Today's Tech News: Notable or Not?

https://www.nanowerk.com/news2/gadget/newsid=65921.php "inorganic silicon-rich glass featuring self-forming nanograting hierarchical structures... ultrashort laser pulse 3D printing enables more electrode surface area, nanoscale channels facilitating rapid ion transport... induces 2 simultaneous reactions in glass-like precursor hydrogen silsesquioxane, resulting in self-organized nanoplates, and precursor converts into silicon-rich glass... optical communication, self-sustaining sensors, wearables, 5D optical data storage, energy storage, more compact/ efficient micro-supercapacitors"

https://www.curtin.edu.au/news/media-release/let-there-be-light-bright-future-for-solar-panels-tv-screens-and-more/ "'flatter, more even (nanoplatelet) zinc sulfide nanocrystals allow more ligands to attach to them more tightly, making various optoelectronics more efficient: brighter TV screens and LED lights, more detailed medical imaging, more efficient solar panels, photodetectors that sense light and convert it into an electrical signal, such as in cameras and sensors, plus laser diodes used in fibre-optic communication that convert electrical signals into light for data transmission"

https://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news3/newsid=65920.php "entangle photon qubits in computer chip by producing linked pairs using 1.2 μm thick material without needing additional optical gear maintaining link... paired photons vibrating in sync at room temperature... niobium oxide dichloride produces photon pairs efficiently despite its thinness... thicken stacking 2 crystal flakes together positioning grains perpendicular to each other, synchronizing maintaining link... compact, scalable. efficient, secure quantum computers instant quantum communications"

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-visible-communication-encryption-technology-chiral.html "fast, no electromagnetic interference, carries vast information via spatiotemporal polarized superposition quantum communication... chiral nanomaterials adjust polarization axis rotational tilt... twisting crystal using proteins/ DNA possessing chirality whose optical properties cannot be replicated without complete sequence information... combines quantum nanorods with nanowire providing rotational properties to the light, 3D printed 100's µm spatial resolution ns of temporal resolution... local communication, military"

https://energy.umd.edu/news/story/speedy-secure-sustainablemdashthatrsquos-the-future-of-telecom "consumes 100X less energy, 1/10th to 1 femtojoules... non-linear response, enabling quantum communication... Quantum Material Press automated tool including an exfoliator, cataloger, and stacker synthesizing high-quality, optimized exfoliated quantum 2D flakes"  

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-laser-strongest-ultra-short-pulses.html "more reliable 550 W average (peak 100 MW) power, 5.5 MHz... lasts < ps, exit laser in regular sequence 5 million pulses p/sec... 100 μm thin ytterbium disk... mirrors send light inside laser through disk several times before it leaves through outcoupling mirror, amplifying light maintaining stability...Semiconductor Saturable Absorber Mirror, reflectivity depending on strength of light hitting it, coaxing into sending out short pulses (higher intensity) rather than continuous beam... machining, high harmonic frequencies, X-rays"

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-powerful-compact-optical-frequency-unique.html "ultra low-loss silicon nitride waveguides... improved efficiency through coupled micro-resonators' better energy flow, broader pumping, improved temporal overlap between pump/ soliton... even power across comb lines enables consistent signal strength across multiple channels... methods: continuous-wave laser pumping, pulsed, parametrically-pumped microcombs... spectroscopy, optical frequency synthesis, astronomical calibration, compact atomic clocks, optical communications, LiDAR, microwave photonics" See also: Interdisciplinary advances in microcombs: Bridging physics and information technology https://phys.org/news/2024-10-interdisciplinary-advances-microcombs-bridging-physics.html

