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Understanding and controlling phase transitions are fundamental to physics and central to many technological revolutions. There is currently strong interest in materials with coupled structural and electronic phase transitions, where controlling the transition plasticity naturally yields built-in memory—a key step in emulating neurons and synapses for “neuromorphic” or brain-like computing technologies.
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A research team from the Kyushu Institute of Technology, Kwansei Gakuin University, Tokyo City University, Kanazawa University, the University of Tokyo and other institutions has successfully completed the test operations conducted since the satellite was released into orbit. Having confirmed that the satellite meets its specified performance requirements, the team has begun routine operations for scientific astronomical observations.
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Quantum networks are systems that connect different users or devices using principles of quantum mechanics. In the future, these networks could help improve the security of communications.
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Until now, the alien white-hot worlds of exoplanets have been depicted as circular, but new research has revealed the true shape of their atmospheres to be a deformed sphere rather than a perfect circle.
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Researchers at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the University of Regensburg have developed a method for determining, using light, a quantum property of electrons that has hitherto been difficult to access. The focus is on what is known as Berry curvature—a quantity that describes certain geometric properties of the quantum mechanical states of electrons. The researchers measured it in a layer of the semiconductor tungsten diselenide, just one atomic layer thick, using ultrashort laser pulses. The results have been published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Photonics.
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Magnetic skyrmions (MSks) are swirling patterns of magnetization that form inside certain magnetic materials. They can behave like actual particles in many ways, exhibiting a stable internal structure and distinct boundaries. Because they are extremely small and can be pushed around with relatively little energy, MSks are regarded as promising information carriers in emerging technologies, including low-power memories and logic circuits. However, a major goal in the field has been to find practical ways to control their motion with high precision.
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Researchers have developed a new computational model that accounts for the effects of aging on our eyes’ ability to discriminate color. It could help guide lighting designs that make it easier for older adults to perceive colors while preserving the expected appearance for people with typical color vision.
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You sit down to meditate. A conversation returns, then thoughts. You bring your attention back to the breath. Sometimes, after many such returns, the effort eases. Thoughts lose their urgency, while awareness remains clear. Less occupies the mind, yet the moment still feels whole.
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For decades, physicists have sought a practical two-dimensional topological insulator: an ultrathin material whose interior blocks electricity but whose edges conduct it. In ordinary wires, electrons constantly bounce off imperfections, losing energy. But along the edges of a 2D topological insulator, electrons with opposite spins travel in opposite directions, like cars in one-way lanes, so they rarely scatter and lose energy.
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A faster way of finding the best diamond-based materials for quantum computers has been developed by a researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). The new approach has already identified promising materials for practical quantum sensors and computers that could one day transform scientific research as a whole. The research was recently published in the journal ACS Central Science and has already garnered attention from other experts in the field.
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Researchers have fashioned a layered topological material into a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip that senses spin-related electronic states at atomic resolution.
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A concept from the field of quantum mechanics, spin is a property of particles that has no direct counterpart in everyday experience. Since the early 20th century, researchers have learned to manipulate it deliberately by means of precisely shaped electromagnetic pulses. This has resulted in two technologies that are widespread today: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is commonplace in hospitals, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) is used to determine the structures of proteins and to develop new drugs. The mathematical framework of optimal control theory can be used to improve these technologies.
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A commercial lander that will be at the forefront of NASA’s efforts to establish a moon base, humanity’s first lunar outpost, has passed a series of critical tests at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The tests simulated the extreme temperatures and vacuum of space, as well as the intense shaking and ear-splitting roar of launch. Results show that Voyager Technologies’ Griffin Mission One (Griffin-1) spacecraft is ready to survive the rigors of space exploration.
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A Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)-led team has developed an improved model for predicting solar events that incorporates activity on the far side of the sun. The team studied near-simultaneous maps of the whole solar surface from 2010 to 2014, combining Earth observations with data from space-based assets showing the opposite side. The resulting framework constructs surface flux transport (SFT) models that are more complete and accurate than any previous model.
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Body camera video shows a Youngstown officer struggling to release his handgun from a jam after his partner was shot
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