Microsoft has released a set of vision models called Florence 2 is a prompt-based vision model designed for computer vision and image processing tasks such as image description, object recognition, localization, and segmentation.
Researchers at the National Graphene Institute have made a groundbreaking discovery that could revolutionise energy harnessing and information computing. Their study, published in Nature (“Control of proton transport and hydrogenation in double-gated graphene”), reveals how electric field effects can selectively accelerate coupled electrochemical processes in graphene.
Electrochemical processes are essential in renewable energy technologies like batteries, fuel cells, and electrolysers. However, their efficiency is often hindered by slow reactions and unwanted side effects. Traditional approaches have focused on new materials, yet significant challenges remain.
The Manchester team, led by Dr Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo, has taken a novel approach. They have successfully decoupled the inseparable link between charge and electric field within graphene electrodes, enabling unprecedented control over electrochemical processes in this material. The breakthrough challenges previous assumptions and opens new avenues for energy technologies.
Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science discovered a new type of vortex formed by photon interactions, which could advance quantum computing.
Vortex Phenomena
Continue reading “Vortex Power: The Swirl of Light Revolutionizing Quantum Computing” »
“It has been very motivating and inspiring to turn to the notes and drawings of Jupiter and its Permanent Spot made by the great astronomer Jean Dominique Cassini, and to his articles of the second half of the 17th century describing the phenomenon,” said Dr. Agustín Sánchez-Lavega.
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot was first discovered in 1,665 by astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini, and both scientists and the public have been awe-stricken by its beauty and the processes that created it. However, a recent study published in Geophysical Research Letters postulates that the famous spot we’ve adored for so long is not the same spot that Cassini observed centuries ago. This study holds the potential to help astronomers better understand the formation and evolution of Jupiter and the massive cyclonic storms that comprise its giant atmosphere.
For the study, the researchers analyzed historical records of both the initial discovery from Cassini, which was dubbed the “Permanent Spot” (PS) and was observed until 1,713, and the Great Red Spot (GRS), which was first observed in 1831. Combining these historical records with computer models, the researchers determined that the size changes and movements over time of PS contrast those of GRS.
Continue reading “Jupiter’s Great Red Spot: A Different Spot from Cassini’s 1665 Observation” »
The first fab at Samsung’s $17 billion Taylor campus is scheduled to begin operations by 2026.
The ability to communicate using only your thoughts might sound like the stuff of science fiction. But for people who don’t have the ability to speak or move due to injury or disease, there’s great hope that this may one day be possible using brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that can “read” relevant brain signals and translate them into written or spoken words. A research team has made a preliminary advance in this direction by showing for the first time that a computerized brain implant can decode internal speech with minimal training.
In the new NIH-supported study, researchers implanted such a device in a brain area known to be important for representing spoken words called the supramarginal gyrus in two people with tetraplegia, a condition marked by full body paralysis from the neck down due to cervical spinal cord injury. The researchers found that the device could decode several words the participants “spoke” only in their minds. While we are far from using such a device to decode whole sentences or even phrases, and the exact mechanisms of internal speech are still under study, the findings, reported in Nature Human Behavior, are notable because it had been unclear whether the brain signals involved in thinking words could be reproducibly translated.
The findings come from a team led by Richard Andersen at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, and Sarah Wandelt, now at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in Manhasset, NY, and the study was supported by the NIH Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative Research Opportunities in Humans program. Though earlier research had shown that brain implants could decode vocalized, attempted, and mimed speech, it had yet to be seen whether internal speech could be similarly decoded.
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The universe creates complexity out of simplicity, but despite many attempts at understanding how, scientists still have not figured it out. We do know that complexity relies on the emergence of new features and laws, but then again we don’t understand emergence either. The first step must be to clearly define what we are talking about and to measure it. A group of scientists now put forward a way to do exactly this. Let’s have a look.
The Institute for Molecular Science has launched a Commercialization Preparatory Platform, in collaboration with 10 industry partners, to accelerate the development of “cold (neutral) atom” quantum computers.
Institute for Molecular Science (IMS), National Institutes of Natural Sciences, has established a “Commercialization Preparatory Platform (PF)” to accelerate the development of novel quantum computers, based on the achievement of a research group led by Prof. Kenji Ohmori. The launch of the PF was made possible by collaboration with 10 industry partners, including companies and financial institutions.
The 10 partners that joined the PF include (listed alphabetically): blueqat Inc., Development Bank of Japan Inc., Fujitsu Limited, Groovenauts, Inc., Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., Hitachi, Ltd., and NEC Corporation.
You’ve likely heard that a picture is worth a thousand words, but can a large language model (LLM) get the picture if it’s never seen images before?
Researchers have devised a new method of building quantum computers, creating and “annihilating” qubits on demand, using a femtosecond laser to dope silicon with hydrogen.
This breakthrough could pave the way for quantum computers that use programmable optical qubits or “spin-photon qubits” to connect quantum nodes across a remote network.
In turn, this creates a quantum internet that is more secure and capable of transmitting more data than current optical-fiber information technologies.
