Category Technology/Electronics

Did you know that the camera sensor in your smartphone could help unlock the secrets of antimatter? The AEgIS collaboration, led by Professor Christoph Hugenschmidt’s team from the research neutron source FRM II at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), has developed a detector using modified mobile camera sensors to image, in real time, the points where antimatter annihilates with matter.

This new device, described in a paper published in Science Advances, can pinpoint antiproton annihilations with a resolution of about 0.6 micrometers, a 35-fold improvement over previous real-time methods.

AEgIS and other experiments at CERN’s Antimatter Factory, such as ALPHA and GBAR, are on a mission to measure the free-fall of antihydrogen within Earth’s gravitational field with high pr...

Can we really trust AI to make better decisions than humans? A new study says … not always. Researchers have discovered that OpenAI’s ChatGPT, one of the most advanced and popular AI models, makes the same kinds of decision-making mistakes as humans in some situations—showing biases like overconfidence of hot-hand (gambler’s) fallacy—yet acting inhuman in others (e.g., not suffering from base-rate neglect or sunk cost fallacies).

Published in the Manufacturing & Service Operations Management journal, the study reveals that ChatGPT doesn’t just crunch numbers—it “thinks” in ways eerily similar to humans, including mental shortcuts and blind spots...

Superconductivity is a quantum physical state in which a metal is able to conduct electricity perfectly without any resistance. In its most familiar application, it enables powerful magnets in MRI machines to create the magnetic fields that allow doctors to see inside our bodies. Thus far, materials can only achieve superconductivity at extremely low temperatures, near absolute zero (a few tens of Kelvin or colder).

But physicists dream of superconductive materials that might one day operate at room temperature. Such materials could open entirely new possibilities in areas such as quantum computing, the energy sector, and medical technologies.

“Understanding the mechanisms leading to the formation of superconductivity and discovering exotic new superconducting phases is not only...

Sometimes cell phones die sooner than expected or electric vehicles don’t have enough charge to reach their destination. The rechargeable lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries in these and other devices typically last hours or days between charging. However, with repeated use, batteries degrade and need to be recharged more frequently.

Now, researchers are considering radiocarbon as a source for safe, small and affordable nuclear batteries that could last decades or longer without charging.

Su-il In, a professor at Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology, presents his results at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Soc...