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Category: nanotechnology – Page 61

Next Generation Computers: New Wiring Material could Transform Chip Technology

The rapid technological advancements of our world have been enabled by our capacity to design and fabricate ever smaller electronic chips. These underpin computers, mobile phones and every smart device deployed to date.

One of the many challenges is that electronic components generate increasingly more heat as they are miniaturized. A significant issue lies in making the wires which connect the transistors on the chip thinner while ensuring that the minimum amount of heat is released.

These interconnects are typically made from copper, and as we start to scale them down to nano-scale thicknesses, their electrical resistance increases rapidly because the electrons moving along the wires have a higher probability of colliding into the surface of the wire. Known as scattering, this leads to energy being released in the form of waste heat, meaning you need more power to maintain the same level of performance.

Self-driving lab for the photochemical synthesis of plasmonic nanoparticles with targeted structural and optical properties

The automated synthesis of plasmonic nanoparticles with on-demand properties is a challenging task. Here the authors integrate a fluidic reactor, real-time characterization, and machine learning in a self-driven lab for the photochemical synthesis of nanoparticles with targeted properties.

Minecraft players can now explore whole cells and their contents

Scientists have translated nanoscale experimental and computational data into precise 3D representations of bacteria, yeast and human epithelial, breast and breast cancer cells in Minecraft, a video game that allows players to explore, build and manipulate structures in three dimensions.

The innovation will allow researchers and students of all ages to navigate biological cells, puncturing through the membranes of organelles to view their interiors or wandering across the cytoplasm to see how the various structures are distributed within the cell.

“CraftCells: A Window into Biological Cells” is the first broadly accessible tool allowing users to get an accurate picture of whole cells in 3D, said Zaida (Zan) Luthey-Schulten, a professor of chemistry and of physics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who led the work with Illinois bioengineering professors Stephen Boppart and Rohit Bhargava, graduate student Kevin Tan, postdoctoral researchers Zane Thornburg and Seth Kenkel, and study lead author Tianyu Wu, a biophysics graduate student at the U. of I.

Scientists achieve optical control of phase and group velocities in everyday liquids

The phase and the group velocity of light propagating in conventional optical media cannot exceed the speed of light in vacuum. However, in so-called epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) materials, light exhibits an infinite phase velocity and a vanishing group velocity for a particular color (frequency).

So far, such properties have only been observed in very few solids and nano-engineered materials. A new study by researchers from the Max Born Institute in Berlin and Tulane University in New Orleans opens a completely new avenue by transiently turning ordinary liquids, such as water and alcohols, into ENZ materials at terahertz (THz) frequencies through the interaction with intense femtosecond laser pulses.

Ionization of a polar molecular liquid with generates , which localize or “solvate” on a femtosecond time scale and eventually occupy voids in the network of molecules, a disordered array of electric dipoles. The binding energy of the electron in its final location is mainly determined by electric forces between the electron and the molecular dipoles of the liquid.

The spliceosome: An atomic-level look into how cells avoid errors when manufacturing mRNA

A complex molecular machine, the spliceosome, ensures that the genetic information from the genome, after being transcribed into mRNA precursors, is correctly assembled into mature mRNA. Splicing is a basic requirement for producing proteins that fulfill an organism’s vital functions. Faulty functioning of a spliceosome can lead to a variety of serious diseases.

Researchers at the Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center (BZH) have succeeded for the first time in depicting a faulty “blocked” at high resolution and reconstructing how it is recognized and eliminated in the cell. The research was published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.

The of all living organisms is contained in DNA, with the majority of genes in higher organisms being structured in a mosaic-like manner. So the cells are able to “read” the instructions for building proteins stored in these genetic mosaic particles, they are first copied into precursors of mRNA, or messenger RNA. The spliceosome then converts them into mature, functional mRNA.

New laser technology that scans a face half-a-mile away developed

LiDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, works by measuring the time it takes for a laser pulse to travel to an object and back. This time-of-flight measurement reveals the distance, and by scanning across an area, a 3D image is created.

