The COVID-19 pandemic may be the deadliest viral outbreak the world has seen in more than a century. But statistically, such extreme events aren't as rare as we may think, asserts a new analysis of novel disease outbreaks over the past 400 years. The study, appearing the week of Aug. 23 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used a newly assembled record of … [Read more...] about Statistics say large pandemics are more likely than we thought: Most people are likely to experience an extreme pandemic like COVID-19 in their lifetime
Mathematicians build an algorithm to ‘do the twist’: New approach extracts rotational diffusion from X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy experiments
Mathematicians at the Center for Advanced Mathematics for Energy Research Applications (CAMERA) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a mathematical algorithm to decipher the rotational dynamics of twisting particles in large complex systems from the X-ray scattering patterns observed in highly sophisticated X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy … [Read more...] about Mathematicians build an algorithm to ‘do the twist’: New approach extracts rotational diffusion from X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy experiments
Layered graphene with a twist displays unique quantum confinement in 2-D
Scientists studying two different configurations of bilayer graphene -- the two-dimensional (2-D), atom-thin form of carbon -- have detected electronic and optical interlayer resonances. In these resonant states, electrons bounce back and forth between the two atomic planes in the 2-D interface at the same frequency. By characterizing these states, they found that twisting one … [Read more...] about Layered graphene with a twist displays unique quantum confinement in 2-D
Column: Want to read a tech company’s user agreements? Got 90 minutes to spare?
If you’re like most people, you don’t bother to read the user contracts and privacy policies that accompany all those “free” services you enjoy online — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the rest.You should, but that’s not what today’s column is about.Rather, let’s look at how Big Tech seems to go out of its way to prevent you from understanding what you’re agreeing to when you … [Read more...] about Column: Want to read a tech company’s user agreements? Got 90 minutes to spare?
Smallest biosupercapacitor provides energy for biomedical applications
The miniaturization of microelectronic sensor technology, microelectronic robots or intravascular implants is progressing rapidly. However, it also poses major challenges for research. One of the biggest is the development of tiny but efficient energy storage devices that enable the operation of autonomously working microsystems -- in more and more smaller areas of the human … [Read more...] about Smallest biosupercapacitor provides energy for biomedical applications
Mathematical model predicts best way to build muscle
Researchers have developed a mathematical model that can predict the optimum exercise regime for building muscle. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, used methods of theoretical biophysics to construct the model, which can tell how much a specific amount of exertion will cause a muscle to grow and how long it will take. The model could form the basis of a … [Read more...] about Mathematical model predicts best way to build muscle
Accessing high-spins in an artificial atom
Scientists from SANKEN at Osaka University demonstrated the readout of spin-polarized multielectron states composed of three or four electrons on a semiconductor quantum dot. By making use of the spin filtering caused by the quantum Hall effect, the researchers were able to improve upon previous methods that could only easily resolve two electrons. This work may lead to quantum … [Read more...] about Accessing high-spins in an artificial atom
Using artificial intelligence for early detection and treatment of illnesses
Artificial intelligence (AI) will fundamentally change medicine and healthcare: Diagnostic patient data, e.g. from ECG, EEG or X-ray images, can be analyzed with the help of machine learning, so that diseases can be detected at a very early stage based on subtle changes. However, implanting AI within the human body is still a major technical challenge. TU Dresden scientists at … [Read more...] about Using artificial intelligence for early detection and treatment of illnesses
One material with two functions could lead to faster memory: Researchers use perovskite to develop a memory device readable through both electrical and optical methods
In a step toward a future of higher performance memory devices, researchers from National Taiwan Normal University and Kyushu University have developed a new device that needs only a single semiconductor known as perovskite to simultaneously store and visually transmit data. By integrating a light-emitting electrochemical cell with a resistive random-access memory that are both … [Read more...] about One material with two functions could lead to faster memory: Researchers use perovskite to develop a memory device readable through both electrical and optical methods
Why ‘Twelve Minutes,’ a Hitchcock-taut video game thriller with A-list stars, spurs debate
“Twelve Minutes” begins with a revelation. A wife and a husband sit down for a late-night dessert and the wife starts to tell the husband that she’s pregnant. What happens next will forever change their lives.Depending on how we play — and the information at hand — expect an intruder claiming to be a cop, accusations of murder, actual acts of murder, a mystery involving a … [Read more...] about Why ‘Twelve Minutes,’ a Hitchcock-taut video game thriller with A-list stars, spurs debate