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Category: computing

First standalone spin-wave chip operates without external magnets for future telecom

The Politecnico di Milano has created the first integrated and fully tunable device based on spin waves, opening up new possibilities for the telecommunications of the future, far beyond current 5G and 6G standards. The study, published in the journal Advanced Materials, was conducted by a research group led by Riccardo Bertacco of the Department of Physics of the Politecnico di Milano, in collaboration with Philipp Pirro of Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität and Silvia Tacchi of Istituto Officina dei Materiali—CNR-IOM.

Magnonics is an emerging technology that uses spin waves —collective excitations of electronic spins in magnetic materials—as an alternative to electrical signals. The spread of this technology has been restricted until now by the need for an external magnetic field, which has prevented it being incorporated into chips.

The new device developed at the Politecnico overcomes this hurdle: it is miniaturized (100 × 150 square micrometers, so much smaller than current radiofrequency signal processing devices based on acoustic waves); it is fully integrated on silicon—and therefore compatible with existing electronic platforms, and it functions without external magnets, thanks to an innovative combination of permanent SmCo micromagnets and magnetic flux concentrators.

Quantum-dot device can generate multiple frequency-entangled photons

Researchers have designed a new device that can efficiently create multiple frequency-entangled photons, a feat that cannot be achieved with today’s optical devices. The new approach could open a path to more powerful quantum communication and computing technologies.

“Entangling particles efficiently is a critical capability for unlocking the full power of quantum technologies—whether to accelerate computations, surpass fundamental limits in precision measurement, or guarantee unbreakable security using the laws of quantum physics,” said Nicolas Fabre from Telecom Paris at the Institut Polytechnique de Paris.

“Photons are ideal because they can travel long distances through optical fibers or free space; however, there hasn’t been a way to efficiently generate frequency entanglement between more than two photons.”

Enthusiasts used their home computers to search for ET—scientists are homing in on 100 signals they found

For 21 years, between 1999 and 2020, millions of people worldwide loaned UC Berkeley scientists their computers to search for signs of advanced civilizations in our galaxy.

The project—called SETI@home, after the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)—generated a loyal following eager to participate in one of the most popular crowd-sourced projects in the early days of the internet. They downloaded the SETI@home software to their home computers and allowed it to analyze data recorded at the now-defunct Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico to find unusual radio signals from space.

All told, these computations produced 12 billion detections— momentary blips of energy at a particular frequency coming from a particular point in the sky, according to computer scientist and project co-founder David Anderson.

A dry surface thanks to fluid physics: Contact-free method gently remove liquids from delicate microstructures

Researchers at the University of Konstanz have developed a gentle, contact-free method to collect liquids and remove them from microscopic surface structures. The method uses vapor condensation to generate surface currents that transport droplets off surfaces.

Many modern technologies rely on microscopic elements, such as microchips in smartphones. The manufacturing process for these elements requires their surfaces to be exposed to different types of liquids that must be completely removed afterward.

A research team led by Stefan Karpitschka from the University of Konstanz has now developed a new method that uses surface tension to efficiently transport these liquids off the finished product. The work is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Europa’s ocean may lack energy needed to support life

“If we could explore that ocean with a remote-control submarine, we predict we wouldn’t see any new fractures, active volcanoes or plumes of hot water on the seafloor,” said Dr. Paul Byrne.

Does Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, contain the conditions for life as we know it? This is what a recent study published in Nature Communications hopes to address as a team of scientists from the United States and Canada investigated the likelihood of Europa’s subsurface ocean having the right conditions for life to exist. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand the necessary conditions for where life could exist, along with developing the methods for understanding them.

For the study, the researchers used a series of computer models to simulate potential tectonic activity on the seafloor of Europa’s subsurface ocean. The reason for studying tectonic activity on Europa is because this geological process is a key driver of life both existing and thriving on Earth. This is because plate tectonics are responsible for recycling nutrients to and from the Earth’s interior as it recycles materials like rocks and dust. This also enables the flow of water from the Earth’s interior to the seafloor. The researchers examined a myriad of mechanisms, including tidal forces, mantle convection, global contraction, and water-rock interactions (serpentinization).

In the end, the researchers found that Europa potentially does not exhibit these mechanisms to enable plate tectonics to be produced on Europa. They conclude that the liquid water making its way to the seafloor only occurs in the first few hundred feet, whereas plate tectonics occur over hundreds of miles. Finally, they conclude that is Europa does have life, they plate tectonics isn’t responsible for it.

Mars’ Gravity Helps Shape Earth’s Ice Age Cycles

“I knew Mars had some effect on Earth, but I assumed it was tiny,” said Dr. Stephen Kane.