This new tech utilizes a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD), an ultrasensitive detector developed by the MIT and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Nature research paper: Emergence of collective oscillations in massive human crowds

Dense crowds form some of the most dangerous environments in modern society. Dangers arise from uncontrolled collective motions, leading to compression against walls, suffocation and fatalities. Our current understanding of crowd dynamics primarily relies on heuristic collision models, which effectively capture the behaviour observed in small groups of people. However, the emergent dynamics of dense crowds, composed of thousands of individuals, remains a formidable many-body problem lacking quantitative experimental characterization and explanations rooted in first principles. Here we analyse the dynamics of thousands of densely packed individuals at the San Fermín festival (Spain) and infer a physical theory of dense crowds in confinement. Our measurements reveal that dense crowds can self-organize into macroscopic chiral oscillators, coordinating the orbital motion of hundreds of individuals without external guidance. Guided by these measurements and symmetry principles, we construct a mechanical model of dense-crowd motion. Our model demonstrates that emergent odd frictional forces drive a non-reciprocal phase transition7 towards collective chiral oscillations, capturing all our experimental observations. To test the robustness of our findings, we show that similar chiral dynamics emerged at the onset of the 2010 Love Parade disaster and propose a protocol that could help anticipate these previously unpredictable dynamics.

International collaboration sheds new light on the relationship between quantum theory and thermodynamics

Researchers from Nagoya University in Japan and the Slovak Academy of Sciences have unveiled new insights into the interplay between quantum theory and thermodynamics. The team demonstrated that while quantum theory does not inherently forbid violations of the second law of thermodynamics, quantum processes may be implemented without actually breaching the law.

This discovery, published in npj Quantum Information, highlights a harmonious coexistence between the two fields, despite their logical independence. Their findings open up new avenues for understanding the thermodynamic boundaries of quantum technologies, such as and nanoscale engines.

This breakthrough contributes to the long-standing exploration of the second law of thermodynamics, a principle often regarded as one of the most profound and enigmatic in physics.

Revolutionary Laser Propulsion: Caltech’s New Lightsail Innovation Promises Stellar Journeys

Discover how Caltech’s groundbreaking research on ultrathin light sails is revolutionizing space travel. This video explains the innovative design, precise measurements, and surprising discoveries that are paving the way for interstellar propulsion. Dive into the science behind using laser-driven membranes to propel spacecraft and learn why this breakthrough is a game-changer for future space exploration.

Paper link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s4156… 00:00 Introduction 00:57 Experimental Innovations in Lightsail Design 03:56 Precision Measurement of Radiation Pressure 07:37 Future Directions, Implications, and a Relevant Discovery 11:06 Outro 11:16 Enjoy MUSIC TITLE: Starlight Harmonies MUSIC LINK: https://pixabay.com/music/pulses-star… Visit our website for up-to-the-minute updates: www.nasaspacenews.com Follow us Facebook: / nasaspacenews Twitter: / spacenewsnasa Join this channel to get access to these perks: / @nasaspacenewsagency #NSN #NASA #Astronomy#InterstellarLightsail #Caltech #SpaceExploration #BreakthroughStarshot #LaserPropulsion #Nanotechnology #SpaceTech #InterstellarTravel #LightsailDesign #Physics #Astrophysics #SpaceInnovation #RocketScience #FutureTech #LaserSail #PhotonPropulsion #SciTech #SpaceResearch #Astronomy #Innovation #ScienceNews #Interstellar #SpaceMission #LabResearch #Nanofabrication #EdgeScattering #RadiationPressure #Metamaterials #SpaceExplorationNews #NextGenTech.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction.
00:57 Experimental Innovations in Lightsail Design.
03:56 Precision Measurement of Radiation Pressure.
07:37 Future Directions, Implications, and a Relevant Discovery.
11:06 Outro.
11:16 Enjoy.

MUSIC TITLE: Starlight Harmonies.
MUSIC LINK: https://pixabay.com/music/pulses-star…

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www.nasaspacenews.com.

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