Category Physics

The material yields soft, elastic objects that feel like human tissue. Researchers in the labs of Christopher Bates, an assistant professor of materials at UC Santa Barbara, and Michael Chabinyc, a professor of materials and chair of the department, have teamed to develop the first 3D-printable “bottlebrush” elastomer. The new material results in printed objects that have unusual softness and elasticity — mechanical properties that closely resemble those of human tissue.

Conventional elastomers, i.e. rubbers, are stiffer than many biological tissues...

Mobile-phone chargers and other devices could become much smaller after an all-RIKEN team of physicists successfully shrunk an electrical component known as an inductor to microscale dimensions using a quantum effect.

Inductors are a basic component of modern electrical circuits, and they are used in a wide range of applications including information processing, wireless circuits and chargers for mobile devices. They are based on the law of induction that English physicist Michael Faraday discovered in 1831...

Digital to analog converter bridges the gap between internet and electronic hardware. Researchers at the George Washington University and University of California, Los Angeles, have developed and demonstrated for the first time a photonic digital to analog converter without leaving the optical domain. Such novel converters can advance next-generation data processing hardware with high relevance for datacenters, 6G networks, artificial intelligence and more.

Current optical networks, through which most of the world’s data is transmitted, as well as many sensors, require a digital-to-analog conversion, which links digital systems synergistically to analog components...

Scientists and engineers at the University of Sydney and Microsoft Corporation have opened the next chapter in quantum technology with the invention of a single chip that can generate control signals for thousands of qubits, the building blocks of quantum computers.

“To realise the potential of quantum computing, machines will need to operate thousands if not millions of qubits,” said Professor David Reilly, a designer of the chip who holds a joint position with Microsoft and the University of Sydney.

“The world’s biggest quantum computers currently operate with just 50 o...