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Category: computing – Page 143

Argonne’s Science 101 series takes you back to the basics, with plain-language explanations of the scientific concepts behind our pivotal discoveries and our biggest innovations.

In this Science 101 video, postdoctoral researchers Gillian Beltz-Mohrmann and Florian Kéruzoré explore two of the biggest mysteries in science: dark matter and dark energy. These strange influences seem to be stretching the universe apart and clumping stuff together in unexpected ways. Together, they make up a whopping 95% of the universe, but because we can’t see or touch them, we don’t know what they are.

Researchers around the globe, including scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, are investigating the nature of dark matter and dark energy through large cosmological surveys, particle physics experiments and advanced computing and simulation.

Find out more about Argonne Science 101 ►► https://www.anl.gov/science-101

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The increasing demand for ever-faster information processing has ushered in a new era of research focused on high-speed electronics operating at frequencies nearing terahertz and petahertz regimes. While existing electronic devices predominantly function in the gigahertz range, the forefront of electronics is pushing towards millimeter waves, and the first prototypes of high-speed transistors, hybrid photonic platforms, and terahertz metadevices are starting to bridge the electronic and optical domains.

However, characterizing and diagnosing such devices pose a significant challenge due to the limitations of available diagnostic tools, particularly in terms of speed and spatial resolution. How shall one measure a breakthrough device if it’s the fastest and smallest of its kind?

In response to this challenge, a team of researchers from the University of Konstanz now proposes an innovative solution: They create femtosecond electron pulses in a transmission electron microscope, compress them with infrared laser light to merely 80 femtosecond duration, and synchronize them to the inner fields of a laser-triggered electronic transmission line with the help of a photoconductive switch. Then, using a pump-probe approach, the researchers directly sense the local electromagnetic fields in their electronic devices as a function of space and time.

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Scientists from the University of California San Diego and CEA-Leti have created a revolutionary piezoelectric-based DC-DC converter that unifies all power switches onto a single chip to increase power density. This new power topology, which extends beyond existing topologies, blends the advantages of piezoelectric converters with capacitive-based DC-DC converters.

The power converters the team developed are much smaller than the huge, bulky inductors currently used for this role. The devices could eventually be used for any type of DC-DC conversation, in everything from smartphones, to computers, to server farms and AR/VR headsets.

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An exotic electronic state observed by MIT physicists could enable more robust forms of quantum computing.

The electron is the basic unit of electricity, as it carries a single negative charge. This is what we’re taught in high school physics, and it is overwhelmingly the case in most materials in nature.

But in very special states of matter, electrons can splinter into fractions of their whole. This phenomenon, known as “fractional charge,” is exceedingly rare, and if it can be corralled and controlled, the exotic electronic state could help to build resilient, fault-tolerant quantum computers.

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Recycling previous metals from electronic waste is very expensive and, at a large scale, often requires exorbitant amounts of power and very expensive machines to recycle efficiently. However, scientists have discovered a food byproduct, whey protein, capable of recovering gold from electronic waste, making the recycling process substantially more efficient than it once was. With this byproduct, the energy cost of the entire recycling process can be 50 times lower than the value of the gold extracted from electronic components. The team found they could extract around 450mg of gold from 20 motherboards using this method.

This magical organic material comes in the form of whey proteins, a byproduct of dairy. Scientist Raffaele Mezzenga from the Department of Health Sciences and Technology discovered that an organic sponge made from whey proteins is exceptionally good at extracting metals from electronic components. To make this sponge, the scientists denature whey proteins under an acidic bath and high temperatures so the substance turns into a gel. Then, the scientists dry the gel, creating a sponge out of the whey protein fibrils.

But before the sponge can be used, the electronic waste must be prepared so it can do its job. First, electronic waste is dissolved in an acid bath to ionize the metals; then, the sponge is placed in the metal ion solution. Once in the bath, the ionized metals attach to the protein sponge, like a magnet picking up metal shavings. Mezzenga and his team of scientists discovered that most metal ions can adhere to the sponge, but gold ions do so a lot more efficiently.

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In the fascinating intersection of quantum computing and the human experience of time, lies a groundbreaking theory that challenges our conventional narratives: the D-Theory of Time. This theory proposes a revolutionary perspective on time not as fundamental but as an emergent phenomenon arising from the quantum mechanical fabric of the universe.

In my upcoming book with a working title Cybernetic Theory, the entire section is dedicated to the physics of time, where we discuss the D-Theory of Time, predicated or reversible quantum computing at large, which represents a novel framework that challenges our conventional understanding of time and computing. Here, we explore the foundational principles of the D-Theory of Time, its implications for reversible quantum computing, and how it could potentially revolutionize our approach to computing, information processing, and our understanding of the universe.

At its core, the D-Theory of Time suggests that time may not be a fundamental aspect of the universe but rather an emergent property arising from the interactions of more basic entities or processes. Time symmetry, in physics, refers to the principle that the fundamental laws governing the universe are invariant, or unchanged, when the direction of time is reversed. Given extra degrees of freedom, time is not a linear, unidirectional flow but a set of dimensions that can be traversed in both directions, akin to spatial dimensions. This perspective aligns with the concept of reversible quantum computing, where operations are not only forward but can also be reversed, preserving quantum information, and potentially enabling universal computations that are far beyond the capabilities of classical computing.

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As silicon-based computer chips approach their physical limitations in the quest for faster and smaller designs, the search for alternative materials that remain functional at atomic scales is one of science’s biggest challenges.

In a groundbreaking development, researchers at the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence have engineered a protective film that shields quantum semiconductor layers just one atom thick from environmental influences without compromising their revolutionary quantum properties. This puts the application of these delicate atomic layers in ultrathin within realistic reach. The findings have been published in Nature Communications.

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