Rethinking the Quantum Chip

Researchers in Cleland Lab at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, including (from left) alumnus Haoxiong Yan, PhD candidate Xuntao Wu, and Prof. Andrew Cleland, have realized a new design for a superconducting quantum processor. (Photo by John Zich)

New research demonstrates a brand-new architecture for scaling up superconducting quantum devices. Researchers at the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) have realized a new design for a superconducting quantum processor, aiming at a potential architecture for the large-scale, durable devices the quantum revolution demands.

Unlike the typical quantum chip design that lays the information-processing qubits onto a 2-D grid, the team from the Cleland Lab has designed a modular qua...

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Mars’ Infamous Dust Storms can Engulf the Entire Planet: A new study examines how

Illustration of the surface of Mars with dust clouds billowing in the distance and crackling with lightning
Artist’s depiction of a dust storm on Mars. (Credit: NASA)

Dust storms on Mars could one day pose dangers to human astronauts, damaging equipment and burying solar panels. New research gets closer to predicting when extreme weather might erupt on the Red Planet.

Today’s weather report on Mars: Windy with a chance of catastrophic dust storms blotting out the sky.

In a new study, planetary scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder have begun to unravel the factors that kick off major dust storms on Mars — weather events that sometimes engulf the entire planet in swirling grit. The team discovered that relatively warm and sunny days may help to trigger them.

Heshani Pieris, lead author of the study, said the findings are a first step toward forecasting extreme weather on M...

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Industry-funded Study Suggests Coffee really is the Fountain of Youth

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

CNC-Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology researchers in Portugal report that regular, moderate coffee consumption (three cups per day) not only contributes to a longer life but also enhances the quality of those additional years by reducing the risk of major age-related diseases and maintaining better overall health.

Coffee consumption’s perception has shifted from potentially harmful to potentially beneficial over the last several decades. Scientific understanding of the underlying mechanisms by which coffee’s primary components, namely caffeine and chlorogenic acids, influence fundamental biological processes and are understood to have alertness, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, though how these might be involved in aging remains unclear.

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Battery-like Computer Memory Keeps Working Above 1,000°F

Battery-like computer memory keeps working above 1,000°F

The memory devices fabricated using tantalum oxide on this chip can store data for both conventional memory and in-memory computing above 1,000°F. Credit: Brenda Ahearn, Michigan Engineering

Computer memory could one day withstand the blazing temperatures in fusion reactors, jet engines, geothermal wells and sweltering planets using a new solid-state memory device developed by a team of engineers led by the University of Michigan.

Unlike conventional silicon-based memory, the new device can store and rewrite information at temperatures over 1,100°F (600°C)—hotter than the surface of Venus and the melting temperature of lead. It was developed in collaboration with researchers at Sandia National Laboratory.

“It could enable electronic devices that didn’t exist for high-tempera...

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