Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of October 4, 2024
01. New security protocol shields data from attackers during cloud-based computation
02. Proof-of-concept design shrinks quantum rotation sensor to micron scale
03. Quantum research paves the way toward efficient, ultra-high-density optical memory storage
04. Research team succeeds in ultra-fast switching of tiny light sources
05. Researchers crack a key problem with sodium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and grid energy storage
06. Researchers create orientation-independent magnetic field-sensing nanotube spin qubits
07. Researchers observe hidden deformations in complex light fields
08. Scientists uncover light absorbing properties of achiral materials
09. Solid electrolyte composed of nanoparticles shows promise for all-solid-state batteries
10. Geologists discover mysterious subduction zone beneath Pacific, reshaping understanding of Earth’s interior
And others
Bioinspired yarn can harvest water from fog
Climate change will lead to wetter US winters, modeling study finds
Enhancing hurricane forecasts: Simulations reveal reducing estimates of atmospheric friction improves storm predictions
Scientists demonstrate advanced low-coherence BOCDR system using periodic pseudo-random modulation
Why the gender gap in physics has been stable for more than a century
Bioinspired yarn can harvest water from fog
Phys.org September 30, 2024
An international team of researchers (Italy, Germany, Sweden, Japan) developed a double-strand hydrophobic PVDF-HFP/hydrophilic PAN nanofibers yarn by electrospinning and twisting techniques like the hydrophobic/hydrophilic pattern of desert beetles and water self-propulsion property of spider silks. The double-strand cooperation approach allowed for water deposition on hydrophobic PVDF-HFP segment and transport under the asymmetric capillary driving force of hydrophilic PAN segment speeding up the aggregation and growth of droplets. They optimized the effects of the composition and the diameter ratio of the two primary yarns for boosting fog collection performance. The double-strand anisotropic yarn provided an effective method for water harvesting, and it holds the potential to inspire innovative design concepts for fog collection materials in challenging environments… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Climate change will lead to wetter US winters, modeling study finds
Phys.org September 26, 2024
A team of researchers in the US (University of Illinois Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, University of Georgia) investigated 21st-century hydroclimate changes over the United States during winter and the sources of projection uncertainty under three emission scenarios using CMIP6 models. Their study revealed a robust intensification of winter precipitation across the US, except in the Southern Great Plains, where changes were very small. By the end of the 21st century, winter precipitation was projected to increase by about 2–5% K−1 over most of the US. The frequency of very wet winters was also expected to increase, with 6–7 out of 30 winters exceeding the very wet threshold under the different scenarios. According to the researchers their results suggest that the enhancement of future winter precipitation was modulated largely by coupled dynamic and thermodynamic responses, though partly offset by thermodynamic responses. Overall, their results highlighted a high likelihood of increasing impacts from winter precipitation due to climate change… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Enhancing hurricane forecasts: Simulations reveal reducing estimates of atmospheric friction improves storm predictions
Phys.org September 27, 2024
The complex interactions of hurricane intensity and precipitation and the impacts of improving hurricane dynamics on streamflow forecasts are not well established yet. Researchers at the University of Houston addressed these gaps by characterizing the role of vertical diffusion in improving hurricane intensity and streamflow forecasts under different planetary boundary layer, microphysics, and cumulus parameterizations. They coupled the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) atmospheric model with the WRF hydrological model to simulate four major hurricanes in three hurricane-prone regions in the United States. A stepwise calibration reduced streamflow forecast errors. 60 coupled hydrometeorological simulations evaluated the performance of current weather parameterizations. According to the researchers their work shows that hurricane dynamics enhances flood predictions and provides new insights into the impacts of vertical diffusion on hurricane intensity and streamflow forecasts… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Geologists discover mysterious subduction zone beneath Pacific, reshaping understanding of Earth’s interior
Phys.org September 28, 2024
The Pacific large low-shear-velocity province (LLSVP) hosts multiple internal anomalies, including a notable gap between the central and eastern Pacific. The cause of the structural gap remains unconstrained. An international team of researchers (USA – University of Maryland, Canada) used a dense set of SS precursors (seismic waves) identify an anomalously thick mantle transition zone east of the East Pacific Rise directly above this structural gap. The area of the thickened transition zone exhibited faster-than-average velocities according to recent tomographic images, suggesting perturbed post olivine phase boundaries shifting in response to lowered temperatures. The researchers attributed this observation to episodes of Mesozoic-aged (250 to 120 million years ago) intraoceanic subduction beneath the present-day Nazca Plate. The eastern portion of the Pacific LLSVP was separated by downwelling because of this ancient oceanic slab. According to the researchers their discovery provides a unique perspective on linking deep Earth structures with surface subduction… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
