Computers

Northwestern researchers have developed a new microscopy method that allows scientists to see the building blocks of "smart" materials being formed at the nanoscale. The chemical process is set to transform the future of clean water and medicines and for the first time people will be able to watch the process in action. "Our method allows us to visualize this class of … [Read more...] about New electron microscopy technique offers first look at previously hidden processes

The perfect transmission of sound through a barrier is difficult to achieve, if not impossible based on our existing knowledge. This is also true with other energy forms such as light and heat. A research team led by Professor Xiang Zhang, President of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) when he was a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, (UC Berkeley) has for the … [Read more...] about Perfect transmission through barrier using sound

Chemists at the University of Bonn (Germany) have synthesized extremely unusual compounds. Their central building block is a silicon atom. Different from usual, however, is the arrangement of the four bonding partners of the atom, which are not in the form of a tetrahedron around it, but flat like a trapezoid. This arrangement is usually energetically extremely unfavorable, yet … [Read more...] about Chemists synthesize ‘flat’ silicon compounds: The molecules generated at the University of Bonn are very stable despite their unusual spatial shape

Researchers at the University of Tsukuba have created a new carbon-based electrical device, π-ion gel transistors (PIGTs), by using an ionic gel made of a conductive polymer. This work may lead to cheaper and more reliable flexible printable electronics. Organic conductors, which are carbon-based polymers that can carry electrical currents, have the potential to radically … [Read more...] about Flexible and powerful electronics

Access to the Internet is essential for economic development, education, global communications, and countless other applications. For all its benefits, however, the Internet has a darker side. It has emerged as a conduit for spreading misinformation, stoking tensions, and promoting extremist ideologies. Yet there is hope. In the latest issue of Psychological Science in the … [Read more...] about Citizens versus the internet: Confronting digital challenges with cognitive tools

Berkeley -- Imagine typing on a computer without a keyboard, playing a video game without a controller or driving a car without a wheel. That's one of the goals of a new device developed by engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, that can recognize hand gestures based on electrical signals detected in the forearm. The system, which couples wearable biosensors with … [Read more...] about High-five or thumbs-up? New device detects which hand gesture you want to make

A mathematical model that can help project the contagiousness and spread of infectious diseases like the seasonal flu may not be the best way to predict the continuing spread of the novel coronavirus, especially during lockdowns that alter the normal mix of the population, researchers report. Called the R-naught, or basic reproductive number, the model predicts the average … [Read more...] about Traditional model for disease spread may not work in COVID-19

Many of us may still be familiar with the simple physical principles of magnetism from school. However, this general knowledge about north and south poles quickly becomes very complex when looking at what happens down to the atomic level. The magnetic interactions between atoms at such minute scales can create unique states, such as skyrmions. Skyrmions have very special … [Read more...] about Big step with small whirls: Skyrmions — the basis for a completely new computer architecture?

Rapid and accurate identification of mosquitoes that transmit human pathogens such as malaria is an essential part of mosquito-borne disease surveillance. Now, researchers reporting in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases have shown the effectiveness of an artificial intelligence system -- known as a Convoluted Neural Network -- to classify mosquito sex, genus, species and … [Read more...] about Researchers use artificial intelligence to ID mosquitoes

Even though it has been widely known that wearing a face mask will help mitigate the community spread of COVID-19, less is known regarding the specific effectiveness of masks in reducing the viral load in the respiratory tracts of those wearing them. In Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, researchers from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and California Baptist … [Read more...] about The mask matters: How masks affect airflow, protection effectiveness