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    Category Physics

    ‘Toggle Switch’ Can Help Quantum Computers Cut Through the Noise

    June 27, 2023, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    A blue-tinged drawing shows a schematic of the two qubits and resonator above a white rectangle, which represents the SQUID device that controls the connections and relationships among the qubits and resonator elements.
    This photo shows the central working region of the device. In the lower section, the three large rectangles (light blue) represent the two quantum bits, or qubits, at right and left and the resonator in the center. In the upper, magnified section, driving microwaves through the antenna (large dark-blue rectangle at bottom) induces a magnetic field in the SQUID loop (smaller white square at center, whose sides are about 20 micrometers long). The magnetic field activates the toggle switch. The microwaves’ frequency and magnitude determine the switch’s position and strength of connection among the qubits and resonator.
    Credit: R. Simmonds/NIST

    The novel device could lead to more versatile quantum processors with clearer outputs...

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    New Type of Computer Memory could greatly Reduce Energy use and Improve Performance

    June 26, 2023, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    New type of computer memory could greatly reduce energy use and improve performance
    Cross-sectional TEM images and energy-dispersive x-ray measurements from high-angle annular dark-field scanning TEM for different thin films. (A) Pure HfOx deposited at 400°C. Clear crystallites are visible in the film; red arrows indicate some of the grain boundaries. (B) Pure HfOx deposited at 30°C. While these films are not polycrystalline like pure HfOx deposited at 400°C, neither are they as uniform as the composite films presented in (C). (C) The thin films which resulted in stable electrical performance are amorphous or nanocrystalline. Some pillar-like structures can be discerned, indicated by red arrows. The addition of Ba to the films clearly leads to material uniformity by suppressing crystallization...
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    AI that uses Sketches to Detect Objects within an Image could Boost Tumor Detection, and Search for Rare Bird Species

    June 26, 2023, Categories  Physics, Biology/Biotechnology

    Flock of birds - pixabay source

    Teaching machine learning tools to detect specific objects in a specific image and discount others is a “game-changer” that could lead to advancements in cancer detection, according to leading researchers from the University of Surrey.

    Surrey is set to present its unique sketch-based object detection tool at this year’s Computer Vision, Pattern, and Recognition Conference (CVPR). The tool allows the user to sketch an object, which the AI will use as a basis to search within an image to find something that matches the sketch — while discounting more general options.

    Professor Yi-Zhe Song, leads this research at the University of Surrey’s Institute for People-Centred AI. He commented:

    “An artist’s sketch is full of individual cues that words cannot convey concisely, reiterating...

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    Researchers Expand Ability of Robots to Learn from Videos

    June 22, 2023, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    A team from CMU’s Robotics Institute used affordances to teach robots how to interact with objects.

    New work from Carnegie Mellon University has enabled robots to learn household chores by watching videos of people performing everyday tasks in their homes.

    The research could help improve the utility of robots in the home, allowing them to assist people with tasks like cooking and cleaning. Two robots successfully learned 12 tasks including opening a drawer, oven door and lid; taking a pot off the stove; and picking up a telephone, vegetable or can of soup.

    “The robot can learn where and how humans interact with different objects through watching videos,” said Deepak Pathak, an assistant professor in the Robotics Institute at CMU’s School of Computer Science...

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