Science Daily March 26, 2018 Transition-metal dichalcogenide monolayers have naturally terminated surfaces and can exhibit a near-unity photoluminescence quantum yield in the presence of suitable defect passivation. An international team of researchers (USA – UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Saudi Arabia) fabricated a monolayer seven-segment display and achieved the first transparent and bright millimeter-scale light-emitting monolayer semiconductor device. Electroluminescence is obtained by applying an AC voltage between the gate and the semiconductor. The electroluminescence intensity is weakly dependent on the Schottky barrier height or polarity of the contact. According to the researchers the device is a proof-of-concept, and much […]
China versus USA in AI potential
Next Big Future March 19, 2018 According to Oxford and the Future of Humanity report on China’s AI plans China is still far behind on hardware but ahead in mobile and data and lagging in algorithms and commercial AI companies. China has relied on imports and acquisitions to boost the most immediately relevant aspects of AI hardware. As this strategy has come under more scrutiny by the U.S. and EU, China is promoting national champions in its domestic chip-making industry and making long-term bets on powerful supercomputing facilities… read more.
Earth’s magnetosphere
Phys.org March 26, 2018 The magnetosphere was key to helping Earth develop into a habitable planet. NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) was launched in March 2015 to observe the electron physics of magnetic reconnection for the first time. Bristling with energetic particle detectors and magnetic sensors, the four MMS spacecraft flew in close formation to areas on the front side of Earth’s magnetosphere where magnetic reconnection occurs. Data from investigations by NASA and partner agencies not only help unravel the fundamental physics of space, but also help improve space weather forecasting. Understanding our magnetosphere is a key element to helping […]
Fractal AI: A fragile theory of intelligence
ArXiv March 13, 2018 Fractal AI is a theory for general artificial intelligence. It allows to derive new mathematical tools that constitute the foundations for a new kind of stochastic calculus. Among other things, Fractal AI makes it possible to generate a huge database of top performing examples with very little amount of computation required, transforming Reinforcement Learning into a supervised problem. The new techniques presented here have direct applications to other areas such as: Non-equilibrium thermodynamics, chemistry, quantum physics, economics, information theory, and non-linear control theory… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Generating energy from fluctuations of light
Phys.org March 27, 2018 Researchers in Sweden have developed a method and a material that generates an electrical impulse when the light fluctuates from sunshine to shade and vice versa. They created a tiny optical generator by combining the small antennas consisting gold nanodiscs placed on a substrate and coated with a polymeric film to create the pyroelectric properties. The antennas generate heat that is then converted to electricity with the aid of the polymer. The degree of polarisation of the polymer affects the magnitude of the generated power, while the thickness not to have any effect at all. Applications […]
Geoengineering polar glaciers to slow sea-level rise
Science Daily March 19, 2018 The ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica will contribute more to sea-level rise this century than any other source. An international team of researchers (Finland, USA – Princeton University) argue that geoengineering of glaciers could delay much of Greenland and Antarctica’s grounded ice from reaching the sea for centuries, buying time to address global warming. According to them this is plausible because about 90% of ice flowing to the sea from the Antarctic ice sheet and about half of that lost from Greenland travels in narrow, fast ice streams. These streams measure tens of kilometres […]
In five years quantum computing will be mainstream
Next Big Future March 19, 2018 IBM Researchers are already reaching major quantum chemistry milestones, having recently used a quantum computer to successfully simulate atomic bonding in beryllium hydride (BeH2), the most complex molecule ever simulated by a quantum computer. In the future quantum computers will continue to address problems with ever-greater complexity, eventually catching up to and surpassing what we can do with classical machines alone… read more.
Lightweight metal foam blocks blastwave, debris from high-explosive rounds
Science Daily March 26, 2018 A team of researchers in the US (North Carolina State University, US Army) found that steel-CMF (composite metal foam) offers much more protection than all other existing armor materials while lowering the weight remarkably. In tests the steel-CMF held up against the wave of blast pressure and against the copper and steel fragments created by the exploding round, as well as aluminum from the strikeplate. When compared to the experimental results, their model matched very closely. The experimental and analytical results are proving that novel CMF material can be the solution for the pressing need […]
Modified biomaterials self-assemble on temperature cues
Phys.org March 19, 2018 Post-translational modification of proteins is a strategy widely used in biological systems which has remained largely untapped for the synthesis of biomaterials. As a proof of concept of this technique, an international team of researchers (USA – Duke University, Germany) reports the generation of a family of three stimulus-responsive hybrid materials—fatty-acid-modified elastin-like polypeptides—using a one-pot recombinant expression and post-translational lipidation methodology. The hybrid approach allows researchers to control self-assembly more precisely, which may prove useful for a variety of biomedical applications from drug delivery to wound healing… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
A new kind of quantum bits in two dimensions
Nanowerk March 19, 2018 An international team of researchers (Germany, Austria, Hungary, UK) succeeded in developing a new type of quantum dots by combining graphene and hexagonal boron nitride, also a single layer of material quite like graphene except that it is insulating. The two layers cannot perfectly match when put one on top of the other resulting in an extremely regular wave-like spatial oscillation of the graphene layer out of the perfect plane. The potential landscape created by the regular superstructure allows for accurately placing the quantum dot, or even moving it continuously and thus smoothly changing its properties… […]