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-10-dragonfly-wing-pattern-vaults-domes.html "patterns stiffening ribs enabling withstanding both evenly distributed (topologically optimized best)/ asymmetric (turtle shells and dragonfly wings best) loads... ribs: more rigid counteract twisting, thinner ensures overall integrity... overall best: topological optimization with tight constraint on material expenditure allocating 70% of rib material to primary ribs, followed by parametric algorithm using up remaining filling in thinner secondary ribs (Voronoi pattern)... material conserved, greater creative architectural freedom"

https://en.physics.ustc.edu.cn/_t285/2024/0920/c7856a654003/page.htm "demonstrated Hardy’s nonlocality, closes detection efficiency loophole (optical losses), locality loophole (measurement choices could affect outcomes)... quantum mechanics prediction that where 3 Hardy events have 0 probability, non-0 probability for 4th, contradicting local realism... significance level of up to 5 standard deviations across 4.32 billion trials... deepens quantum mechanics understanding/ developing quantum technologies (quantum key distribution, quantum random number certification)"

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-10-ai-physics-meta-antennas.html "wide scanning angle, compact, high transmission gain... algorithm particles' optimization direction guided by extremum conditions derived from variational method, reducing computation time/ decreasing likelihood of suboptimal designs... 94.62806 relative strength, comparable but at significantly lower computational cost... optimal state after only 650 iterations, 1/6th computation time... 22 mm focal length, 1.524 mm thickness... complex multivariate/ multi-objective optimizations, satellite communication, radar, 5G, IoT" 

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-harnessing-quantum-principles-phased-arrays.html "overcomes limited bandwidth, signal congestion... IR delivers robust, interference-free signals... parallels quantum superposition principle in its execution... operates through arrays of smaller, complex optical antennas aligned on flat surface nested within larger arrays... collective behavior amplifies/ sharpens IR (can be adapted for other wavelengths)... dual wavelength clusters for redundancy... energy efficient selectively deactivating idle clusters... health care environments,  industrial/ office spaces"

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-10-solar-cell-fabrication-energy.html "improved stability, reliability, efficiency, affordability, sustainability, lifetime... 2 innovations: (1) hole-selective materials/ perovskite layers integration, simplifying manufacture... (2) inorganic electron transport layer, tin oxide for excellent thermal stability... does not require organic transfer layer... >25% power conversion efficiency optimizing oxygen vacancy defects within tin oxide layer, retaining >95% efficiency after 2,000 hours continuous operation... future: applying to larger perovskite solar modules" "

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-10-defects-solution-deposited-semiconductors-enabling.html "production at lower temperatures, ambient pressure, forming high-speed logic circuits operating in MHz (with delay down to 75 ns) and 508 pixels/ inch micro-displays... requiring fewer transistors drive bright, durable inorganic micro-LED displays and high-speed printable electronics for health care, smart packaging, IoT... processing more efficient, lower cost, better substrate compatibility... copper-indium-selenium ratio 1:5:8 yields 500X greater. mobility... future: find a more eco-friendly caalyst than hydrazine"

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-photonics-approach-quantum-efficiency.html "faster, fault-tolerant, capable of handling complex problems, scalable, resource-efficient using high-dimensional spatial encoding generating large cluster states... encoding multiple qubits within each photon through spatial encoding... cluster states with >9 qubits at 100 Hz... substantially reduces computation time by enabling instantaneous feedforward between qubits encoded within the same photon... quantum computing through photonics"

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-10-generator-offshore-renewables.html "extend installation's lifespan... each module can be added, replaced, moved individually without long downtimes... 10 to 15% reduced cost of energy produced, 30 to 40% increased operational life, 50 to 70% reduced lifetime operating and maintenance costs"

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-10-electrified-reactor-emissions-key-industries.html "alternative to high-temperature... 96% efficiency converting methane into usable energy (75% conversion for traditional)... compact, modular enabling easy integration into existing infrastructure, scalable... 3D-printed monoliths and a precise catalyst coating technique, we were able to optimize surface area and performance, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in methane reforming... chemical (methanol, ammonia, synthetic fuel) manufacturing, fertilizer production, hydrogen generation"

