By Fernando Gomollón-Bel2021-04-23T08:30:00+01:00
A new study has unveiled the molecular mechanisms that explain why porous materials can absorb violent shocks. The work also provides clues on how it might be possible to design new materials to withstand heavy impacts.
Porous materials are widely known for their applications in gas adsorption and filtration. But, for decades, scientists have also been interested in their shock-absorbing potential. Researchers from Belgium and the UK were studying this shock-absorption behaviour in zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), a type of metal-organic frameworks with structural and topological properties that are characteristic of zeolites. ‘Originally, they were not created for shock absorption,’ explains Yueting Sun from the University of Birmingham, UK, co-first author of the paper. ‘However, this was a known application in zeolites and, given their similarities, the connection seemed pretty evident.’
Qubits Comprised Of Holes Could Be The Trick To Build Faster, Larger Quantum Computers
A new study indicates holes the solution to operational speed/coherence trade-off, potential scaling up of qubits to a mini-quantum computer.
Quantum computers are predicted to be much more powerful and functional than today’s ‘classical’ computers.
One way to make a quantum bit is to use the ‘spin’ of an electron, which can point either up or down. To make quantum computers as fast and power-efficient as possible we would like to operate them using only electric fields, which are applied using ordinary electrodes.
Although spin does not ordinarily ‘talk’ to electric fields, in some materials spins can interact with electric fields indirectly, and these are some of the hottest materials currently studied in quantum computing.
UNSW Sydney Scientia Professor Sven Rogge has been elected President of the Australian Institute of Physics (AIP). The AIP is dedicated to promoting the.