Physorg January 29, 2018 During the Cold War, the weapon of choice was nuclear missiles. Today it is software, whether it is used for attacking computer systems or targets in the real world. AI may be the way Russia can rebalance the power shift created by the U.S. outspending Russia nearly 10-to-1 on defense each year. AI can also be used to control non-nuclear weapons including unmanned vehicles like drones and cyberweapons. Countries might agree to a proposed Digital Geneva Convention to limit AI conflict. But that won’t stop AI attacks by independent nationalist groups, militias, criminal organizations, terrorists and […]
Antiferromagnets prove their potential for spin-based information technology
Science Daily January 29, 2018 Using antiferromagnets as active elements in spintronics requires the ability to manipulate and read-out the Néel vector orientation. An international team of researchers (Germany, Czech Republic, UK) has demonstrated current-induced switching of the Néel vector for metallic thin films of Mn2Au which orders antiferromagnetically at high temperatures. They measured ten times larger magnetoresistance as observed for CuMnAs, used as a preferred material that has several disadvantages… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
A Beam-Steering Antenna for 5G Mobile Phones
IEEE Spectrum January 28, 2018 An international team of researchers (China, Taiwan) has developed a 28 GHz beam-steering antenna array that can be integrated into the metallic casing of 5G mobile phones. The array antenna has 16 cavity-backed slot antenna elements that are implemented via the metallic back casing of the mobile device, in which two eight-element phased arrays are built on the left- and right-side edges of the mobile device. Each eight-element phased array can yield beam steering at broadside and gain of >15 dBi can be achieved at boresight. The measured 10 dB return loss bandwidth of the […]
Biomining the elements of the future
The Conversation January 29, 2018 Biomining takes place within large, closed, stirred-tank reactors (bioreactors). These devices generally contain water, microorganisms (bacteria, archaea, or fungi), ore material, and a source of energy for the microbes. The source of energy required depends on the specific microbe necessary for the job. Biomining uses little energy and produces few microbial by-products such as organic acids and gases. Countries such as Finland, Chile, and Uganda are increasingly turning to biomining. Chile has exhausted much of its copper rich ores and now utilizes biomining. Biomining offers a way to obtain the rare earth elements resources, critical […]
DARPA Seeks to Improve Military Communications with Digital Phased-Arrays at Millimeter Wave
DARPA News January 24, 2018 DARPA is launching the Millimeter-Wave Digital Arrays (MIDAS) program which aims to develop element-level digital phased-array technology that will enable next generation DoD millimeter wave systems. Research efforts will focus on reducing the size and power of digital millimeter wave transceivers, enabling phased-array technology for mobile platforms and elevating mobile communications to the less crowded millimeter wave frequencies. MIDAS is focused on two key technical areas. The first is the development of the silicon chips to form the core transceiver for the array tile. The second area is focused on the development of wide-band antennas, […]
Job One for Quantum Computers: Boost Artificial Intelligence
Quanta Magazine January 29, 2018 The fusion of quantum computing and machine learning has become a booming research area. Can it possibly live up to its high expectations? Although one might think a quantum machine-learning system should be powerful, it suffers from a kind of locked-in syndrome. It operates on quantum states, not on human-readable data, and translating between the two can negate its apparent advantages… read more.
Scientists realize strong indirect coupling in distant graphene-based nanomechanical resonators
Nanowerk January 28, 2018 The main problem using nanomechanical resonators as information carriers is the realization of tunable phonon interaction at long distance. An international team of researchers (China, USA) reports the experimental observation of strong indirect coupling between separated mechanical resonators in a graphene-based electromechanical system. The coupling is mediated by a far-off-resonant phonon cavity through virtual excitations via a Raman-like process. By controlling the resonant frequency of the phonon cavity, the indirect coupling can be tuned in a wide range. The results may lead to the development of gate-controlled all-mechanical devices and open the possibility of long-distance quantum […]
What your face says about your heartbeat
Physorg January 29, 2018 When the heart circulates blood through the arteries and veins, the light absorbed by the skin changes by measurable amounts. Hemoglobin in the blood has an absorption peak for green light. When the heart pushes blood into arteries near the skin, more green light is absorbed and less is reflected. Researchers at Utah State University have invented a system that processes the color data and computes an average over regions of the image where skin is visible on the face, neck or arms. Future versions of the design could even replace hospital tools that monitor blood […]
A ski jacket that actively gets rid of sweat
Science Daily January 29, 2018 Researchers in Switzerland have developed a technology called Hydro-bot based on osmosis. To ensure that liquid is actively transported from the inside to the outside by means of electro-osmosis, a polymer membrane with a thickness of 20 micrometers is used, which is coated on both sides with a noble metal by means of plasma coating. A voltage of around 1.5 volts is applied to accelerate the process. When the voltage is applied, salt ions and the liquid surrounding them migrate through tiny pores in the membrane to the outside. The membrane is equipped with a […]
SynBioHub: A Standards-Enabled Design Repository for Synthetic Biology
ACS Synthetic Biology January 9, 2018 The SynBioHub repository (https://synbiohub.org) is an open-source software project that facilitates the sharing of information about engineered biological systems. SynBioHub provides computational access for software and data integration, and a graphical user interface that enables users to search for and share designs in a Web browser. By connecting to relevant repositories (e.g., the iGEM repository, JBEI ICE, and other instances of SynBioHub), the software allows users to browse, upload, and download data in various standard formats, regardless of their location or representation… read more.