All posts tagged: Research

‘Shape-shifting’ quantum computer uses light to switch between different tasks

‘Shape-shifting’ quantum computer uses light to switch between different tasks

Published by Jenni Sidey

Imperial College London researchers developed a modular photonic processor called Clavina that combines programmable linear optical circuits with nonlinear quantum modules in one reconfigurable architecture. The system demonstrated 100-mode Gaussian boson sampling, quantum correlations across 8,000 time bins, Schrödinger cat states and quasi-deterministic production of error-correction resources called GKP states at roughly 2,000 per second. Clavina is not yet a fault-tolerant quantum computer, but its ability to reuse and swap functional modules could help photonic machines move beyond specialized experiments toward more general-purpose quantum processors. Light may become one of the most powerful tools for future quantum computers. Photons, the tiny particles that make up light, can carry quantum information quickly and with relatively low noise. But they also create a stubborn problem: they do not naturally interact very strongly. That weak interaction has limited many light-based quantum machines. They can perform useful linear operations, but they struggle with the nonlinear steps needed for full quantum computing. Researchers from Imperial College London’s Department of Physics and external collaborators have now developed a new architecture called …

First-ever floating titanium looks to transform marine construction

First-ever floating titanium looks to transform marine construction

Published by Jenni Sidey

Engineers created an open-cell 3D-printed titanium lattice that floats by filling only its hollow internal struts with closed-cell polyurethane foam. The hybrid structure remained buoyant after cracking, connection failures and the fracture of an entire lattice layer, while outperforming common marine materials at the same overall density. Short-term seawater tests showed little corrosion or strength loss, but larger prototypes and long-duration marine testing are still needed before real-world deployment. Titanium is famous for being strong, lightweight and corrosion resistant. Floating is not usually on that list. Australian engineers have now created a 3D-printed titanium structure that remains buoyant in water even after suffering major structural damage. The open lattice combines hollow titanium struts with polyurethane foam hidden inside their internal channels, allowing water to flow freely through the structure without making it sink. “Although metallic lattices can be incredibly light, with densities less than one-tenth the density of water, their open, interconnected spaces allow water to enter, causing them to sink,” said lead researcher Dr. Jordan Noronha. Cross sections of the titanium lattice cube showing …

Faint manganese signals could reveal how the universe built its elements

Faint manganese signals could reveal how the universe built its elements

Published by Jenni Sidey

Astronomers calculated 703 forbidden emission transitions from doubly ionized manganese, identifying line ratios that could reveal the temperature and density of supernova remnants and other nebular environments. Manganese is especially valuable because its abundance relative to iron changes as galaxies evolve, potentially allowing astronomers to trace the timing of stellar explosions and chemical enrichment across cosmic history. The work remains theoretical, but several predicted ultraviolet, optical and infrared manganese signatures could eventually be tested with the James Webb Space Telescope and ground-based observatories. A faint signal from manganese atoms scattered through exploded stars could give astronomers a new way to reconstruct billions of years of cosmic chemical evolution. The element is difficult to observe, but its abundance changes in a way that may preserve a record of how different generations of stars enriched their galaxies. Researchers have now calculated hundreds of emission lines from doubly ionized manganese, known as Mn III, and identified combinations that could reveal the physical conditions inside supernova remnants, H II regions and other nebulae. The work, recently published in Monthly …

Biology’s four-letter DNA alphabet just expanded to eight

Biology’s four-letter DNA alphabet just expanded to eight

Published by Jenni Sidey

Researchers showed that E. coli RNA polymerase can read and transcribe an eight-letter genetic alphabet containing four natural DNA letters and four synthetic ones. Cryo-electron microscopy structures at 2.42 to 2.75 angstrom resolution revealed that the enzyme recognizes synthetic base pairs using many of the same structural checkpoints it uses for natural DNA. The system still has fidelity challenges, but a modified synthetic base called Z* sharply reduced one major type of mispairing, offering a route toward more reliable expanded genetic codes. Every known organism on Earth relies on the same basic genetic alphabet. DNA stores information using four chemical letters, A, T, C and G, which pair in predictable combinations and provide the instructions for life. Researchers have now shown that one of biology’s most important molecular machines can work with twice that number. A team led by University of California San Diego researchers demonstrated that bacterial RNA polymerase can transcribe an eight-letter genetic system containing four natural nucleotides and four synthetic ones. The work, published in Nature Communications, moves expanded genetic alphabets closer …

Scientists trace the arrow of time to interactions between neurons

Scientists trace the arrow of time to interactions between neurons

Published by Jenni Sidey

Researchers developed an information-theoretic method for breaking a system’s local arrow of time into contributions from individual components, pairs, triplets and progressively larger groups. When applied to recordings from 53 neurons in a salamander retina, interactions between pairs of neurons accounted for about 66% to 74% of the measured local irreversibility. Surprisingly, retinal activity showed a stronger arrow of time while viewing a statistically time-reversible Brownian-motion stimulus than while viewing a natural movie, showing that neural irreversibility does not simply mirror the outside world. A shattered glass can fall apart, but its pieces do not spontaneously leap from the floor and reconstruct the glass. Smoke spreads through a room but does not normally gather itself back into a candle flame. This fundamental asymmetry between past and future is known as the arrow of time. Researchers at the CUNY Graduate Center’s Initiative for the Theoretical Sciences have developed a mathematical framework for asking a more subtle question: When a complicated system contains many interacting parts, where does its irreversibility actually come from? Their answer suggests complexity …

