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Category: computing

Thermoelectric effect in MoS2/MoSe2 heterostructures: Experimental evidence and theoretical aspects

Efficient energy harvesting for applications such as radioisotope thermoelectric generators and heat-recovery systems require novel thermoelectric materials with exceptional performance. This work demonstrates thermoelectric capabilities of n-type MoS2/MoSe2 heterojunctions fabricated by scalable radiofrequency sputtering. These heterostructures demonstrated an outstanding experimental Seebeck coefficient of ~ − 1.1 mV K−1 (ΔT = 40 K), arising from thermally activated carriers with a low activation energy of 32 meV, and estimated thermoelectric figure-of-merit (ZT) values of ~ 1.0. Furthermore, computational calculations within framework of Density Functional Theory corroborate experimental findings allowing to elucidate a crucial role of atomic-scale in determining anisotropic thermoelectric properties.

✨Presenting a methodological advancement that bridges ecological theory with clinical hepatology✨

https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.

Here, Gavin E. Arteel & team perform alpha diversity analysis of hepatic transcriptome, revealing distinct pathways in alcohol-associated hepatitis and offering new perspectives on disease progression and identifying potentially informative biomarkers.

4Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, and.

5Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

6Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

Quantum dots generate entangled photon pairs on demand

For the first time, researchers in China have demonstrated how quantum dots can be engineered to consistently generate pairs of entangled photons. By carefully tailoring the photonic environment surrounding a single quantum dot, the team showed that it is possible to produce highly correlated photon pairs with remarkable efficiency, potentially opening new opportunities for emerging quantum technologies. The work, led by Zhiliang Yuan at the Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences, is reported in Nature Materials.

In recent years, technologies capable of generating single photons on demand have advanced at an impressive pace. Already, these sources have led to substantial progress in fields ranging from quantum computing and secure communications, to advanced sensing and biomedical imaging.

A natural next step will be the ability to produce pairs of photons that are identical and strongly entangled. Even when separated by large distances, the properties of entangled photons remain linked: an effect that lies at the heart of many quantum technologies.

Quantum computers must overcome major technical hurdles before tackling quantum chemistry problems

Although the potential applications of quantum computing are widespread, a new feasibility study suggests quantum computers still face major hurdles in solving quantum chemistry problems. The study, published in Physical Review B, evaluates what criteria are needed for a quantum advantage in searching for the ground state energy of molecules. The researchers attempt this feat using two different algorithms with differing strengths and weaknesses.

The team first determined the criteria for the variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) algorithm, which is used for noisy, near-term devices and sets an upper bound to the level of imprecision or decoherence in quantum hardware. The researchers derived quantitative criteria for VQE and QPE based on error rates, energy scales, and overlap with the ground state.

Results showed that VQE is extremely sensitive to hardware errors and decoherence. The team says that achieving chemical accuracy would require error rates far below current hardware capabilities. Available error mitigation techniques offer only limited improvement and scale poorly with system size.

Microsoft: Windows 11 users can’t access C: drive on some Samsung PCs

Microsoft is investigating a new issue affecting some Samsung laptops running Windows 11 after installing the February 2026 security updates, in which users lose access to their C:\ drive and are unable to launch applications.

The company says it is working with Samsung to determine whether the problem is related to the Windows updates or Samsung software installed on affected devices.

“Users might encounter the error, ‘C:\ is not accessible – Access denied’, which prevents access to files and blocks the launch of some applications including Outlook, Office apps, web browsers, system utilities and Quick Assist,” explains Microsoft.

Competitive interactions shape mammalian brain network dynamics and computation

Brain network architecture may balance cooperation and competition across circuits. Here the authors use computational whole-brain modeling across three species to show that models with competition are more realistic, more personalized and perform better.

How the brain can selectively focus attention on one voice among others in a noisy environment

MIT neuroscientists have figured out how the brain is able to focus on a single voice among a cacophony of many voices, shedding light on a longstanding neuroscientific phenomenon known as the “cocktail party problem.”

This attentional focus becomes necessary when you’re in any crowded environment, such as a cocktail party, with many conversations going on at once. Somehow, your brain is able to follow the voice of the person you’re talking to, despite all the other voices that you’re hearing in the background.

Using a computational model of the auditory system, the MIT team found that amplifying the activity of the neural processing units that respond to features of a target voice, such as its pitch, allows that voice to be boosted to the forefront of attention.

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