The brain-computer interface is real. It’s changing lives—and could soon change the world.
Category: computing – Page 10
Table salt enables new metallic nanotubes with potential for faster electronics
For the first time, researchers have made niobium sulfide metallic nanotubes with stable, predictable properties, a long-sought goal in advanced materials science. According to the international team, including a researcher at Penn State, that made the accomplishment, the new nanomaterial that could open the door to faster electronics, efficient electricity transport via superconductor wires and even future quantum computers was made possible with a surprising ingredient: table salt.
They published their research in ACS Nano.
Nanotubes are structures so small that thousands of them could fit across the width of a human hair. The tiny hollow cylinders are made by rolling up sheets of atoms; nanotubes have an unusual size and shape that can cause them to behave very differently from 3D, or bulk, materials.
Quantum “Pinball” State of Matter: Electrons That Conduct and Insulate at the Same Time
Physicists at Florida State University (FSU) have uncovered a fascinating new phase of matter — a “ quantum pinball state” in which electrons act both as conductors and insulators at the same time. In this bizarre quantum regime, some electrons freeze into a rigid crystalline lattice while others move freely around them, much like balls ricocheting around fixed pins in a pinball machine. The discovery offers a new perspective on how quantum materials behave and could pave the way for breakthroughs in quantum computing, spintronics, and superconductivity.
The research, published in npj Quantum Materials, was led by Dr. Aman Kumar, Prof. Hitesh Changlani, and Prof. Cyprian Lewandowski of FSU’s National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. Their study explores how electrons in a two-dimensional “moiré lattice” can transition between solid-like and liquid-like states under certain conditions, forming what physicists call a generalized Wigner crystal.
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 room temperature, 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 signal strength. This is fundamentally a materials-design problem. These computers require a lightweight material 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 computational model 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 natural gas,” 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 fiber cable 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 liquid state, known as a generalized Wigner crystal. Their work was published in npj Quantum Materials.