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-scientists-bulk-high-temperature-superconductivity.html "Tc ≈ 80K, pressures above 14GPa, in La3-xPrxNi2O7-δ... can be prepared in a relatively large quantity with better controlled quality and reproducibility via the wet-chemistry sol-gel method... ideal Ruddlesden-Popper structure, but intergrowths of 327/4310 and 327/214 phases detrimental factors... diamagnetic response with 97% superconducting shielding volume fraction"

https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2024/10/nature-and-plastics-inspire-breakthrough-in-soft-sustainable-materials/ "bio- compatible/ degradable, sustainably sourced, flexible, soft, formed by peptide amphiphiles/ piezoelectric fluoride plastic drives molecular self-assembly when placed in water... tunable peptide sequence tunes ferroelectricity... low external voltage switches multiaxial polarity in multiple directions around circle... ferroelectrics: biomedical devices/ implants, ultralight smart fabrics, human-computer interface, microscopic memory chips, sensors, catalytic processes in renewable energy storage”

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-10-holographic-3d-potential-revolutionize-multiple.html "tiny cavitation bubbles create extremely high temperatures/ pressure for trillionths of second quickly harden resin into complex acoustic holograms containing cross-sectional images... robotic arm movement based on algorithm-designed pattern... improve printing speed up to 20X, using less energy... can change image during printing... printing behind opaque objects: wall, inside tube, already approved for medical applications: print complex tissues (skin grafts), localized targeted drug/ cell delivery"

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-insights-electrode.html "bubbles block parts of electrode surface reducing electrode performance 10 to 25% by area where bubble contacts surface... AI-based open-source software tool automatically recognizes/ quantifies bubbles formed on surface enable control of electrodes' morphology/ chemistry... reduces amount of platinum/ iridium wasted by reaction-blocking bubbles... hydrogen production, carbon-capture, aluminum production,  chemical production using the chlor-alkali process"

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-energy-loss-metal-nanostructures-geometrical.html "called inverse square root law , shifts resonance from high-loss localized surface plasmon resonances to low-loss surface plasmon polaritons, resulting in 2-order-magnitude greater metal arrays' resonance quality... stronger nanoscale light-matter interactions... more powerful, efficient nanoscale optics: sensing, imaging, solar energy"

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-sustainable-material-cellulose-mxene-composites.html "photothermal, electrothermal, biocidal, piezoelectric... pressure sensitivity, electromagnetic interference shielding, antibacterial... zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 in-situ growth on cellulose nanofiber surface, enhancing biocidal activity/ electromagnetic interference shielding... wound dressings, solar desalination, pressure sensors monitoring human movements"

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-nanoscale-method-boosts-materials-advanced.html "on-demand modification of specific topological polarization structure orientation of atoms/ dipoles' internal permanent electric field... switches polarization guided by electrical stylus composed of lead, strontium, titanium, oxygen... data retention without power... devices operating at high frequencies due to intrinsic sub-THz resonances... enabled by intermediate out-of-plane state... memory storage, neuromorphic computing, low-power nanoelectronics, high-speed broadband, tunable optoelectronics"

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/wattage-wine-food-waste-offers-134717434.html "cheap, sustainable, increased energy storage capability... fruit, winemaking compounds (malic, tartaric acid) from food waste streams replace graphite electrode... food acids produce water-soluble metal dicarboxylate electrode materials"

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-09-energy-harvester-generates-electricity-seawater.html "multi-walled carbon nanotubes/ graphene oxide films with different oxygen functional groups as cathode and anode respectively, seawater electrolyte... more cations in electrolyte gather closer to anode, creating potential difference as result of ion rearrangement between 2 electrodes... high energy conversion efficiency, 24.6mW/cm3 power density, 4.2X higher... initial open circuit voltage restored without external energy... ocean sensors (temperature, dissolved oxygen, inorganic nitrogen) where device retrieval challenging"

https://www.earth.com/news/spaceship-thruster-technology-fueled-by-any-type-of-metal-could-fly-indefinitely/ "silicate minerals like olivine and pyroxene also come in handy for spacecraft landing on a moon or comet rich in these burnable metals, where they extract what they need to refuel... ensures enough fuel for extended missions, for: (1) mining and returning to Earth with iron and nickel, precious metals like platinum, gold, silver, (2) future missions where deep-space travel isn’t restricted by the limited availability of fuel... titled: Super Magdrive system"

