Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: computing – Page 5

How quantum computers can aid the search for room-temperature superconductors

For the first time, a quantum computer has successfully measured pairing correlations (quantum signals that show electrons teaming up in pairs), which is essential to helping scientists find one of the holy grails of physics—superconductors that work at room temperature.

Superconductors are materials that can conduct electricity with zero resistance, meaning no energy is lost as heat. To work, they need to be cooled to extremely low temperatures, which makes them expensive and impractical for widespread use. Physicists have been trying to tweak their structure to make them work at , and many believe that understanding and manipulating electron-pairing correlations are key to that breakthrough.

Gyromorphs combine liquid and crystal traits to enhance light-based computers

Researchers have been developing computers that deploy light (photons) rather than electricity to power storage and calculations. These light-based computers have the potential to be more energy efficient than traditional computers while also running calculations at greater speeds.

However, a major challenge in the production of light-based computers—still in their infancy—is successfully rerouting microscopic light signals on a computer chip with minimal loss in . This is fundamentally a materials-design problem. These computers require a to block additional light from all incoming directions—what’s known as an “isotropic bandgap material”—in order to maintain signal strength.

Scientists at New York University report the discovery of gyromorphs—a material that combines the seemingly incompatible properties of liquids and crystals and that performs better than any other known structure in blocking light from all incoming angles.

Composite metal foam could lead to safer hazmat transportation

A new study finds that composite metal foam (CMF) can withstand tremendous force—enough to punch a hole in a railroad tank car—at much lower weight than solid steel. The finding raises the possibility of creating a safer generation of tanker cars for transporting hazardous materials.

The researchers have also developed a that can be used to determine what thickness of CMF is needed in order to provide the desired level of protection necessary for any given application. The paper, “Numerical Model and Experimental Validation of Composite Metal Foam in Protecting Carbon Steel Against Puncture,” is published in Advanced Engineering Materials.

“Railroad tank cars are responsible for transporting a wide range of hazardous materials, from acids and chemicals to petroleum and liquefied ,” says Afsaneh Rabiei, corresponding author of a paper on the work and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University.

Sounds modify visual perception: New links between hearing and vision in the rodent brain

Sounds can alter the way the brain interprets what it sees. This is the key finding of a new study by SISSA researchers in Trieste, published in PLOS Computational Biology. The research shows that, when sounds are paired with moving visual stimuli, the latter are perceived differently by rats. In particular, auditory cues systematically alter vision by compressing the animals’ “perceptual space.”

Derived from the integration of behavioral experiments and computational modeling, the researchers’ findings indicate that auditory signals exert an inhibitory influence on visual perception. The study thus provides a new perspective on how the senses communicate within the brain, revealing that even direct connections between primary sensory areas—not only integration within higher-order association cortices—can profoundly influence perceptual experience.

Breakthrough could connect quantum computers at 200X the distance

Quantum computers are powerful, lightning-fast and notoriously difficult to connect to one another over long distances.

Previously, the maximum distance two quantum computers could connect through a was a few kilometers. This means that, even if fiber cable were run between them, quantum computers in the University of Chicago’s South Side campus and downtown Chicago’s Willis Tower would be too far apart to communicate with each other.

Research published today in Nature Communications from University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) Asst. Prof. Tian Zhong would theoretically extend that maximum to 2,000 km (1,243 miles).

Quantum ‘pinball’ state of matter in electrons allows both conducting and insulating properties, physicists discover

Electricity powers our lives, including our cars, phones, computers, and more, through the movement of electrons within a circuit. While we can’t see these electrons, electric currents moving through a conductor flow like water through a pipe to produce electricity.

Certain materials, however, allow that electron flow to “freeze” into crystallized shapes, triggering a transition in the state of matter that the electrons collectively form. This turns the material from a conductor to an insulator, stopping the flow of electrons and providing a unique window into their complex behavior. This phenomenon makes possible new technologies in quantum computing, advanced superconductivity for energy and medical imaging, lighting, and highly precise atomic clocks.

A team of Florida State University-based physicists, including National High Magnetic Field Laboratory Dirac Postdoctoral Fellow Aman Kumar, Associate Professor Hitesh Changlani and Assistant Professor Cyprian Lewandowski, have shown the conditions necessary to stabilize a phase of matter in which electrons exist in a solid crystalline lattice but can “melt” into a , known as a generalized Wigner crystal. Their work was published in npj Quantum Materials.

Physicists observe key evidence of unconventional superconductivity in magic-angle graphene

Superconductors are like the express trains in a metro system. Any electricity that “boards” a superconducting material can zip through it without stopping and losing energy along the way. As such, superconductors are extremely energy efficient, and are used today to power a variety of applications, from MRI machines to particle accelerators.

But these “conventional” superconductors are somewhat limited in terms of uses because they must be brought down to ultra-low temperatures using elaborate cooling systems to keep them in their superconducting state.

If superconductors could work at higher, room-like temperatures, however, they would enable a new world of technologies, from zero-energy-loss power cables and electricity grids, to practical quantum computing systems. And so, scientists at MIT and elsewhere are studying “unconventional” superconductors—materials that exhibit in ways that are different from and potentially more promising than today’s superconductors.

Novel Therapy Developed for Aggressive Melanoma Subtype

Neuroblastoma RAS viral oncogene homolog (NRAS)-mutant melanoma is an aggressive form of skin cancer that develops because of a RAS genetic mutation within the cells. It is a common mutation in melanoma and accounts for 15–20% of melanoma diagnoses. An individual has greater risk of melanoma when exposed to the sun for extended periods of time. Additionally, individuals may have family history of melanoma that would increase their risk. It is important to regularly visit the dermatologist to confirm pigmented or non-pigmented moles are not cancerous. To evaluate each mole doctor’s access the change in shape, color, size, and unusual growth as time progresses.

Melanoma, specifically the NRAS subtype, can grow rapidly and spread to other areas of the body. Symptoms may also include change in nail appearance, eye issues, and mouth sores. While dependent on the stage of cancer, treatment usually includes drugs that target the NRAS pathway. Immunotherapeutic approaches include a checkpoint inhibitor treatment that activates immune cell response. Other forms of treatment include surgery and combination therapy. Scientists are working to learn more about NRAS melanoma and how to develop better treatments. Recent work has shown particular promise of treating NRAS melanoma in the lab and clinic.

A recent article in Cancer Immunology Research, by Dr. Keiran Smalley and others, demonstrated that blocking the RAS pathway in NRAS-mutated melanoma cells limit tumor growth and expansion. Smalley is a Professor and Scientific Director in the Donald A. Adam Comprehensive Melanoma Research Center of Excellence at Moffitt Cancer Center. His work focuses on understanding melanoma and the immune response after therapeutic treatment. In addition, Smalley is interested in using computational biology and other techniques to not only assess therapeutic benefit but develop novel treatments specific to mutated melanoma cells.

/* */