ScienceDaily: Technology - April 22, 2024
Top technology research news
New copper-catalyzed C-H activation strategy
Inspired by what human liver enzymes can do, chemists have developed a new set of copper-catalyzed organic synthesis reactions for building and modifying pharmaceuticals and other molecules. The new reactions are expected to be widely used in drug discovery and optimization, as well as in other chemistry-based industries.
New beta-decay measurements in mirror nuclei pin down the weak nuclear force
Scientists have gained insights into the weak nuclear force from new, more sensitive studies of the beta decays of the 'mirror' nuclei lithium-8 and boron-8. The weak nuclear force drives the process of nuclear beta decay. The research found that the properties of the beta decays of lithium-8 and boron-8 are in perfect agreement with the predictions of the Standard Model.
Shoe technology reduces risk of diabetic foot ulcers
Researchers have developed a new shoe insole technology that helps reduce the risk of diabetic foot ulcers, a dangerous open sore that can lead to hospitalization and leg, foot or toe amputations.
Image: analyzing shoe insoles, Kartinkin77/Shutterstock.com
Compact quantum light processing
An international collaboration of researchers has achieved a significant breakthrough in quantum technology, with the successful demonstration of quantum interference among several single photons using a novel resource-efficient platform. The work represents a notable advancement in optical quantum computing that paves the way for more scalable quantum technologies.
Weather prediction models can also forecast satellite displacements
Researchers have found that modern weather models can accurately predict the energy that Earth emits and reflects into space, which directly affects the movements of low Earth-orbiting (LEO) satellites. By leveraging these models, the researchers gained insights into how LEO satellites respond to weather events below, such as tropical cyclones with tall and reflective clouds.
A flexible and efficient DC power converter for sustainable-energy microgrids
A new DC-DC power converter is superior to previous designs and paves the way for more efficient, reliable and sustainable energy storage and conversion solutions. The development can efficiently interface with a wide range of energy sources while enhancing system stability and simplicity at an unprecedented efficiency.
Energy scientists unravel the mystery of gold's glow
EPFL researchers have developed the first comprehensive model of the quantum-mechanical effects behind photoluminescence in thin gold films; a discovery that could drive the development of solar fuels and batteries.
Silent flight edges closer to take off
A new study reveals how noise is generated and propagated from these engines, technically known as boundary layer ingesting (BLI) ducted fans.
Octopus inspires new suction mechanism for robots
A new robotic suction cup which can grasp rough, curved and heavy stone, has been developed by scientists.
Teaching a computer to type like a human
A new typing model simulates the typing process instead of just predicting words.
Coal train pollution increases health risks and disparities
The first health impact study of coal train pollution centers on the San Francisco Bay Area, with scientists finding communities near passing coal trains suffer worse health outcomes.
When thoughts flow in one direction
Contrary to previous assumptions, nerve cells in the human neocortex are wired differently than in mice. The study found that human neurons communicate in one direction, while in mice, signals tend to flow in loops. This increases the efficiency and capacity of the human brain to process information. These discoveries could further the development of artificial neural networks.
Mess is best: Disordered structure of battery-like devices improves performance
The energy density of supercapacitors -- battery-like devices that can charge in seconds or a few minutes -- can be improved by increasing the 'messiness' of their internal structure. Researchers used experimental and computer modelling techniques to study the porous carbon electrodes used in supercapacitors. They found that electrodes with a more disordered chemical structure stored far more energy than electrodes with a highly ordered structure.
Skyrmions move at record speeds: A step towards the computing of the future
Scientists have discovered that the magnetic nanobubbles known as skyrmions can be moved by electrical currents, attaining record speeds up to 900 m/s. Anticipated as future bits in computer memory, these nanobubbles offer enhanced avenues for information processing in electronic devices. Their tiny size provides great computing and information storage capacity, as well as low energy consumption. Until now, these nanobubbles moved no faster than 100 m/s, which is too slow for computing applications. However, thanks to the use of an antiferromagnetic material as medium, the scientists successfully had the skyrmions move 10 times faster than previously observed. These results offer new prospects for developing higher-performance and less energy-intensive computing devices.
Novel material supercharges innovation in electrostatic energy storage
Scientists have developed artificial heterostructures made of freestanding 2D and 3D membranes that have an energy density up to 19 times higher than commercially available capacitors.
