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An unusual semiconductor is making physicists rethink the science of extreme conditions.

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A new method enables 2D-material semiconductor transistors to be directly integrated onto a fully fabricated 8-inch silicon wafer, which could enable a new generation of transistor technology, denser device integration, new circuit architectures, and more powerful chips.

Materials developed through nanotechnology may have unique properties and capabilities we’ve never seen before.

The Universe is swarming with galaxies, billions upon billions as far as the eye can see. And among this multitude, some galaxies really stand out in a spectacular way.

These are the quasar galaxies. Powered by an active supermassive black hole guzzling material at such a tremendous rate, they blaze with some of the brightest light in the Universe, lighting up the galactic center right across the electromagnetic spectrum. For decades, astronomers have wondered why some galaxies have such extreme activity and others do not.

Now they think they’ve cracked it. By making a careful study of nearby quasar and non-quasar galaxies, a team led by astrophysicist Jonny Pierce of the University of Hertfordshire in the UK concludes that, in a majority of cases, quasar activity is triggered when two galaxies start the process of colliding and merging.

Researchers from EPFL and IBM have created a novel laser that could revolutionize optical ranging technology. This laser is constructed from lithium niobate, a material frequently utilized in optical modulators to regulate the frequency or intensity of light transmitted through a device.

Lithium niobate is highly valued for its ability to manage large amounts of optical power and its high “Pockels coefficient.” This allows the material to alter its optical properties when an electric field is applied to it.

The researchers achieved their breakthrough by combining lithium niobate with silicon nitride, which allowed them to produce a new type of hybrid integrated tunable laser. To do this, the team manufactured integrated circuits for light (“photonic integrated circuits”) based on silicon nitride at EPFL, and then bonded them with lithium niobate wafers at IBM.

Microsoft is determined to thrust “AI” into all of its products at the moment and Microsoft Designer is no exception. This supposedly AI-driven service — currently in preview — is meant to create stunning social media posts, flyers etc. from your written prompts alone. Sadly, it’s about as intelligent as a Big Mac.

This is sort-of fine for a two-for one drinks offer:

This is, at best, conceptual:

Continue reading “Microsoft Designer Is The Very Worst Example Of AI” »

No human intervention is required.

A research team led by Yan Zeng, a scientist at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), has built a new material research laboratory where robots do the work and artificial intelligence (AI) can make routine decisions. This allows work to be conducted around the clock, thereby accelerating the pace of research.

Research facilities and instrumentation have come a long way over the years, but the nature of research remains the same. At the center of each experiment is a human doing the measurements, making sense of data, and deciding the next steps to be taken. At the A-Lab set up at Berkeley, the researchers led by Zeng want to break the current pace of research by using robotics and AI.

The project was the result of a collaboration between NASA and Ohio State University and the new alloy is called GRX-810.

Silver, gold and copper nanowires are leading contenders for next-generation nanoscale devices, however greater understanding of how they work and improved production methods are needed before they can be widely used, explains a recent review in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials.

“Metal nanowires are used for numerous applications, but our understanding of their mechanical properties remains elusive,” says Nurul Akmal Che Lah, engineer at Universiti Malaysia Pahang.

Lah and colleague Sonia Trigueros at the University of Oxford reviewed methods for synthesising and analysing silver, gold and copper nanowires for molecular-based electronics.