Category Physics

Assembly of the Majorana Demonstrator Module 1 detectors. Twenty-nine detectors are arranged in seven strings and mounted in an ultra-low-radioactivity copper cryostat. The array is assembled inside a nitrogen-purged glovebox to avoid exposure to naturally occurring radon in the air. Credit: Image courtesy of Sanford Underground Research Facility

In 2014, the Majorana Demonstrator started its search for neutrinoless double beta decay. Observation of this decay would have profound implications for our understanding of physics, including providing hints as to how the Big Bang produced more matter than it did antimatter. The 1st of 2 modules, with >22 kg of high purity germanium detectors, has been turned on.

The Majorana experiment will search for neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decay in ger...

Distribution of the 40 nonsynonymous MT2 variants identified by exon resequencing.

New light has been shed on why people who carry a common genetic melatonin receptor mutation may be more at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. By carefully studying healthy subjects, researchers were able to chart the effect of melatonin supplements on blood sugar control. Their results suggest that taking melatonin close to mealtimes may put people with a common genetic variant more at risk.

As many as 50% of people of European ancestry carry this genetic variation in MTNR1B, a gene that encodes a melatonin receptor...

Graphene/WSe2 (2-D material)/graphene heterostructure. Credit: ICFO-Fabien Vialla

A 2D crystal, combined with graphene, has the capability to detect optical pulses with a response faster than 10 picoseconds, while maintaining a high efficiency, a new study demonstrates. Ultra-fast detection of light lies at the heart of optical communication systems nowadays. Driven by the internet of things and 5G, data communication bandwidth is growing exponentially, thus requiring even faster optical detectors that can be integrated into photonic circuits.

Prof Frank Koppens’s team has shown that a 2D crystal, combined with graphene, has the capability to detect optical pulses with a response faster than 10 picoseconds, while maintaining a high efficiency...

This image shows inside the laboratories at ANFF, where the researchers designed and built the world’s first two-qubit logic gate. Credit: UNSW

Quantum logic gate in silicon built for the for the first time, making calculations between 2 qubits of information possible – and thereby clearing the final hurdle to making silicon quantum computers a reality. “What we have is a game changer,” said Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor and Director of the Australian National Fabrication Facility at UNSW. “Because we use essentially the same device technology as existing computer chips, we believe it will be much easier to manufacture a full-scale processor chip than for any of the leading designs, which rely on more exotic technologies.”

In classical computers, data is rendered as binary bits, which ...