Quantum Dice, a UK start-up that spun out of Oxford University’s quantum optics lab, is developing the world's first compact source-device independent quantum random number generator (QRNG).
New Polymer Captures Ammonia Preventing Air Pollution
Image Credit: Heloisa Bordallo, The Niels Bohr Institute
A newly developed polymer could trap ammonia, preventing it from polluting the atmosphere, thus improving human health considerably.
Ammonia is a toxic gas that is a major source of air pollution that can harm human health. The compound of nitrogen and hydrogen is a byproduct of both agriculture and industry, and even though it is harmful enough alone causing damage to eyes, throats, and even in extreme circumstances death when it reacts with other air pollutants, it forms ammonium salts that can affect breathing. These fine particles can travel large distances in the atmosphere, thus becoming a widespread problem rather than a localized one.
Graphene-enhanced Window Films for the Automotive Industry
NEX, the nano-ceramic window-film contains graphene alongside tungsten and antimony tin oxide to provide drivers with crystal clarity as well as UV and glare reduction. Image Credit: stekautomotive.com
The complementary properties of graphene and glass mean that they go together hand in hand excellently. The development of such fusions continues to be especially beneficial to the automotive industry.
Graphene is a wonder material that is often promoted for its novel physical properties. This material, which consists of a single layer of carbon atoms in a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice arrangement, has mechanical strength, electric and thermal conductivity, and flexibility, thus making it an important component in the development of electronics. But this remarkable material has another, often less touted property, that, when coupled with these aspects, makes it useful for the development of glass and window films �
Arches of Chaos Could Enable Super-Fast Space Travel
Global arch-like structure of space manifolds in the Solar System. Image Credit: Sciencemag.org
Astronomers h
ave discovered dynamic channels or ‘aches of chaos’ within the solar system that could enable faster travel to both its inner and outer regions for future space missions.
A team of researchers led by Nataša Todorović, Astronomical Observatory Belgrade, Serbia, has found notable and unexpected manifold structures with the solar system. This architecture created by gravitational interactions in the fabric of space takes the form of a series of arches that spread out from the asteroid belt past Uranus and beyond.
Classifying Supernova Explosions Using Artificial Intelligence
Image Credit: Shutterstock/NASA images
Machine learning and classification could help astronomers better understand and classify the Universe’s most explosive events.
Supernovae, massive cosmic explosions that represent the final death throes of stars, offer astronomers and cosmologists a vital tool for understanding the Universe. In particular, one type of these massive explosions Type Ia supernovae can be used to measure distances in the depths of space. Aside from this, learning more about supernovae can tell us how stars live and die and how elements are dispersed throughout galaxies.
Currently, supernovae are studied by using their observed spectra the set of colors into which light from these objects can be split which contains characteristic ‘gaps’ that tell astronomers what light is being emitted and absorbed, and thus, which elements are present in the explosion’s remains.