Data-driven music: Converting climate measurements into music
A geo-environmental scientist from Japan has composed a string quartet using sonified climate data. The 6-minute-long composition -- entitled 'String Quartet No. 1 'Polar Energy Budget'-- is based on over 30 years of satellite-collected climate data from the Arctic and Antarctic and aims to garner attention on how climate is driven by the input and output of energy at the poles.
AI tool predicts responses to cancer therapy using information from each cell of the tumor
Most cancer patients do not benefit from early targeted therapies. Scientists now describe a new computational pipeline to systematically predict patient response to cancer drugs at single-cell resolution.
Can bismuth prevent oil leaks?
Companies can't simply walk away from old oil and gas wells. They have to be capped in a way that protects the environment and prevents leaks. A new approach to today's solution could be better for the environment and cheaper, too.
How data provided by fitness trackers and smartphones can help people with MS
Monitoring and treating a case of multiple sclerosis requires reliable and long-term data on how the disease is progressing in the person in question. Fitness trackers and smartphones can supply this data, as a research team has now shown.
An ink for 3D-printing flexible devices without mechanical joints
Researchers are targeting the next generation of soft actuators and robots with an elastomer-based ink for 3D printing objects with locally changing mechanical properties, eliminating the need for cumbersome mechanical joints.
Researchers create new AI pipeline for identifying molecular interactions
AI developments in chemical biology could unlock new types of disease treatments.
Clearing the air: Wind farms more land efficient than previously thought
Wind power is a source of energy that is both affordable and renewable. However, decision-makers have been reluctant to invest in wind energy due to a perception that wind farms require a lot of land compared to electric power plants driven by fossil fuels. Research was based on the assessment of the land-use of close to 320 wind farms in the U.S. paints a very different picture.
Atom-by-atom: Imaging structural transformations in 2D materials
Silicon-based electronics are approaching their physical limitations and new materials are needed to keep up with current technological demands. Two-dimensional (2D) materials have a rich array of properties, including superconductivity and magnetism, and are promising candidates for use in electronic systems, such as transistors. However, precisely controlling the properties of these materials is extraordinarily difficult.
How 3D printers can give robots a soft touch
Soft skin coverings and touch sensors have emerged as a promising feature for robots that are both safer and more intuitive for human interaction, but they are expensive and difficult to make. A recent study demonstrates that soft skin pads doubling as sensors made from thermoplastic urethane can be efficiently manufactured using 3D printers.
Machine learning used to create a fabric-based touch sensor
A new fabric-based touch sensor used machine learning to control mobile apps, video games and other devices while integrated into clothing.
Artificial Intelligence beats doctors in accurately assessing eye problems
A study has found that the AI model GPT-4 significantly exceeds the ability of non-specialist doctors to assess eye problems and provide advice.
Astronomers uncover methane emission on a cold brown dwarf
Astronomers have discovered methane emission on a brown dwarf, an unexpected finding for such a cold and isolated world. The findings suggest that this brown dwarf might generate aurorae similar to those seen on our own planet as well as on Jupiter and Saturn.
From defects to order: Spontaneously emerging crystal arrangements in perovskite halides
A new hybrid layered perovskite featuring elusive spontaneous defect ordering has been found, report scientists. By introducing specific concentrations of thiocyanate ions into FAPbI3 (FA = formamidinium), they observed that ordered columnar defects appeared in the stacked crystalline layers, taking up one-third of the lattice space. These findings could pave the way to an innovative strategy for adjusting the properties of hybrid perovskites, leading to practical advances in optoelectronics and energy generation.
'Tube map' around planets and moons made possible by knot theory
Scientists have developed a new method using knot theory to find the optimal routes for future space missions without the need to waste fuel.
Spintronics: A new path to room temperature swirling spin textures
In some materials, spins form complex magnetic structures within the nanometer and micrometer scale in which the magnetization direction twists and curls along specific directions. Examples of such structures are magnetic bubbles, skyrmions, and magnetic vortices. Spintronics aims to make use of such tiny magnetic structures to store data or perform logic operations with very low power consumption, compared to today's dominant microelectronic components. However, the generation and stabilization of most of these magnetic textures is restricted to a few materials and achievable under very specific conditions (temperature, magnetic field...). Physicists have now investigated a new approach that can be used to create and stabilize complex spin textures, such as radial vortices, in a variety of compounds.
