Nanowerk June 15, 2018 Researchers at Northeastern University have developed a deep-learning-based model, comprising two bidirectional neural networks assembled by a partial stacking strategy, to automatically design and optimize three-dimensional chiral metamaterials with strong chiroptical responses at predesignated wavelengths. The model can help to discover the intricate, nonintuitive relationship between a metamaterial structure and its optical responses from a number of training examples. This approach realizes the forward prediction of optical performance much more accurately and efficiently and helps inversely retrieve designs from given requirements…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
New DNA synthesis technique promises rapid, high-fidelity DNA printing
Phys.org June 18, 2018 An international team of researchers (USA – DOE, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, UC Berkeley, Sandia National Laboratory, Germany, Denmark) has developed an oligonucleotide synthesis strategy that uses the template-independent polymerase terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT). They securely tether an unblocked nucleotide to TdT, so that after the nucleotide is added to a growing DNA molecule, the enzyme remains attached and itself protects the end of the chain from further additions. After the DNA molecule has been extended, they cut the linking tether to release the enzyme and re-expose the end for the next addition. With greater accuracy, […]
On track to commercial extraction of uranium from seawater
Next Big Future June 16, 2018 Seawater contains about three parts per billion of uranium. It’s estimated that there is at least four billion tons of uranium in seawater, which is about 500 times the amount of uranium known to exist in land-based ores which must be mined. A team of researchers in the US (PNNL, industry) has chemically modified regular, inexpensive acrylic fiber to convert it into an adsorbent which is selective for uranium, efficient and reusable. The material is inexpensive, adsorbent properties are reversible, and the captured uranium is easily released to be processed into yellowcake. Analysis of […]
Physicists show that is impossible to mask quantum information in correlations
Phys.org June 21 2018 Classical information encoded in composite quantum states can be completely hidden from the reduced subsystems and may be found only in the correlations. An international team of researchers (Australia, India) has shown that while this may still be true for some restricted sets of nonorthogonal quantum states, it is not possible for arbitrary quantum states. This result suggests that quantum qubit commitment—a stronger version of the quantum bit commitment—is not possible in general. The findings may have potential applications in secret sharing and future quantum communication protocols…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Promising new material has the right properties to capture solar energy, split water into hydrogen and oxygen
Phys.org June 18, 2018 Using supercomputers to calculate the quantum energy states of four halide double perovskites, an international team of researchers (UK, USA – Cornell University) found that the double perovskites Cs2BiAgCl6 and Cs2BiAgBr6 are potentially promising materials for photo-catalytic water splitting. They would require controlling their surface termination to obtain energy levels appropriate for water splitting. The energy of the halogen P orbitals is found to control the conduction band level; therefore, the team proposes that mixed halides could be used to fine-tune the electronic affinity…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Researchers predict materials to stabilize record-high capacity lithium-ion battery
Science Daily May 29, 2018 In 2016 a French research team reported that by replacing cobalt with manganese more than doubles the battery capacity but performance degraded significantly. A team of researchers in the US (Northwestern University, MIT) found that the reason behind the material’s high capacity was because oxygen participates in the reaction process. They predicted that mixing chromium or vanadium with lithium-manganese-oxide will produce stable compounds that maintain the cathode’s unprecedented high capacity. They will experimentally test these theoretical compounds in the laboratory…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Robots learn by checking in on team members
Phys.org June 13, 2018 Researchers in Saudi Arabia have developed the software and hardware needed to coordinate a team of UAVs that can communicate and work toward a common goal. They custom-built UAVs and incorporated a lightweight, low-power computing and wi-fi module on each one so that they could talk to each other during flight. Each drone makes its own plan based on a forecast of optimistic views of their teammates’ actions and pessimistic views of the opponent’s actions. They used Capture the Flag game scenario to test the drones. Their algorithm worked well in both indoor and outdoor arenas […]
Russian scientists created ‘flying’ gas chromatograph
Eurekalert June 18, 2018 The portable gas microchromatograph developed by researchers in Russia weighs a little more than a kilogram and it completely replaces bulky laboratory devices. It can provide accurate data on the composition of the atmosphere, qualitative and quantitative composition of oil and gas, as well as analyse biomarkers in exhaled human air within a few minutes. It can perform an operational analysis of the state of the atmosphere at altitudes of up to 1000 meters and within a radius of 2 km from the source, record and track the level of concentration of substances in the air […]
Scientists Have Invented a Software That Can ‘See’ Several Minutes Into The Future
Science Alert June 14, 2018 Researchers in Germany wanted to see if a program could list a sequence of actions up to five minutes into the future based on watching the first few steps of an activity. They trained software to guess what a chef would do next by showing it a number of videos of people making breakfast or a salad. They then showed the program a completely new video of another person preparing a similar meal, and watched how it guessed upcoming steps and their respective duration. One approach anticipated future actions and reflected before anticipating again, and […]
Scientists predict a new superhard material with unique properties
Phys.org June 14, 2018 An international team of researchers (Russia, Armenia, China) predicted new tungsten borides, some of which are promising hard materials that are expected to be stable in a wide range of conditions, according to the computed composition–temperature phase diagram. The new boron-rich compound WB5 is predicted to be superhard, with a Vickers hardness of 45 GPa, possess high fracture toughness of ∼4 MPa·m0.5, and thermodynamically stable in a wide range of temperatures at ambient pressure, and remains a high-performance material even at very high temperatures. Superhard substances have a broad scope of application in well drilling, machine […]