Author archives: César Tomé

Parity-time symmetry for faster and stronger optical signal processing

Parity-time symmetry for faster and stronger optical signal processing

Condensed matterQuantum physics

By César Tomé

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 […]

MI weekly selection #559

MI weekly selection #559

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

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 […]

MI weekly selection #558

MI weekly selection #558

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

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 […]

A closer look at peptide fibril assemblies

A closer look at peptide fibril assemblies

BiochemistryBiologyChemistryNanotechnology

By César Tomé

A new imaging technique can give scientists a much closer look at fibril assemblies, stacks of peptides like amyloid beta, most notably associated with Alzheimer’s disease. These cross-β fibril assemblies are also useful building blocks within designer biomaterials for medical applications, but their resemblance to their amyloid beta cousins, whose tangles are a symptom of […]

MI weekly selection #557

MI weekly selection #557

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Corals may have illuminated seas 540M years ago Deep-sea corals may have emitted the first bioluminescence 540 million years ago, about 270 million years before prehistoric shrimp that were previously thought to be the first light-producing animals. Researchers built an evolutionary tree based on 185 coral species to find one common ancestor of all living […]

Extracting lithium from waste liquids using aluminium hydroxide

Extracting lithium from waste liquids using aluminium hydroxide

Chemical engineeringChemistryEnergyMaterials

By César Tomé

A team of researchers has invented a more efficient way to extract lithium from waste liquids leached from mining sites, oil fields and used batteries. They demonstrated that a common mineral can adsorb at least five times more lithium than can be collected using previously developed adsorbent materials. The new low-cost high-lithium-uptake process presents the […]

MI weekly selection #556

MI weekly selection #556

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Cells in upper airway may trigger coughs to block water When a drink goes down the wrong way or reflux gurgles up, neuroendocrine cells in the upper airway set off coughing or other reflexes by telling the nervous system to expel the water or acid. Full Story: Live Science Sinking cities put millions of people […]

Parallel-channel nanocryotrons in magnetic fields

Parallel-channel nanocryotrons in magnetic fields

Condensed matterNanotechnologyParticle physicsPhysics

By César Tomé

Superconductors can carry large electrical currents without any resistance. One situation where they don’t carry currents without resistance is when there is too much current. By designing microscopic electronic components made from very thin superconductors, researchers can use this effect to create a switch, like a transistor. Nanowire superconducting switching devices (called nanocryotrons, or nTrons […]

MI weekly selection #555

MI weekly selection #555

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Blind quantum computing promises widespread access A breakthrough method to securely connect a quantum computing server to an independent computer over existing fiber optic networks could allow home or office computers to access quantum computing through the cloud,. The method dubbed blind quantum computing uses unique combinations of quantum memory and photons to ensure data […]