Researchers experimentally demonstrate the first fully connected annealing processor that can be scaled up across multiple chips. Annealing processors are more energy efficient and quicker at solving mathematical optimization problems than PCs. Researchers at Tokyo University of Science have now developed a new approach to realizing scalable fully coupled annealing processors. These quantum-inspired systems can model the interactions between magnetic spins and use it to solve complex optimization problems. The new method greatly outperforms modern CPUs and shows potential for applications in drug discovery, artificial intelligence, and materials science.

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For billions of years, the Milky Way’s largest satellite galaxies—the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds—have followed a perilous journey. Orbiting one another as they are pulled in toward our home galaxy, they have begun to unravel, leaving behind trails of gaseous debris. And yet—to the puzzlement of astronomers—these dwarf galaxies remain intact, with ongoing vigorous star formation.

“A lot of people were struggling to explain how these streams of material could be there,” said Dhanesh Krishnarao, assistant professor at Colorado College. “If this gas was removed from these galaxies, how are they still forming stars?”

With the help of data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and a retired satellite called the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE), a t...

The finding opens the door for a possible treatment for many liver diseases. A study identifies a molecule behind the runaway growth of bile duct cells inside the liver, which underlies many liver diseases.

The liver is the all-important organ behind processing of various substances we put into our bodies, from food and drink to alcohol and drugs. When things go awry with the liver, the consequences can be deadly. At the root of many liver diseases, from hepatitis to Non-Alcoholic SteatoHepatitis, commonly known as NASH, is scarring, otherwise known as liver fibrosis — and currently, there are no drugs available to treat this scarring.

Researchers are investigating the root causes of liver fibrosis in the hopes of identifying potential targets for drugs in the future...

The high-performing fibers could speed-up broadband delivery, improve medical imaging and even make solar powered clothing. Due to their very high efficiency in transporting electric charges from light, perovskites are known as the next generation material for solar panels and LED displays. A team led by Dr Lei Su at Queen Mary University of London now have invented a brand-new application of perovskites as optical fibres.

Optical fibres are tiny wires as thin as a human hair, in which light travels at a superfast speed — 100 times faster than electrons in cables. These tiny optical fibres transmit the majority of our internet data. At present, most optical fibres are made of glass...