New security protocol shields data from attackers during cloud-based computation
MIT News September 26, 2024
Secure multiparty computations are typically offloaded to cloud computing servers, leading to vulnerabilities that can compromise the security of the clients’ data. A team of researchers in the US (MIT, industry) introduced a linear algebra engine that leveraged the quantum nature of light for information theoretically secure multiparty computation using only conventional telecommunication components. They applied this linear algebra engine to deep learning and derived rigorous upper bounds on the information leakage of both the deep neural network weights and the client’s data and obtained test accuracies exceeding 96% while leaking less than 0.1 bits per weight symbol and 0.01 bits per data symbol. This weight leakage was an order of magnitude below the minimum bit precision required for accurate deep learning using state-of-the-art quantization techniques. According to the researchers their work lays the foundation for practical quantum-secure computation and unlocks secure cloud deep learning as a field… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Proof-of-concept design shrinks quantum rotation sensor to micron scale
Phys.org October 1, 2024
A team of researchers in the US (University of Michigan, DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory) investigated the possible realization of an ultracold-atom rotation sensor that was based on recently proposed tractor atom interferometry (TAI). They described an experimental design that included the generation of a Laguerre–Gaussian-beam-based “pinwheel” optical lattice and multi-loop interferometric cycles. Numerical simulations of the proposed system demonstrated TAI rotation sensitivity comparable to that of contemporary matter-wave interferometers. They applied quantum optimal control to devise a methodology suitable to address nonadiabaticity which might hinder systems performance. According to the researchers their studies are of interest for current efforts to realize compact and robust matter-wave rotation sensors, as well as for fundamental physics applications of TAI… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Quantum research paves the way toward efficient, ultra-high-density optical memory storage
Phys.org October 2, 2024
A team of researchers in the US (Argonne National Laboratory, University of Chicago) has developed a predictive and general approach to investigate near-field energy transfer processes between localized defects in semiconductors, which couples first-principles electronic structure calculations and a nonrelativistic quantum electrodynamics description of photons in the weak-coupling regime which could be applied to investigate broad classes of defects in solids. They applied their approach to investigate a point defect in an oxide, the F center in MgO, and showed that the energy transfer from a magnetic source to the vacancy could lead to spin nonconserving long-lived excitations that were dominant processes in the near field, at distances relevant to the design of photonic devices and ultrahigh dense memories. They defined a descriptor for coherent energy transfer to predict geometrical configurations of emitters to enable long-lived excitations, that are useful to design optical memories in semiconductor and insulators… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Research team succeeds in ultra-fast switching of tiny light sources
Phys.org September 27, 2024
Excitons in monolayer semiconductors offer strong light–matter coupling, spin–valley locking and exceptional tunability allowing electrical switching of their optical response due to efficient interactions of excitonic emitters with free charge carriers forming trions and Fermi polarons. However, there are major limitations to how fast the light emission of these states can be tuned, restricting most applications to an essentially static regime. An international team of researchers (Italy, Sweden, Germany, Japan) demonstrated switching of excitonic light emitters in monolayer semiconductors on ultrafast picosecond time scales by applying short pulses in the terahertz spectral range following optical injection. The process was based on a rapid conversion of trions to excitons by absorption of terahertz photons inducing photo detachment. They achieved the required resonance conditions and demonstrated tunability of the process with delay time and terahertz pulse power. According to the researchers their work opens pathways towards technological developments of new types of nanophotonic device based on atomically thin materials… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Researchers crack a key problem with sodium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and grid energy storage
Phys.org September 27, 2024
Microstrain and the associated surface-to-bulk propagation of structural defects are known to be major roadblocks for developing high-energy and long-life batteries. However, the origin and effects of microstrain during the synthesis of battery materials remain largely unknown. A team of researchers in the US (Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory) performed microstrain screening during real-time and realistic synthesis of sodium layered oxide cathodes and gathered evidence from multiscale in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction and microscopy characterization. They found that the spatial distribution of transition metals within individual precursor particles strongly governed the nanoscale phase transformation, local charge heterogeneity and accumulation of microstrain during synthesis. The dominance of transition metals resulted in a counterintuitive outward propagation of defect nucleation and growth. According to the researchers their findings showed a more rational synthesis route to reduce the microstrain and crystallographic defects within the bulk lattice, leading to significantly improved structural stability… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE