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Researchers create switchable mirrors from liquid metal

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Researchers have developed a way to dynamically switch the surface of liquid metal between reflective and scattering states. This technology could one day be used to create electrically controllable mirrors or illumination devices.

Liquid metals combine the electrical, thermal and optical properties of metals with the fluidity of a liquid. The new approach uses an electrically driven chemical reaction to create switchable reflective surfaces on a liquid metal.

No optical coatings nor polishing steps, which are typically required to make reflective optical components, are necessary to make the liquid metal highly reflective. [Read more…] about Researchers create switchable mirrors from liquid metal

Novel fast-beam-switching transceiver takes 5G to the next level

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Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) and NEC Corporation jointly develop a 28-GHz phased-array transceiver that supports efficient and reliable 5G communications.

The proposed transceiver outperforms previous designs in various regards by adapting fast beam switching and leakage cancellation mechanism.

With the recent emergence of innovative technologies, such as the Internet of Things, smart cities, autonomous vehicles, and smart mobility, our world is on the brink of a new age. [Read more…] about Novel fast-beam-switching transceiver takes 5G to the next level

Super productive 3D bioprinter could help speed up drug development

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A 3D printer that rapidly produces large batches of custom biological tissues could help make drug development faster and less costly.

Nanoengineers at the University of California San Diego developed the high-throughput bioprinting technology, which 3D prints with record speed – it can produce a 96-well array of living human tissue samples within 30 minutes.

Having the ability to rapidly produce such samples could accelerate high-throughput preclinical drug screening and disease modeling, the researchers said.

The process for a pharmaceutical company to develop a new drug can take up to 15 years and cost up to $2.6 billion. It generally begins with screening tens of thousands of drug candidates in test tubes. [Read more…] about Super productive 3D bioprinter could help speed up drug development

Technology that predicts protein stability is released by UK university spin-out company

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A cutting-edge digital tool that will make it cheaper, safer and faster for pharmaceutical companies to predict protein stability – a vital step in the development of new medicines – is being rolled out by scientists from the UK’s University of Bath through their spin-out company, BLOC Labs.

The tool, launched this week, will help researchers identify the most promising protein molecules for drug development. It has the potential to play an important role in the creation of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The market for these therapeutic antibodies is worth over £70 billion.

Monoclonal antibodies are a type of protein derived from natural antibodies and then refined and mass produced in the lab. They are steadily transforming the way we treat and prevent diseases, from cancer and conditions affecting the immune system to viral infections. [Read more…] about Technology that predicts protein stability is released by UK university spin-out company

Researchers create world’s most power-efficient high-speed ADC microchip

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To meet soaring demand for lightning-quick mobile technology, each year tech giants create faster, more powerful devices with longer-lasting battery power than previous models.

A major reason companies like Apple and Samsung can miraculously pull this off year after year is because engineers and researchers around the world are designing increasingly power-efficient microchips that still deliver high speeds.

To that end, researchers led by a team at Brigham Young University have just built the world’s most power-efficient high-speed analog-to-digital converter (ADC) microchip. An ADC is a tiny piece of technology present in almost every electronic piece of equipment that converts analog signals (like a radio wave) to a digital signal. [Read more…] about Researchers create world’s most power-efficient high-speed ADC microchip

Open-source GPU technology for supercomputers

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Researchers from the HSE International Laboratory for Supercomputer Atomistic Modelling and Multi-scale Analysis, JIHT RAS and MIPT have compared the performance of popular molecular modelling programs on GPU accelerators produced by AMD and Nvidia.

In a paper published by the International Journal of High Performance Computing Applications, the scholars ported LAMMPS on the new open-source GPU technology, AMD HIP, for the first time.

The scholars thoroughly analysed the performance of three molecular modelling programs – LAMMPS, Gromacs and OpenMM – on GPU accelerators Nvidia and AMD with comparable peak parameters. [Read more…] about Open-source GPU technology for supercomputers

World’s first fiber-optic ultrasonic imaging probe for future nanoscale disease diagnostics

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Scientists at the University of Nottingham have developed an ultrasonic imaging system, which can be deployed on the tip of a hair-thin optical fibre, and will be insertable into the human body to visualise cell abnormalities in 3D.

The new technology produces microscopic and nanoscopic resolution images that will one day help clinicians to examine cells inhabiting hard-to-reach parts of the body, such as the gastrointestinal tract, and offer more effective diagnoses for diseases ranging from gastric cancer to bacterial meningitis.

The high level of performance the technology delivers is currently only possible in state-of-the-art research labs with large, scientific instruments – whereas this compact system has the potential to bring it into clinical settings to improve patient care. [Read more…] about World’s first fiber-optic ultrasonic imaging probe for future nanoscale disease diagnostics

Researchers identify a psychedelic-like drug without the hallucinogenic side effects

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Psychedelic drugs have shown promise for treating neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

However, due to their hallucinatory side effects, some researchers are trying to identify drugs that could offer the benefits of psychedelics without causing hallucinations.

In the journal Cell on April 28, researchers report they have identified one such drug through the development of a genetically encoded fluorescent sensor – called psychLight – that can screen for hallucinogenic potential by indicating when a compound activates the serotonin 2A receptor. [Read more…] about Researchers identify a psychedelic-like drug without the hallucinogenic side effects

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New nanoscale device for spin technology

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Researchers at Aalto University have developed a new device for spintronics. The results have been published in the journal Nature Communications, and mark a step towards the goal of using spintronics to make computer chips and devices for data processing and communication technology that are small and powerful.

Traditional electronics uses electrical charge to carry out computations that power most of our day-to-day technology. However, engineers are unable to make electronics do calculations faster, as moving charge creates heat, and we’re at the limits of how small and fast chips can get before overheating.

Because electronics can’t be made smaller, there are concerns that computers won’t be able to get more powerful and cheaper at the same rate they have been for the past 7 decades. This is where spintronics comes in. [Read more…] about New nanoscale device for spin technology

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New tech builds ultralow-loss integrated photonic circuits

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Encoding information into light, and transmitting it through optical fibers lies at the core of optical communications. With an incredibly low loss of 0.2 dB/km, optical fibers made from silica have laid the foundations of today’s global telecommunication networks and our information society.

Such ultralow optical loss is equally essential for integrated photonics, which enable the synthesis, processing and detection of optical signals using on-chip waveguides.

Today, a number of innovative technologies are based on integrated photonics, including semiconductor lasers, modulators, and photodetectors, and are used extensively in data centers, communications, sensing and computing. [Read more…] about New tech builds ultralow-loss integrated photonic circuits