Wireless Receiver Blocks Interference for Better Mobile Device Performance

A cellphone has a blue shield which blocks red interference.
Caption: A new receiver can block up to four times more interference than some similar devices.
Credits:Image: MIT News; iStock

The growing prevalence of high-speed wireless communication devices, from 5G mobile phones to sensors for autonomous vehicles, is leading to increasingly crowded airwaves. This makes the ability to block interfering signals that can hamper device performance an even more important — and more challenging — problem.

With these and other emerging applications in mind, MIT researchers demonstrated a new millimeter-wave multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) wireless receiver architecture that can handle stronger spatial interference than previous designs. MIMO systems have multiple antennas, enabling them to transmit and receive signals from different directions...

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Scientists Clarify Origins of Lunar Metallic Iron

Scientists clarify origins of lunar metallic iron
Characterizations of ULnpFe0 on extremities of impact glass beads. Credit: Institute of Physics

“We discovered that the glass beads in the Chang’e-5 lunar soil can preserve iron particles of different sizes, from about 1 nanometer to 1 micrometer,” said Prof. Bai.

“It is generally difficult to distinguish npFe0 of different origins observed together in single samples. Here we used the rotation feature of the impact glass beads to clearly distinguish npFe0 formed before and after the solidification of the host glass beads.”

In this study, the scientists found numerous discrete large npFe0, tens of nanometers in size, which tended to concentrate towards the extremities of the glass beads. This concentration effect can cause ultralarge npFe0 to protrude from the extremities.

Suc...

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Serotonin 2C Receptor Regulates Memory in Mice and Humans: Implications for Alzheimer’s Disease

Artists rendition of a brain and neuron activity in a gold color.

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Cambridge in the U.K. and collaborating institutions have shown that serotonin 2C receptor in the brain regulates memory in people and animal models. The findings, published in the journal Science Advances, not only provide new insights into the factors involved in healthy memory but also in conditions associated with memory loss, like Alzheimer’s disease, and suggest novel avenues for treatment.

“Serotonin, a compound produced by neurons in the midbrain, acts as a neurotransmitter, passing messages between brain cells,” said co-corresponding author Dr. Yong Xu, professor of pediatrics—nutrition and associate director for basic sciences at the USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center at Baylor.

“Serotonin-produc...

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A Possible World Record: Studying Thin Films Under Extreme Temperatures with Reflectometry

A possible world record: Studying thin films under extreme temperatures with reflectometry
Schematic of the Ni/Cu catalytic alloy-mediated EG synthesis on 3C–SiC on silicon. Credit: RSC Advances (2024). DOI: 10.1039/D3RA08289J

A team of researchers from ANSTO and University of Technology Sydney have set a record by conducting thin film experiments at 1,100 degrees Celsius, using the Spatz reflectometer equipped with a vacuum furnace.

The unique combination of neutron reflectometry with high temperature apparatus enables atomic-scale insights into thin film growth and diffusion processes. This is of relevance to a wide range of thin film technology and devices which undergo a range of processing and heat treatment conditions to optimize performance.

The UTS group, led by Francesca Iacopi and Aiswarya Pradeepkumar, has been studying the growth of thin carbon sheets (...

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