Image: ESA’s new and future exoplanet missions

Sendai, Japan (SPX) Dec 01, 2021
Researchers at Tohoku University and the University of Gothenburg have established a new spintronic technology for brain-inspired computing. Their achievement was published in the journal Nature Materials on Nov. 29, 2021. Sophisticated cognitive tasks, such as image and speech recognition, have seen recent breakthroughs thanks to deep learning. Even so, the human brain still execute

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Dec 01, 2021
Most are aware that electrons are negatively charged particles that surround the nucleus of atoms and whose behaviour governs chemical interactions. However, it is less commonly known that electrons come in two distinct kinds: spin-up and spin-down. And the tendency for pairing between up and down spin electrons, forming "dance partners" with one another, is one of the most important behaviours

Stuttgart, Germany (SPX) Dec 01, 2021
A promising route towards larger quantum computers is to orchestrate multiple task-optimised smaller systems. To dynamically connect and entangle any two systems, photonic interference emerges as a powerful method, due to its compatibility with on-chip devices and long-distance propagation in quantum networks. One of the main obstacles towards the commercialization of quantum photonics rem

Oxford UK (SPX) Dec 02, 2021
Tens of thousands of illegal human settlements pose a real threat to the continued existence of an endangered elephant population, according to satellite analysis of the Babile Elephant Sanctuary in eastern Ethiopia by University of Oxford researchers and the Born Free Foundation. Researchers from Oxford's School of Geography and the Environment and Born Free found, in the 11 years to 2017

London, UK (SPX) Dec 03, 2021
Kymeta and OneWeb have announced a joint development agreement (JDA) to develop an innovative flat panel electronically steered user terminal that is compatible with the OneWeb network to support land fixed applications and leading the way to various mobility applications like land mobile, maritime, and other mobility needs of the future. The Kymeta u8 flat panel antenna technology provide

Arlington VA (SPX) Dec 03, 2021
The U.S. Space Force added North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University to its University Partnership Program during a virtual ceremony Dec. 1. N.C. A&T Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr. and Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David D. Thompson signed the memorandum of understanding from their respective locations on campus in East Greensboro, North Carolina and at the Pentagon

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Dec 01, 2021
Strange things happen in Earth's atmosphere at high latitudes. Around local noon, when the Sun is at its highest point, a funnel-shaped gap in our planet's magnetic field passes overhead. Earth's magnetic field shields us from the solar wind, the stream of charged particles spewing off the Sun. The gap in that field, called the polar cusp, allows the solar wind a direct line of access to Earth's

London, UK (SPX) Dec 01, 2021
A fully autonomous passenger shuttle service begins trials on UK roads today, Science Minister George Freeman has announced. The new service is being trialled by Darwin Innovation Group, with support from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the UK Space Agency. An autonomous shuttle will transport passengers around Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, which is home to some

Paris, France (SPX) Dec 02, 2021
Coccolithophores are microscopic algae that form tiny limestone plates, called coccoliths, around their single cells. The shape and size of coccoliths varies according to the species. After their death, coccolithophores sink to the bottom of the ocean and their coccoliths accumulate in sediments, which faithfully record the detailed evolution of these organisms over geological time. A team