Computers

The burden of student loans in the U.S. continues to grow unabatedly, currently accounting for a total of $1.7 trillion in household debt among nearly 45 million borrowers. "The introduction of income-based repayment over the past decade has made student loans rather complicated products," Paolo Guasoni of Dublin City University said. As borrowers navigate this complex process, … [Read more...] about Finding the optimal way to repay student debt

Although robotic devices are used in everything from assembly lines to medicine, engineers have a hard time accounting for the friction that occurs when those robots grip objects -- particularly in wet environments. Researchers have now discovered a new law of physics that accounts for this type of friction, which should advance a wide range of robotic technologies. "Our work … [Read more...] about New law of physics helps humans and robots grasp the friction of touch

Scientists in China have developed a small, flexible device that can convert heat emitted from human skin to electrical power. In their research, presented April 29 in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, the team showed that the device could power an LED light in real time when worn on a wristband. The findings suggest that body temperature could someday power wearable … [Read more...] about Small generator captures heat given off by skin to power wearable devices

Claiming that something has a defect normally suggests an undesirable feature. That's not the case in solid-state systems, such as the semiconductors at the heart of modern classical electronic devices. They work because of defects introduced into the rigidly ordered arrangement of atoms in crystalline materials like silicon. Surprisingly, in the quantum world, defects also … [Read more...] about Blueprint for a robust quantum future

If a base station in a local area network tries to use a directional beam to transmit a signal to a user trying to connect to the network -- instead of using a wide area network broadcast, as base stations commonly do -- how does it know which direction to send the beam? Researchers from Rice University and Brown University developed a link discovery method in 2020 using … [Read more...] about Exploiting non-line-of-sight paths for terahertz signals in wireless communications

Researchers have big ideas for the potential of quantum technology, from unhackable networks to earthquake sensors. But all these things depend on a major technological feat: being able to build and control systems of quantum particles, which are among the smallest objects in the universe. That goal is now a step closer with the publication of a new method by University of … [Read more...] about Scientists harness molecules into single quantum state: Discovery could open new fields in quantum chemistry and technology

Every day, the sun ejects large amounts of a hot particle soup known as plasma toward Earth where it can disrupt telecommunications satellites and damage electrical grids. Now, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Princeton University's Department of Astrophysical Sciences have made a discovery that could lead to … [Read more...] about New computer model helps brings the sun into the laboratory

Scientists characterized how the electronic states in a compound containing iron, tellurium, and selenium depend on local chemical concentrations. They discovered that superconductivity (conducting electricity without resistance), along with distinct magnetic correlations, appears when the local concentration of iron is sufficiently low; a coexisting electronic state existing … [Read more...] about Mapping the electronic states in an exotic superconductor

Researchers at the University of Bath investigating how virtual reality (VR) can help improve balance believe this technology could be a valuable tool in the prevention of falls. As people grow older, losing balance and falling becomes more common, which increases the risk of injury and affects the person's independence. Falls are the leading cause of non-fatal injuries in over … [Read more...] about Virtual reality could help improve balance in older people

In the quantum realm, electrons can group together to behave in interesting ways. Magnetism is one of these behaviors that we see in our day-to-day life, as is the rarer phenomena of superconductivity. Intriguingly, these two behaviors are often antagonists, meaning that the existence of one of them often destroys the other. However, if these two opposite quantum states are … [Read more...] about A path to graphene topological qubits