https://phys.org/news/2024-09-physicists-ultrafast-quantum-entangled-electrons.html "photon emission direction relative to remaining bound electron in cleaved neutral hydrogen atom can be controlled by time interval between 2 laser flashes on scale of few hundred attoseconds... >100,000X faster entangled quantum state control, from nanoseconds to femto- or even attoseconds... electrons' emission direction with respect to protons can be modified by delaying attosecond pulses with respect to maxima and minima of laser light on time-scale of <1 femtosecond"

https://news.mit.edu/2024/ultracold-atoms-edge-state-0906 "cloud of about 1 million sodium atoms in corralled spin in laser-controlled trap at nano-kelvin temperature, crawling over microns in milliseconds, essentially forever, like marbles circling a bowl but without friction or slowing down, along edge of exotic material... flowing only in 1 direction along ring of laser light forming circular wall (edge-state)... analog for studying how 2D confined electrons under magnetic field exhibit Quantum Hall effect, but since atoms are larger, researchers were able to image"

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-harness-liquid-crystal-simple-versatile.html "2 foci, intensities adjustable (not limited to confined area) applying external voltage... lenses use 2 liquid crystal cell/ polymer layers... polarization imaging enhancing image contrast... edge imaging highlighting object outlines making easier to see fine details/ spot shapes...  inspired by multi-functional holographic devices... split left-handed circularly polarized light into 2 focused light beams: left-handed/ right-handed circular polarization... optical interconnections, biological imaging, AR, VR, optical computing"

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-10-coherent-optical-fiber-communication-tbs.html "with optical comb generation/ frequency reference distribution, replacing 100's built-in light sources within transponder modules... 650 carrier/ local oscillator pairs generated over most of S, C, and L bands (16 THz frequency band) without need for compact S-band light sources... transmitter/ receiver same oscillation frequency so no need of independent stabilization... 39-core multicore fiber with 38 cores supporting three-mode propagation, 1 core supporting single-mode...  transmission capacity 336 Tb/s, almost 200X greater"

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-quantum-communication-microwaves-efficiently-diamond.html "diamonds' tin vacancies (where diamond atoms replaced by tin) have optical/ magnetic properties, can be used as qubits when precisely controlled using microwaves... extending qubit coherence time to as long as 10 ms using dynamical decoupling largely suppresses interference... diamond qubits are solid phase so easier to work with... controlled with superconducting waveguides efficiently directing microwaves to defects without generating heat (temperature near absolute zero)... transfers qubit quantum states to photons"

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-hexagonal-magnetic-defects-energy-efficient.html "tailors system's behavior by causing stochastic topological excitations, controlling neural network's dynamics... collective stochastically-controlled artificial neural networks' behavior realized... controllably create topological states associated with ASI defects and demonstrate stochastic but statistically predictable behaviors within the ASI lattice... hardware realizations of low-energy future computing systems: magnetic memory devices, reconfigurable spin-waveguides/ logic"

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-scientists-unprecedented.html "trapping 3D active nematic liquid crystals (elongated molecules aligned in the same direction) within cell-sized spherical droplets... controlling molecule orientation... spontaneous deformation/ flow without external forces... stop moving when confinement is strong... control over active chaos... mix microtubule (biopolymer) bundles crucial for cell division, along with motor proteins/ oil creating emulsion... biological cell alignment, cell division mitotic spindle organization, soft robotics, artificial cells, self-healing materials" Related: Uncrackable: Scorpions and sponges inspire sustainable design https://phys.org/news/2024-10-uncrackable-scorpions-sponges-sustainable.html

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-physicists-strong-coupling-andreev-qubits.html "qubits formed at metal/ superconductor interface (Andreev reflection)... electron from metal enters superconductor becoming part of Cooper pair... hole behaving like positive particle reflects back into metal,  basis states readily controlled/ incorporated into circuits... 2 modes: (1) qubit's quantum state read via resonator, (2) couple 2 qubits allowing them to communicate without losing microwave photons, sharing new quantum state... combined 3 quantum systems... suitable as compact/ scalable solid-state qubits"

