NSF September 18, 2018 The National Science Foundation has awarded nearly $140 million to seven jurisdictions through the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), which builds research and development capacity in jurisdictions that demonstrate a commitment to research but have thus far lacked the levels of investment seen in other parts of the country. The new EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) Track-1 awards will bolster science and engineering research infrastructure in Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire and New Mexico, each of which will receive five years of support…read more.
‘Optical rocket’ created with intense laser light
Eurekalert September 14, 2018 An international team of researchers (University of Nebraska, China) focused laser pulses on plasma to expel the electrons in the path of the light pulses by their gradient forces, plasma waves were driven in the wakes of the pulses, and electrons were allowed to catch the wakefield waves, which further accelerated the electrons to ultra-relativistic energy. The application of intense light provides a means to control the initial phase of wakefield acceleration and improve the performance of a new generation of compact electron accelerators…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Scientists discover a ‘tunable’ novel quantum state of matter
Nanowerk September 12, 2018 An international team of researchers (China, USA – Boston College, Princeton University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Taiwan) arranged atoms on the surface of crystals in many different patterns on ferromagnet to explore the associated phenomena. The electrons hovering above their atoms aligned in a straight line, with two-fold symmetry ignoring the lattice symmetry. When a magnetic field was applied they could turn one line in any direction they chose rotating the line of electrons just by controlling the magnetic field around them. Anisotropy was 100 times more than what theory predicts. The findings open enormous possibilities […]
Searching for errors in the quantum world
Science Daily September 18, 2018 Many scientists dream of combining quantum mechanics with the theory of relativity to form a coherent worldview. As actually experiments are not possible, researchers in Switzerland propose a thought experiment to investigate the question whether quantum theory can, in principle, have universal validity. The idea is that, if the answer was yes, it must be possible to employ quantum theory to model complex systems that include agents which are themselves using quantum theory. Analysing the experiment under this presumption, they found that one agent, upon observing a particular measurement outcome, must conclude that another agent […]
US takes first step toward a quantum computing workforce
MIT Technology Review September 13, 2018 The National Quantum Initiative Act , a bill just passed establishes a federal program for accelerating research and training in quantum computing. The act will release $1.275 billion to help fund several centers of excellence that should help train many quantum engineers. China is pouring billions of dollars into its own quantum computing projects. The international picture is especially significant because these technologies promise to be useful for breaking—but also securing—communications channels…read more.
World’s first passive anti-frosting surface fights ice with ice
Science Daily September 17, 2018 A team of researchers in the US (Virginia Tec, Oak Ridge National Laboratory) created their anti-frosting surface on untreated aluminum by patterning ice stripes onto a microscopic array of elevated grooves. The microscopic grooves act as sacrificial areas, where stripes of intentional ice form and create low pressure zones. These low-pressure areas pull nearby moisture from the air onto the nearest ice stripe, keeping the overlapping intermediate areas free of frost, even in humid, sub-freezing conditions. These sacrificial ice stripes make up only 10 percent of the material’s surface area, leaving the remaining 90 percent […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of September 21, 2018
01. ‘Optical rocket’ created with intense laser light 02. New devices could reduce excess heat in computers 03. Scientists discover a ‘tuneable’ novel quantum state of matter 04. World’s first passive anti-frosting surface fights ice with ice 05. Growing computers in petri dishes 06. Insect-Inspired Vision System Helps Drones Pass Through Small Gaps 07. Enabling ‘internet of photonic things’ with miniature sensors 08. Another step closer to tunable liquids 09. Searching for errors in the quantum world 10. Gut bacteria’s shocking secret: They produce electricity And others… The 2018 Physics World Special Report on China is out now Engineering new […]
AI could mean massive reskilling initiatives for the federal workforce
Fedscoop September 11, 2018 According to Deloitte really focusing on a lot of the cognitive elements of how to get adoption up and get people to understand these technologies is going to be very important. The advent of AI, automation and machine learning has the potential to free up more than 1.1 billion hours of labor-intensive tasks that federal employees spend most of their time doing. But that will only happen more effectively if federal leaders can develop a strategy that will ultimately change the role of many employees and get them to buy into it… read more.
Army looks into laser-powered drones
Defense Systems September 5, 2018 Some drone systems deliver power through a tether to keep a small drone aloft for an entire week. To supply power through a laser, the Army is developing a system where the drone would be outfitted with a photovoltaic cell that could take the light beam from the laser and turn it into electricity without the extreme heat damaging the drone. The Army wants to be able to use a laser to power a drone on the ground by 2019 and then in flight by 2020. DARPA is also experimenting with beaming power to drones… […]
China unveils blueprint for huge underground ‘Higgs factory’
Physics World September 6, 2018 Scientists in China have released details for a huge particle collider that will produce over a million Higgs bosons in a seven-year period. This report outlines the technical details of the accelerator. A second volume, featuring details of the CEPC detectors, is due to be released soon. The conceptual design report for the China Electron Positron Collider (CEPC) calls for a 100 km underground tunnel that would smash together electrons and positrons at energies of 240 GeV… read more.