Thursday, August 27, 2020

Brain-inspired electronic system could vastly reduce AI's carbon footprint

Extremely energy-efficient artificial intelligence is now closer to reality after researchers found a way to improve the accuracy of a brain-inspired computing system.

Photonics researchers report breakthrough in miniaturizing light-based chips

Using a material widely adopted by photonics researchers, researchers have created the smallest electro-optical modulator yet. The modulator is a key component of a photonics-based chip, controlling how light moves through its circuits.

Tying knots with individual molecules

Chemists have successfully tied a series of microscopic knots using individual molecules for the first time, ushering in the advent of a form of nano-scale weaving which could create a new generation of advanced materials.

Music goes terahertz: Scientists achieve breakthrough for pulsed terahertz lasers

By mixing electronic resonances in semiconductor nanostructures with the photon field of microresonators, researchers designed a stained mirror that bleaches more easily than ever and could make terahertz lasers ultrafast.

Molecular architecture: New class of materials for tomorrow's energy storage

The materials belong to the class of metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs for short, and could open up new opportunities for energy storage.

Mini power plants from coated blue-green algae

Scientists have equipped these humble unicellular organisms with semiconductor coatings to create mini power plants, which supply biofuels and are photocatalytically active in sunlight.