A better view with new mid-infrared nanoscopy
A team has constructed an improved mid-infrared microscope, enabling them to see the structures inside living bacteria at the nanometer scale. Mid-infrared microscopy is typically limited by its low resolution, especially when compared to other microscopy techniques. This latest development produced images at 120 nanometers, which the researchers say is a thirtyfold improvement on the resolution of typical mid-infrared microscopes. Being able to view samples more clearly at this smaller scale can aid multiple fields of research, including into infectious diseases, and opens the way for developing even more accurate mid-infrared-based imaging in the future.
AI speeds up drug design for Parkinson's by ten-fold
Researchers have used artificial intelligence techniques to massively accelerate the search for Parkinson's disease treatments. The researchers designed and used an AI-based strategy to identify compounds that block the clumping, or aggregation, of alpha-synuclein, the protein that characterises Parkinson's.
E-tongue can detect white wine spoilage before humans can
While the electronic tongue bears little physical resemblance to its namesake, the strand-like sensory probes of the 'e-tongue' still outperformed human senses when detecting contaminated wine in a recent study. In a recent experiment, the e-tongue identified signs of microorganisms in white wine within a week after contamination -- four weeks before a human panel noticed the change in aroma. This was also before those microbes could be grown from the wine in a petri-dish. Winemakers traditionally rely on these two methods, sniffing the wine and petri-dish testing, to identify potential wine 'faults' or spoilage.
Novel robotic training program reduces physician errors placing central lines
More than five million central lines are placed in patients who need prolonged drug delivery, such as those undergoing cancer treatments, in the United States every year, yet the common procedure can lead to a bevy of complications in almost a million of those cases. Researchers developed a robotic simulation training program to provide trainee physicians with more practice on the procedure. A year after deploying the program the team found that all complication types -- mechanical issues, infections and blood clots -- were significantly lower.
Two-dimensional nanomaterial sets record for expert-defying, counter-intuitive expansion
Engineers have developed a record-setting nanomaterial which when stretched in one direction, expands perpendicular to the applied force.
'Nanostitches' enable lighter and tougher composite materials
In an approach they call 'nanostitching,' engineers used carbon nanotubes to prevent cracking in multilayered composites. The advance could lead to next-generation airplanes and spacecraft.
Trash to treasure -- researchers turn metal waste into catalyst for hydrogen
Scientists have found a way to transform metal waste into a highly efficient catalyst to make hydrogen from water, a discovery that could make hydrogen production more sustainable.
Tagging marine animals with sensors to track their movements and ocean conditions can provide important environmental and behavioral information. Existing techniques to attach sensors currently largely rely on invasive physical anchors, suction cups, and rigid glues. While these techniques can be effective for tracking marine animals with hard exoskeletons and large animals such as sharks, individuals can incur physiological and metabolic stress during the tagging process, which can affect the quality of data collection. A newly developed soft hydrogel-based bioadhesive interface for marine sensors, referred to as BIMS, holds promise as an effective, rapid, robust, and non-invasive method to tag and track all sorts of marine species, including soft and fragile species. The BIMS tagging, which is also simple and versatile, can help researchers better understand animal behavior while also capturing oceanographic data critical for helping to better understand some impacts of climate change and for resource management.
Cooler transformers could help electric grid
Simulations on the Stampede2 supercomputer of the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) are helping scientists engineer solutions to overheating of grid transformers -- a critical component of the electric grid.
No gamma rays seen coming from nearby supernova
A nearby supernova in 2023 offered astrophysicists an excellent opportunity to test ideas about how these types of explosions boost particles, called cosmic rays, to near light-speed. But surprisingly, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected none of the high-energy gamma-ray light those particles should produce.
Neutrons rule the roost for cage-free lithium ions
Scientists using neutrons set the first benchmark (one nanosecond) for a polymer-electrolyte and lithium-salt mixture. Findings could boost power and safety for lithium batteries.
Researchers advance pigment chemistry with moon-inspired reddish magentas
A researcher who made color history in 2009 with a vivid blue pigment has developed durable, reddish magentas inspired by lunar mineralogy and ancient Egyptian chemistry.
Most massive stellar black hole in our galaxy found
Astronomers have identified the most massive stellar black hole yet discovered in the Milky Way galaxy. This black hole was spotted in data from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission because it imposes an odd 'wobbling' motion on the companion star orbiting it. Astronomers have verified the mass of the black hole, putting it at an impressive 33 times that of the Sun.
