Building a Better Quantum Bit: New qubit breakthrough could transform quantum computing

An illustration of the qubit platform made of a single electron on solid neon. Researchers froze neon gas into a solid at very low temperatures, sprayed electrons from a light bulb onto the solid and trapped a single electron there to create a qubit. (Courtesy of Dafei Jin/Argonne National Laboratory)

A team led by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, in close collaboration with FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Wei Guo, has announced the creation of a new qubit platform that shows great promise to be developed into future quantum computers. Their work is published in Nature.

“Quantum computers could be a revolutionary tool for performing calculations that are practically impossible for classica...

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Astronomers discover a Rare ‘Black Widow’ Binary, with the Shortest Orbit yet

Caption:An illustrated view of a black widow pulsar and its stellar companion. The pulsar’s gamma-ray emissions (magenta) strongly heat the facing side of the star (orange). The pulsar is gradually evaporating its partner.
Credits:Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Cruz deWilde

The system is orbited by third stellar companion and may have originated near the center of the Milky Way. The flashing of a nearby star has drawn MIT astronomers to a new and mysterious system 3,000 light years from Earth. The stellar oddity appears to be a new “black widow binary” — a rapidly spinning neutron star, or pulsar, that is circling and slowly consuming a smaller companion star, as its arachnid namesake does to its mate.

Astronomers know of about two dozen black widow binaries in the Milk...

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Repairing Tendons with Silk Proteins

Researchers have developed a silk composite for significantly improved tendon regeneration and repair. Just mentioning a ruptured Achilles tendon would make anyone wince. Tendon injuries are well known for their lengthy, difficult and often incomplete healing processes. Sudden or repetitive motion, experienced by athletes and factory workers, for example, increases the risk of tears or ruptures in the tendons; thirty percent of all people will have a tendon injury, with the risk being highest in women. What’s more, those who suffer from these injuries are more prone to further injuries at the site or never recover fully.

Tendons are bands of fibrous connective tissue that attach muscles to bones...

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Seashell-inspired Shield Protects Materials in Hostile Environments

SEM A and STEM B cross sectional image showing the 5-layered nanocomposite structure with alternate silica and carbon black layers after heating treatment at more than 800 °C. B HAADF image and intensity profiles for carbon and silicon show the interfaces between substrate and coated silica layers on the right and the sugar-derived carbon layer between two silica layers on the left. The thickness of the carbon layer is estimated to be ~ 10–20 nm based on the spike of carbon signal. Credit: MRS Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1557/s43580-022-00245-y

Environmentally friendly coating outperforms conventional materials...

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