Nobelprize.org October 4, 2018 Physics Chemistry Medicine
Plasma thruster: New space debris removal technology
Phys.org September 28, 2018 Ejecting plasma beam from the satellite to impart a force to the debris to decelerate it so that it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere and burning up naturally, accelerates the satellite in the opposite direction, which makes it difficult to maintain a consistent distance between debris and the satellite. An international team of researchers (Japan, Australia) demonstrated that the bi-directional ejection of plasma plumes from a helicon plasma thruster can yield the space debris removal operation using a single propulsion system. In laboratory experiments, the plasma thruster was precisely controlled with a magnetic field and gas injection. […]
Space-borne quantum source to secure communication
Phys.org October 1, 2018 Researchers in Germany developed a remarkably stable yet powerful quantum source which can generate 300,000 entangled photon pairs per second when the light from a laser beam hits a non-linear crystal. The twinned light particles enable sensitive messages to be securely encrypted. The two photons’ polarization remains entangled no matter how far apart they may be. This allows two communicating parties to produce and share keys and immediately detect if a third-party attempts to intercept their communication. If an unauthorized party tampers with the message, the two photons disentangle to reveal that a hacking attempt is […]
Through-Silicon Transistors Could Make Stacking Chips Smarter
IEEE Spectrum October 2, 2018 Through-silicon vias (TSVs) are the standard way to stack chips. To make TSV smart chip, researchers in Germany have designed through-silicon via field effect transistor (TSVFET) in which the drain and source were at the top and bottom of the hole. When voltage was applied to the gate, current flowed from top to bottom through the area surrounding the hole. Just by applying a voltage or taking it off, it is possible to activate a chip or deactivate it completely. TSVFETs can be linked up to form elementary circuits. By adding some control electronics, the […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of October 5, 2018
01. Space-borne quantum source to secure communication 02. Emissions-free energy system saves heat from the summer sun for winter 03. BrainNet: A Multi-Person Brain-to-Brain Interface for Direct Collaboration Between Brains 04. Images: Decoding multiple frames from a single, scattered exposure 05. New Spot-Beam Antennas Boost Communication Satellites’ Bandwidth 06. New Army technology guides soldiers in complete darkness 07. Plasma thruster: New space debris removal technology 08. Crowd counting through walls with WiFi (w/video) 09. New, highly stable catalyst may help turn water into fuel 10. Metal that withstands ultra-high temperature and pressure identified And others… 60 Years of DARPA’s Favorite […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of September 28 2018
01. On-demand room-temperature single photon array—a quantum communication breakthrough 02. Researchers find ferrimagnets could be used to speed up spintronics devices 03. Scientists discover new mechanism for information storage in one atom 04. Spray-on antennas could unlock potential of smart, connected technology 05. Two-dimensional multibit optoelectronic memory 06. ‘Papertronics’ could fold, biodegrade and be the basis for the next generation of devices 07. UTokyo researchers generate the strongest-ever controllable magnetic field 08. Perovskite semiconductors seeing right through next generation X-ray detectors 09. Honing quantum sensing 10. Naval Research Laboratory Seeks to Advance Field Diagnostics of Infectious Agents And others… Bridging […]
Bridging the Gap Between Electronics and Biology
IEEE Spectrum September 25, 2018 Scientists have struggled to navigate the technology gap between microelectronics and the biological world. By engineering cells with synthetic biology components, a team of researchers in the US (University of Maryland, University of Nebraska, Army Research Laboratory) has experimentally demonstrated a proof-of-concept device enabling robust and reliable information exchanges between electrical and biological (molecular) domains. They are working to develop a novel biological memory device that can be written to and read from via either biological and/or electronic means. Such a device would function like a thumb drive or SD card, using molecular signals to […]
DOE announces $218 million for quantum information science
Eurekalert September 25, 2018 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $218 million in funding for 85 research awards in the important emerging field of Quantum Information Science (QIS). The awards are led by scientists at 28 institutions of higher learning across the nation and nine DOE national laboratories and cover a range of topics. Depending on the topic and program, awards range in duration from two to five years. Total funding for Fiscal Year 2018 will be $73 million, with outyear funding contingent on congressional appropriations… read more.
Fundamental Research to Counter Biological, Chemical, and Nuclear Weapons
Global Biodefence September 21, 2018 The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) seeks to identify, adopt, and adapt emerging, existing and revolutionary sciences that may demonstrate high payoff potential to Counter-WMD (C-WMD) threats, including chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives threats. Initially released in 2015, the BAA, Fundamental Research to Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction (FRCWMD) https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=275322 is open continuously through September 2024. Published Topics may be updated at any time… read more.
Honing quantum sensing
MIT News September 25, 2018 Extreme sensitivity of quantum sensors to their surrounding environment creates the vexing problem of environmental noise in quantum sensor systems. A team of researchers in the US (MIT, Yale University) has developed an approach that is complementary to existing Dynamical decoupling and established error-corrected quantum sensing (ECQS) methods. This approach allows frequency-independent filtering, because it exploits spatial rather than temporal noise correlations. The new ECQS scheme makes use of noise correlations at different positions in a quantum sensor. In this way, the new approach can tell signal from noise even in the common case where […]