Science Daily October 24, 2018 To determine collective group behavior emerging from the dynamic behavior of individuals, researchers at the US Army Research Laboratory have developed a model bypassing time-consuming calculations and represent the sought-for sensitivity in a single parameter to show how an individual adapts to group behavior. They focused on constructing and interpreting the output of large-scale computer models of complex dynamic networks from which collective properties such as swarming, collective intelligence and decision making could be determined. In tests the model showed that the analytic solution to this new kind of equation coincides with the predictions of the […]
Acoustic tractor beam can grab objects from behind obstacles
Physics World October 29, 2018 Researchers in the UK have developed, SoundBender, a device that combines an ultrasound transducer array with an acoustic metamaterial. They created the metamaterial from 16 different 3D-printed bricks on top of a programmable array of 16×16 off-the-shelf loudspeakers, operating at 40 kHz. The metamaterial provides a low modulator pitch to create high resolution – but static – acoustic fields. The transducer array adds dynamic amplitude and phase control of the field. They demonstrated the device by creating hologram, levitating a polystyrene bead above a LEGO baseball figure and passed sound around the flame of a […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of October 26, 2018
01. A new way to measure nearly nothing 02. Bursting the clouds for better communication 03. New laser breakthrough: ‘random, transistor’ laser that can be manipulated at nanoscale 04. Shielded quantum bits 05. Biological invisibility cloak: Elucidating cuttlefish camouflage 06. Researchers switch material from one state to another with a single flash of light 07. Uncovering secret structure to explosives 08. Large family of quantum spin liquids revealed – Physics World 09. 3D-Printed Graphene Scaffold Breaks Capacitor Records 10. U-M researchers develop small device that bends light to generate new radiation And others… Navy declares EMS a full-fledged warfighting domain […]
Uncovering secret structure to explosives
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory October 17, 2018 In most high explosives, detonation is initiated through a process where pores get compressed by a shockwave. Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found that in an explosive compound called HMX when pores are at the surface, they speed up the reaction, if a shockwave hits a number of surface pores at once, they bootstrap each other. While they showed that many small pores can work together to accelerate one another’s burning, they also were able to identify a threshold where pores become so small that the reaction is extinguished. This examination […]
U-M researchers develop small device that bends light to generate new radiation
University of Michigan October 25, 2018 Synchrotron radiation is usually generated at large-scale facilities. A team of researchers in the US (University of Michigan, Purdue University) developed a way to produce synchrotron radiation by printing a pattern of microscopic gold antennae on lithium tantalate metasurface. They use a laser that produces ultrashort pulses of light which last for one trillionth of a second. The array of antennae causes the light pulse to accelerate along a curved trajectory inside the crystal producing synchrotron radiation that contains many terahertz frequencies. They hope to refine their device so that the light pulse revolves […]
Shielded quantum bits
Phys.org October 26, 2018 An international team of researchers (USA – Princeton University, Germany) proposes a quadrupolar exchange-only spin qubit that is highly robust against charge noise and nuclear spin dephasing, the dominant decoherence mechanisms in quantum dots. The qubit consists of four electrons trapped in three quantum dots and operates in a decoherence-free subspace to mitigate dephasing due to nuclear spins. Because of on-site exchange mediated by the Coulomb interaction, the qubit energy splitting is electrically controllable and can amount to several GHz even in the “off” configuration, making it compatible with conventional microwave cavities. The new method makes […]
Researchers switch material from one state to another with a single flash of light
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory October 19,2018 In tantalum disulfide the charge density waves are all oriented in the same direction in the alpha state. A team of researchers in the US (MIT, SLAC National Accelerator, Harvard University) zapped a thin crystal of tantalum disulfide with a very brief laser pulse. They found that some of the waves flipped into a beta state with a different electron orientation, and the alpha and beta regions were separated by domain walls. A second flash of light dissolved the domain walls and returned the material to its pure alpha state. They could fine-tune the […]
QuTech researchers put forward a roadmap for quantum internet development
Delft University of Technology (the Netherlands) October 18, 2018 Researchers in the Netherlands describe six phases, starting with simple networks of qubits that could already enable secure quantum communications – a phase that could be reality in the near future. The development ends with networks of fully quantum-connected quantum computers. In each phase, new applications become available such as extremely accurate clock synchronization or integrating different telescopes on Earth in one virtual ‘supertelescope’. This work creates a common language that unites the highly interdisciplinary field of quantum networking towards achieving the dream of a world-wide quantum internet… read more. TECHNICAL […]
A new way to measure nearly nothing
Science Daily October 19, 2018 Researchers at the National Institute for Standards and Technology have designed a portable vacuum gauge that is small enough to deploy in commonly used vacuum chambers. It requires no calibration, depends on fundamental constants of nature, reports the correct quantity or none, and has specified uncertainties that are suitable for its application and allows lower levels of vacuum to be accurately measured. It uses only a single laser beam directed onto a diffraction grating. It will be used to make measurements of fundamental atomic properties. Such a system that could potentially replace sensors now on […]
New moon: China to launch lunar lighting in outer space
Phys.org October 19, 2018 Researchers in China are developing “illumination satellites” which will shine in tandem with the real moon but are eight times brighter. By reflecting light from the sun, the satellites could replace streetlamps in urban areas. If the first test goes well three more to follow in 2022. The extraterrestrial source of light could also help rescue efforts in disaster zones during blackouts. In the 1990s, Russian scientists reportedly used giant mirrors to reflect light from space in an experimental project called Znamya or Banner… read more.