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Article archives
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Parity-time symmetry for faster and stronger optical signal processing
In the era of big data, signal processing faces significant challenges in terms of capacity and energy consumption due to the torrent of data to process. With over 90% of data transmitted through light, optical signal processing may offer unprecedented speed and energy efficiency compared to its electronic counterparts, as it operates without the need […]
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A. sudhausi, the superworm
Author: Ramón Muñoz-Chápuli has been Professor of Animal Biology in the University of Málaga until his retirement. He has investigated for forty years in the fields of developmental biology and animal evolution. Nematode worms may not be very popular, but what we know about their abundance is astonishing. After arthropods, chordates, and molluscs, they constitute […]
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MI weekly selection #559
Underground blobs may have triggered plate tectonics Giant blobs deep underground, left by Earth’s collision with the planet Theia 4.5 billion years ago, led to Earth’s first subduction about 200 million years later, which in turn triggered surface breaks that became tectonic-plate borders, according to computer modeling. Seismologists and geologists used existing data on the […]
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How to calculate entanglement entropy using a Monte Carlo method
Entanglement entropy is a measure of the degree of quantum entanglement between two subsystems constituting a two-part composite quantum system. But entanglement entropy also quantifies the information shared between a subsystem and its environment in a quantum many-body wavefunction. Interestingly, the finite-size scaling form of entanglement entropy has contributions that depend uniquely on universal physical […]
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Herculaneum Papyri talking from the ashes
Ashes have always been a powerful and evocative metaphor representing a vanished and irretrievable past. However, we live in prodigious times, in which nothing can be taken for granted anymore, and the feat of reading the contents of some of the charred papyri of Herculaneum is a good example of this. The credit goes to […]
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Accidentally foreign: The unseen challenges of Foreign Accent Syndrome
If you speak more than one language, you are probably familiar with not being able to sound like a native speaker. At least, you know you’re trying your best to speak a foreign language! And, you know, in the end, your accent is also part of your identity. But wouldn’t it feel quite discouraging if […]
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LiDAR-detectable black for self-driving vehicles to see
Driving at night might be a scary challenge for a new driver, but with hours of practice it soon becomes second nature. For self-driving cars, however, practice may not be enough because the lidar sensors that often act as these vehicles’ “eyes” have difficulty detecting dark-coloured objects. New research describes a highly reflective black paint […]
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MI weekly selection #558
High level of invisible auroras on Mars due to solar cycle The sun’s solar maximum, which happens once in its approximately 11-year cycle, has caused unprecedented global auroras on Mars, according to data from NASA. The proton auroras on Mars aren’t visible to the naked eye, but NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft have […]
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Vortices and skyrmions in water surfaces
Numerous physical systems—from classical electromagnetic fields to quantum particle fields—exhibit oscillating wave behavior. Specific settings exist, both in nature and in artificial systems, where these waves form patterns with holes, loops, and other distinct topological characteristics, often referred to as topological wave structures. Now, a team of researchers describes how these structures, which have previously […]