Category Physics

Engineers discover new process for Synthetic Material Growth, enabling Soft Robots that Grow like Plants

Ph.D. student Matt Hausladen with a soft robot in the lab
University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers have developed a plant-inspired extrusion process that allows soft robots to build their own solid bodies from liquid to navigate hard-to-reach places and complicated terrain.

Soft robots can navigate hard-to-reach places like pipes or inside the human body. An interdisciplinary team of University of Minnesota Twin Cities scientists and engineers has developed a first-of-its-kind, plant-inspired extrusion process that enables synthetic material growth. The new approach will allow researchers to build better soft robots that can navigate hard-to-reach places, complicated terrain, and potentially areas within the human body.

The paper is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

“This is the first time t...

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Scalable and Fully Coupled Quantum-inspired Processor Solves Optimization Problems

Scalable and Fully Coupled Quantum-inspired Processor Solves Optimization Problems
Solving combinatorial optimization problems with a scalable fully coupled annealing processor.

Researchers experimentally demonstrate the first fully connected annealing processor that can be scaled up across multiple chips. Annealing processors are more energy efficient and quicker at solving mathematical optimization problems than PCs. Researchers at Tokyo University of Science have now developed a new approach to realizing scalable fully coupled annealing processors. These quantum-inspired systems can model the interactions between magnetic spins and use it to solve complex optimization problems. The new method greatly outperforms modern CPUs and shows potential for applications in drug discovery, artificial intelligence, and materials science.

Have you ever been faced with a pro...

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Researchers create Single-Crystal Organometallic Perovskite Optical Fibers

Single Crystal Perovskite Optical Fibre

The high-performing fibers could speed-up broadband delivery, improve medical imaging and even make solar powered clothing. Due to their very high efficiency in transporting electric charges from light, perovskites are known as the next generation material for solar panels and LED displays. A team led by Dr Lei Su at Queen Mary University of London now have invented a brand-new application of perovskites as optical fibres.

Optical fibres are tiny wires as thin as a human hair, in which light travels at a superfast speed — 100 times faster than electrons in cables. These tiny optical fibres transmit the majority of our internet data. At present, most optical fibres are made of glass...

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Artificial Intelligence Reduces a 100,000-equation Quantum Physics problem to only Four Equations

A visualization of a mathematical apparatus used to capture the physics and behavior of electrons moving on a lattice. Each pixel represents a single interaction between two electrons. Until now, accurately capturing the system required around 100,000 equations — one for each pixel. Using machine learning, scientists reduced the problem to just four equations. That means a similar visualization for the compressed version would need just four pixels. Domenico Di Sante/Flatiron Institute

Researchers trained a machine learning tool to capture the physics of electrons moving on a lattice using far fewer equations than would typically be required, all without sacrificing accuracy.

Using artificial intelligence, physicists have compressed a daunting quantum problem that until now requir...

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