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-logic-diffraction-optical-based-parallel.html "based light's properties, resulting in more spatially/ power -efficient, functionally flexible, cooler, massively parallel, high-speed optics... 16 X 16 pixel black-and-white source image combined with series of images representing stages in logic operations, layers placed on top which obscure, manipulate or transmit something from layer beneath... light passed through casting output top layer on sensor, becoming digital storage or presentation... so far: 16 basic logic operations, future:  quantum computing"

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2024/10/02/storing-solar-power-through-aluminum-rock-composite/ "recycled aluminum/ volcanic rock/ proprietary material preventing  radiative loss, composite stores heat up to 500°C, producing up to 210°C hot water/ steam... enclosed in vacuum-insulated (prevents heat conduction/ convection loss) chamber heated using electric elements... produces steam through small amount of water passed through coil within core, extracting stored energy... varying water volume controls power output... being modular allows storage capacity up to 100 MWh... built 4 MWh first demonstrator"

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-10-key-barrier-safer-efficient-ev.html "safer, more efficient... overcoming resistance where ceramic electrolyte meets electrodes making battery less efficient/ reducing how much energydelivered... creating porous ceramic membrane instead of dense plate, filling it with small amount of polymer, allows lithium ions to move freely and eliminate the interfacial resistance between the solid electrolyte and the electrodes... improves the battery's performance but also creates a stable interface for high-voltage operation, one of the industry's key goals" Related: Solid electrolyte composed of nanoparticles shows promise for all-solid-state batteries https://phys.org/news/2024-10-solid-electrolyte-nanoparticles-state-batteries.html

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-quantum-paves-efficient-ultra-high.html "durable, fast, energy-efficient... narrow band emitters transfer optical data from rare earth embedded within solid material using slightly different wavelengths (multiplexing), to nearby quantum defect... overcomes light diffraction limit, boosting optical storage bit density... near-field energy transfer... quantum defects become excited from ground state/ flip spin state which is hard to reverse enabling long term storage... smaller wavelengths/ tiny defects enable denser data storage... future: how to read out the data"

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-materials-techniques-microelectronics-quantum-technologies.html "increase memory/ logic processing capability, reducing power consumption/ production costs... 2D organic metal halide hybrids... assemble into crystalline structures with different dimensionalities... powering spintronics exploiting electron's spin interaction with chirality... flipping electron spin in transit by forcing electron to go through chiral structure, becoming spin polarized flipping electron to spin in alignment with other electrons... solar cells, light-emitting diodes, photodetectors, quantum technologies"

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-based-microcapillary-biotechnology.html "evanescent light projected into 0.1 to 0.000010 mm diameter glass tube 3D printing nozzle... light transmitted to object, bright scattering light observed, disappearing when object touched.. light scattering overcomes diffraction-limited  resolution... improved stability, yield... glass microcapillary does not break, and target object is not damaged... biotechnology, manipulating cells, micro-electroplating, nano-3D printing, displays, microelectronics"

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-10-illuminate-age-soft-semiconductors.html "organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors are soft, flexible polymer semiconductors... Swells 300% when immersed in liquid electrolyte, yet maintain electronic functionality... soft gel-like crystal polymer structure stretches/ bends forming continuous electronic path around electrolyte bubbles forming between folded polymer ribbons... more efficient ion exchange with minimal strain on material, exhibiting impressive resilience to the physical changes and ion insertion... batteries, electronic devices"

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-solar-cells-2d-molecular-triptycene.html "1,8,13-substituted tripodal triptycene assembled into 2D hexagon stacked 1D, creating 2D + 1D structure... sandwiching pentacene and anthracene chromophores in space between, organizing planar acene chromophores, forming 2 distinct 2D self-assembling structures... single high-energy photon converted into 2 lower-energy triplet excitons, enhancing solar cell efficiency by increasing charge carriers... singlet fission occur with 88% quantum yield for generating pair of triplets and 130% for producing 2 free triplets