Daily April 12, 2019 The highest radiation efficiency antennas require size at the scale of the wavelength (here, >1 km), making portable transmitters extremely challenging. A team of researchers in the US (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, industry, SRI International) used a rod-shaped crystal of a piezoelectric material, lithium niobate, as their antenna. When they applied an oscillating electric voltage to the rod it vibrated, alternately shrinking and expanding, and this mechanical stress triggered an oscillating electric current whose electromagnetic energy then got emitted as VLF radiation. Switching the wavelength during operation allowed them to transmit with a large bandwidth achieving […]
Scientists Have Found a Way to Prevent Water From Ever Becoming Ice
Science Alert April 12, 2019 There are around 20 different molecular varieties of water– some so esoteric and rare, they may only exist inside computer simulations, or buried within distant planets. The physical confinement of water at the nanoscale can play a major role in controlling its properties. Confinement in the nanometre range can inhibit the arrangement of water molecules into an ice structure, and thereby prevent crystallisation at subzero temperature and create a state of amorphous water. Researchers in Switzerland synthesised a new class of fat molecules that form into a soft biological material called a lipidic mesophase, an […]
Printable nanogenerator creates electricity from snowfall
Nanowerk April 15, 2019 An international team of researchers (Canada, USA – University of Connecticut, UCLA) has developed a snow-based triboelectric nanogenerator, or snow TENG. A triboelectric nanogenerator, which generates charge through static electricity, produces energy from the exchange of electrons. Snow is positively charged and silicone is negatively charged. When falling snow contacts the surface of silicone it produces a charge that the device captures, creating electricity. After testing a large number of materials including aluminum foils and Teflon, they found that silicone produces more charge than any other material. The research could usher in a new generation of […]
Observing a molecule stretch and bend in real-time
Phys.org April 9, 2019 In 2016 an international team of researchers (Spain, Poland, USA – Kansas State University, Germany) achieved the required spatial and temporal resolution to take snapshots of molecular dynamics without missing any events. Now the group has observed the structural bending and stretching of the triatomic molecular compound carbon disulphide, CS2. They reported that the ultrafast modifications in the molecular structure are driven by changes in the electronic structure of the molecule. This effect is key for important triatomic molecules such as CS2, since it can determine specific chemical reactions in the Earth’s atmosphere that could, for […]
A novel data-compression technique for faster computer programs
MIT News April 16, 2019 Researchers at MIT have developed a process to compress objects across the memory hierarchy. This reduces memory usage while improving performance and efficiency. Programmers could benefit from this technique when programming in any modern programming language — such as Java, Python, and Go — that stores and manages data in objects, without changing their code. Consumers would see computers that can run much faster or can run many more apps at the same speeds. Because each application consumes less memory, it runs faster, so a device can support more applications within its allotted memory. In […]
Newly devised static negative capacitor could improve computing
Science Daily April 8, 2019 Previously proposed designs for negative capacitors worked on a temporary, transient basis. An international team of researchers (France, Russia, USA Argonne National Laboratory) created a permanent static negative capacitor which works as a steady-state, reversible device. The prime component of the negative capacitor involves a filling made of a ferroelectric material. By splitting a nanoparticle into two equal ferroelectric domains of opposite polarization, separated by a boundary called a domain wall, they were able to minimize the effect of the total depolarizing electric field. They showed that the ferroelectric nanodot capacitor hosts a stable two-domain […]
A New ‘State’ of Matter Can Be Solid And Liquid at The Same Time
Science Alert April 9, 2019 Applying high pressures and temperatures to potassium creates a state in which most of the element’s atoms form a solid lattice structure. Researches in the UK used powerful computer simulations to observe this behaviour of around 20,000 potassium atoms under extreme conditions. When the pressure and temperature are high enough – around 2 to 4 Gigapascals – the potassium atoms arranged themselves in interlinked chains and lattices. The chemical interactions between the lattice atoms are strong, so they remain an ordered solid when a temperature between 400 and 800 Kelvin is applied. But meanwhile, the […]