Massive offshore wind farms could shift rainfall across Europe’s coasts

Massive offshore wind farms could shift rainfall across Europe’s coasts

Published by Jenni Sidey

Very large offshore wind farm clusters could increase rain over the sea while reducing rain in nearby coastal regions. Turbines slow wind and stir the lower atmosphere, which can change how moist air rises, cools and moves toward land. The work does not argue against offshore wind, but it suggests future energy planning should consider regional weather effects. Offshore wind farms do more than turn moving air into electricity. When built in large clusters, they can also slow the wind, stir the lower atmosphere and change where moisture falls as rain. The simulations covered weather data from 2008 to 2017. By analyzing a full decade, the researchers could study average atmospheric patterns across many weather conditions, rather than relying on one unusual year. The team included existing offshore wind farm areas and potential future development zones. It also considered how turbines affect wind speed, atmospheric mixing and the movement of moisture through the air. “Model domain and wind farm layouts”. (CREDIT: Communications Earth & Environment) “Our work helps ensure that the further expansion of offshore …

Equal weight loss, different results: keto produced the largest liver changes

Equal weight loss, different results: keto produced the largest liver changes

Published by Jenni Sidey

All three diets improved body fat and insulin sensitivity after about 10% weight loss, but the ketogenic diet produced the largest short-term improvements in liver fat and several blood-sugar measures. Liver fat fell 67% with the ketogenic diet, compared with 45% on both Mediterranean and very-low-fat plant-forward diets, despite closely matched weight loss. The tightly controlled trial was small and lasted only several months, so it cannot establish the long-term health effects or sustainability of a ketogenic diet. Losing about 10% of body weight improved metabolic health regardless of whether people ate ketogenic, Mediterranean or very-low-fat diets. Yet once researchers held weight loss nearly equal, the composition of those diets still made a measurable difference. A randomized clinical trial at Washington University School of Medicine compared the three approaches in adults with obesity, prediabetes and fatty liver disease. Forty-two participants completed the intervention, with 14 in each diet group. The ketogenic group showed the largest reductions in liver fat, daily glucose and insulin exposure and several other metabolic measures. About half also no longer met …

Sea salt may have made Snowball Earth far colder than previously thought

Sea salt may have made Snowball Earth far colder than previously thought

Published by Jenni Sidey

Salt crystals left behind on extremely cold tropical sea ice may have reflected as much as 93% of incoming sunlight, amplifying the cooling that drove Snowball Earth. A new climate model produced two stable globally frozen states, with the salt-covered version substantially colder and more difficult to thaw than the version without salt. The researchers do not argue that salt triggered Snowball Earth, and the proposed feedback still needs testing in models that include moving ice, clouds, winds and dust. Earth’s descent into one of the most extreme climates in its history may have received an unexpected boost from ordinary sea salt. As oceans froze during the Neoproterozoic Era, crystals left behind on exposed tropical sea ice could have made Earth’s already-bright frozen surface even more reflective. That extra reflection may have accelerated cooling during the early stages of Snowball Earth, according to a new climate-modeling study. The results do not identify what originally sent Earth into global glaciation. Instead, they suggest salt precipitation could have strengthened an already advancing freeze once sea ice reached …

Humanity could start an 80,000-year journey to Alpha Centauri in 2029

Humanity could start an 80,000-year journey to Alpha Centauri in 2029

Published by Jenni Sidey

A nonprofit called the Fermi Explorer Mission plans to launch a spacecraft toward Alpha Centauri by the end of 2029 using a solar-electric trajectory developed through an AI-assisted physics research system. Physical Superintelligence’s technical assessment found that repeated close approaches to the Sun could let a lightweight spacecraft build enough speed for an interstellar trajectory, although the trip would still take roughly 73,000 to 80,000 years. The concept uses existing classes of propulsion technology rather than speculative lasers or nuclear power, but the 2029 schedule, spacecraft mass, long-duration operations and projected cost remain significant engineering challenges. Humanity’s first spacecraft deliberately aimed at another star may not need exotic engines, giant lasers or anything approaching the speed of light. It may simply need an extraordinary amount of patience. The nonprofit Fermi Explorer Mission announced plans Sept. 1 to launch a small spacecraft toward Alpha Centauri before the end of 2029. The organization expects the vehicle to pass through the neighboring star system’s outer reaches tens of thousands of years after everyone involved in its construction is …

New blood test measures beta-amyloid seeding to identify Alzheimer’s disease

New blood test measures beta-amyloid seeding to identify Alzheimer’s disease

Published by Jenni Sidey

A blood test that measures beta-amyloid “seeding” distinguished Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s-related mild cognitive impairment from comparison groups with strong accuracy. The assay uses ultrasound to amplify tiny amounts of misfolded amyloid, detecting laboratory Aβ seeds at concentrations as low as 1 femtomole. The results are promising, but larger, more diverse and longitudinal studies are needed before the test could be used broadly in clinical care. A blood sample may contain more than the amount of beta-amyloid circulating through the body. It may also reveal whether abnormal amyloid particles can trigger more protein clumping, a process closely tied to Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers at Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University developed a blood-based assay that measures this “seeding” activity. In a two-stage study of 549 participants, the test distinguished Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment caused by Alzheimer’s from comparison groups with strong accuracy. The method uses real-time ultrasonic protein misfolding cyclic amplification, or PMCA. Instead of measuring only how much beta-amyloid is present, it amplifies the ability of misfolded amyloid particles to make normal Aβ42 …