Mar 02, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Qubits, the building blocks of quantum computers, can be made from many different technologies. One way to make a qubit is to trap a single neutral atom in place using a focused laser, a technique that won the Nobel Prize in 2018. But to make...
Powerful warm winds seen blowing from a neutron star as it rips up its companion
Mar 02, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Using the most powerful telescopes on Earth and in space, a team of astronomers has found for the first time blasts of hot, warm and cold winds from a neutron star whilst it consumes matter from a nearby star. The discovery provides new insight into...
Gene editing gets safer thanks to redesigned Cas9 protein
Mar 02, 2022 (Nanowerk News) One of the grand challenges with using CRISPR-based gene editing on humans is that the molecular machinery sometimes makes changes to the wrong section of a host’s genome, creating the possibility that an attempt to repair a genetic mutation in one spot in the genome...
Researchers show how to make ‘computer’ out of liquid crystals
Mar 02, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Researchers with the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering have shown for the first time how to design the basic elements needed for logic operations using a kind of material called a liquid crystal—paving the way for a completely novel way of performing...
Bonding exercise: quantifying biexciton binding energy
Mar 02, 2022 (Nanowerk News) A rare spectroscopy technique performed at Swinburne University of Technology directly quantifies the energy required to bind two excitons together, providing for the first time a direct measurement of the biexciton binding energy in WS2. As well as improving our fundamental understanding of biexciton dynamics...
Small cyberphysical watermarks could prevent huge headaches caused by fake meds
Mar 02, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Counterfeit medications and pharmaceutical products are just a click away from being purchased from online pharmacies via smartphone. However, new anticounterfeiting technology can turn a smartphone into a lifesaver by simply taking a picture of a cyberphysical watermark and confirming if the medication is real...
Targeted enzymes destroy virus RNA
Mar 02, 2022 (Nanowerk News) A research team led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has successfully used specific enzymes to destroy the genetic information of SARS-CoV-2 directly after the virus penetrates the cell (Nucleic Acids Research, "Targeting genomic SARS-CoV-2 RNA with siRNAs allows efficient inhibition of viral replication...
‘Closest black hole’ system found to contain no black hole
Mar 02, 2022 (Nanowerk News) In 2020 a team led by European Southern Observatory (ESO) astronomers reported the closest black hole to Earth, located just 1000 light-years away in the HR 6819 system. But the results of their study were contested by other researchers, including by an international team based...
Surprising semiconductor properties revealed with innovative new method
Mar 01, 2022 (Nanowerk News) A research team probing the properties of a semiconductor combined with a novel thin oxide film have observed a surprising new source of conductivity from oxygen atoms trapped inside. Scott Chambers, a materials scientist at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, reported the...