Researchers adapt a novel force measurement technique to uncover the previously unidentified physics at play at the thin air-film gap between water droplets and superhydrophobic surfaces.
A single atom layer of gold: Researchers create goldene
For the first time, scientists have managed to create sheets of gold only a single atom layer thick. The material has been termed goldene. According to researchers, this has given the gold new properties that can make it suitable for use in applications such as carbon dioxide conversion, hydrogen production, and production of value-added chemicals.
Photonic computation with sound waves
Optical neural networks may provide the high-speed and large-capacity solution necessary to tackle challenging computing tasks. However, tapping their full potential will require further advances. One challenge is the reconfigurability of optical neural networks. A research team has now succeeded in laying the foundation for new reconfigurable neuromorphic building blocks by adding a new dimension to photonic machine learning: sound waves. The researchers use light to create temporary acoustic waves in an optical fiber. The sound waves generated in this way can for instance enable a recurrent functionality in a telecom optical fiber, which is essential to interpreting contextual information such as language.
Quantum electronics: Charge travels like light in bilayer graphene
An international research team has demonstrated experimentally that electrons in naturally occurring double-layer graphene move like particles without any mass, in the same way that light travels. Furthermore, they have shown that the current can be 'switched' on and off, which has potential for developing tiny, energy-efficient transistors -- like the light switch in your house but at a nanoscale.
Creating an island paradise in a fusion reactor
In their ongoing quest to develop a range of methods for managing plasma so it can be used to generate electricity in a process known as fusion, researchers have shown how two old methods can be combined to provide greater flexibility.
Researchers can help shipowners achieve ambitious climate targets
International shipping does not want to be a climate bad guy and is aiming to be emission-free by 2050. A new tool can help shipowners who are searching for green solutions.
Crucial connection for 'quantum internet' made for the first time
Researchers have produced, stored, and retrieved quantum information for the first time, a critical step in quantum networking.
Next-generation treatments hitch a ride into cancer cells
Researchers found that a new activator called L687 induces cancer cells to accept delivery of antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) drugs. These drugs can treat cancer by blocking the transfer of messages from genes that encourage cancer growth. Previous methods to deliver ASOs into cells had only limited success. This research will help accelerate the development and delivery of novel ASO cancer therapies.
AI enhances physician-patient communication
A study shows that AI enhances physician-patient communication.
Global North energy outsourcing demands more attention
Manufacturing nations in the Global North are stockpiling energy and emission problems by outsourcing energy-intensive industrial processes to countries in the Global South.
Are these newly found rare cells a missing link in color perception?
Using adaptive optics, scientists have identified elusive retinal ganglion cells in the eye's fovea that could explain how humans see red, green, blue, and yellow.
The mystery of how Pluto got a giant heart-shaped feature on its surface has finally been solved by an international team of astrophysicists. The team is the first to successfully reproduce the unusual shape with numerical simulations, attributing it to a giant and slow oblique-angle impact.
Millions of gamers advance biomedical research
4.5 million gamers around the world have advanced medical science by helping to reconstruct microbial evolutionary histories using a minigame included inside the critically and commercially successful video game, Borderlands 3. Their playing has led to a significantly refined estimate of the relationships of microbes in the human gut. The results of this collaboration will both substantially advance our knowledge of the microbiome and improve on the AI programs that will be used to carry out this work in future.
GeoAI technologies for sustainable urban development
From heatwaves to pandemic diseases, the urban environments of the world face numerous challenges. Researchers are harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) and informatics to address emerging concerns related to environmental changes and urban growth.
New colorful plastic films for versatile sensors and electronic displays
Researchers have synthesized triarylborane (TAB) compounds that exhibit unusual optical responses upon binding to certain anions. They also synthesized thin polymer films that incorporate the TAB and retain the sensing as well as the light emission properties of the TAB. This work is an important advance in plastic research and has applications in analyte sensing as well as electronic display technologies.
Researchers have shown that a transition to green wastewater-treatment approaches in the U.S. that leverages the potential of carbon-financing could save a staggering $15.6 billion and just under 30 million tons of CO2-equivalent emissions over 40 years.
Quantum precision: A new kind of resistor
Researchers have developed a method that can improve the performance of quantum resistance standards. It's based on a quantum phenomenon called Quantum Anomalous Hall effect.