More stories

  • in

    Computational model decodes speech by predicting it

    The brain analyses spoken language by recognising syllables. Scientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Evolving Language National Centre for Competence in Research (NCCR) have designed a computational model that reproduces the complex mechanism employed by the central nervous system to perform this operation. The model, which brings together two independent theoretical frameworks, […] More

  • in

    Chemistry paves the way for improved electronic materials

    Indium nitride is a promising material for use in electronics, but difficult to manufacture. Scientists at Linköping University, Sweden, have developed a new molecule that can be used to create high-quality indium nitride, making it possible to use it in, for example, high-frequency electronics. The results have been published in Chemistry of Materials. The bandwidth […] More

  • in

    Macroscopic quantum interference in an ultra-pure metal

    As high school students see in experiments with water waves, and we observe and use with light waves in many optical devices, interference is a fundamental property associated with wave-like behavior. Indeed, Davisson and Germer’s famous observation of interference in experiments with dilute beams of electrons, nearly a century ago, gave key experimental support to […] More

  • in

    Helping consumers in a crisis

    A new study shows that the central bank tool known as quantitative easing helped consumers substantially during the last big economic downturn — a finding with clear relevance for today’s pandemic-hit economy. More specifically, the study finds that one particular form of quantitative easing — in which the U.S. Federal Reserve purchased massive amounts of […] More

  • in

    New boron-lanthanide nanostructure

    The discovery of carbon nanostructures like two-dimensional graphene and soccer ball-shaped buckyballs helped to launch a nanotechnology revolution. In recent years, researchers from Brown University and elsewhere have shown that boron, carbon’s neighbor on the periodic table, can make interesting nanostructures too, including two-dimensional borophene and a buckyball-like hollow cage structure called borospherene. Now, researchers […] More

  • in

    X-ray vision and eavesdropping ensure quality

    Laser welding is a process suitable for joining metals and thermoplastics. It has become particularly well established in highly automated production, for example in the automotive industry, because a laser operates with virtually no wear, is very fast and offers high precision. But until now, the quality of a weld seam could only be documented […] More

  • in

    Quantum entanglement demonstrated aboard orbiting CubeSat

    In a critical step toward creating a global quantum communications network, researchers have generated and detected quantum entanglement onboard a CubeSat nanosatellite weighing less than 2.6 kilograms and orbiting the Earth. “In the future, our system could be part of a global quantum network transmitting quantum signals to receivers on Earth or on other spacecraft,” […] More

  • in

    New insights into the energy levels in quantum dots

    Researchers from Basel, Bochum and Copenhagen have gained new insights into the energy states of quantum dots. They are semiconductor nanostructures and promising building blocks for quantum communication. With their experiments, the scientists confirmed certain energy transitions in quantum dots that had previously only been predicted theoretically: the so-called radiative Auger process. For their investigations, […] More