How does Mars influence Earth’s climate cycles? This is what a recent study published in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific hopes to address as a trio of researchers from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia investigated how the gravitational interactions between Earth and Mars help alter the former’s climate evolution. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand how external processes influence planetary habitability and what this could mean for finding life beyond Earth.

For the study, the researchers used a series of computer models to simulate Earth Milankovitch cycles, which are changes in Earth’s eccentricity (orbit shape), obliquity (axial tilt), and precession (axial wobble) over hundreds of thousands of years. Specifically, the researchers aspired to ascertain how gravitational interactions with Mars could influence these cycles, including climate evolution like ice ages.

In the end, the researchers found that Mars not only influences Earth’s orbital patterns and behavior, but that the solar system’s architecture influences each other’s orbital patterns, and this could have implications for searching for Earth-like exoplanets. This comes despite Mars being approximately half the size of Earth.

Scientists realize a three-qubit quantum register in a silicon photonic chip

Quantum technologies are highly promising devices that process, transfer or store information leveraging quantum mechanical effects. Instead of relying on bits, like classical computers, quantum devices rely on entangled qubits, units of information that can also exist in multiple states (0 and 1) at once.

A research team at the University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley) supervised by Alp Sipahigil recently demonstrated the potential of leveraging atomic-scale defects on silicon chips, known as T-centers, to create small multi-qubit memory units that store quantum information (i.e., quantum registers).

Their paper, published in Nature Nanotechnology, could open new possibilities for the development of quantum technologies that are based on silicon, which is the most widely used material within the electronics industry.

How brain waves shape our sense of self

A new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in Nature Communications, reveals how rhythmic brain waves known as alpha oscillations help us distinguish between our own body and the external world. The findings offer new insights into how the brain integrates sensory signals to create a coherent sense of bodily self.

What makes you feel that your hand is yours? It might seem obvious, but the brain’s ability to tell self from non-self is a complex process.

Using a combination of behavioral experiments, brain recordings (EEG), brain stimulation, and computational modeling with a total of 106 participants, researchers from Karolinska Institutet investigated how the brain combines visual and tactile signals to create the feeling that a body part belongs to oneself—a phenomenon known as the sense of body ownership.

Pancreatic organoid study reveals key factors shaping complex lumen formation

Organs often have fluid-filled spaces called lumens, which are crucial for organ function and serve as transport and delivery networks. Lumens in the pancreas form a complex ductal system, and its channels transport digestive enzymes to the small intestine. Understanding how this system forms in embryonic development is essential, both for normal organ formation and for diagnosing and treating pancreatic disorders. Despite their importance, how lumens take certain shapes is not fully understood, as studies in other models have largely been limited to the formation of single, spherical lumens. Organoid models, which more closely mimic the physiological characteristics of real organs, can exhibit a range of lumen morphologies, such as complex networks of thin tubes.

Researchers in the group of Anne Grapin-Botton, director at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) in Dresden, Germany, and also Honorary Professor at TU Dresden, teamed up with colleagues from the group of Masaki Sano at the University of Tokyo (Japan), Tetsuya Hiraiwa at the Institute of Physics of Academia Sinica (Taiwan), and with Daniel Rivéline at the Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (France) to explore the processes involved in complex lumen formation. Working with a combination of computational modeling and experimental techniques, the scientists were able to identify the crucial factors that control lumen shape.

Three-dimensional pancreatic structures, also called pancreatic organoids, can form either large spherical lumen or narrow complex interconnected lumen structures, depending on the medium in the dish. By adding specific chemical drugs altering cell proliferation rate and pressure in the lumen, we were able to change lumen shape. We also found that making the epithelial cells surrounding the lumen more permeable reduces pressure and can change the shape of the lumen as well.

LANL: Los Alamos To Play Key Role In Renewed Quantum Science Center

PRESS RELEASE — The Department of Energy has renewed funding for the Quantum Science Center, with Los Alamos National Laboratory continuing to play a vital role along with Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the center’s mission to advance quantum science and technology. The center will be funded for $125 million over five years to focus on quantum-accelerated high-performance computing.

“The Quantum Science Center is establishing the scientific and technical foundation for quantum computing,” said Mark Chadwick, associate Laboratory director for Simulation, Computing and Theory. “In this new, critical evolution for the center, the integration of quantum and high-performance computing stands to accelerate advancements in crucial scientific areas related to technological progress and even national security applications.”

The Quantum Science Center combines the efforts of three national laboratories, with ORNL hosting the center and Los Alamos a principal partner alongside various universities, industry partners and other laboratories. Created as one of five National Quantum Information Science Research Centers supported by the DOE’s Office of Science, the Quantum Science Center seeks to create a scientific ecosystem for the advancement of fault-tolerant, quantum-accelerated high-performance computing.

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