Technology

Here we bring you all the latest technological news both here on Earth and in space.

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Scientists Create Tiny Chip That Uses Light Instead of Electricity To Process Information

Monash University / SciTechDaily

Researchers have created a compact chip that manipulates light-based quantum information with remarkable precision, advancing the development of next-generation photonic and quantum technologies.

What if computers could process information using light instead of electricity? Researchers at Monash University say they have taken an important step toward that future with a tiny new chip that can generate, control, and read light-based signals all in one device.

The breakthrough centers on an emerging field known as “valleytronics,” which aims to store and process information using quantum properties inside advanced materials. Scientists have long viewed the technology as a possible path toward faster computing, lower energy use, and more powerful communication systems. But one major challenge has held the field back: no one had successfully combined all the key functions into a single compact platform. Read more here.

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Scientists Discover Low-Cost Route To Clean Hydrogen Production

By University of Birmingham – SciTechDaily

Birmingham researchers have developed a new method for producing hydrogen fuel that costs less than existing approaches.

Hydrogen has long been hailed as a key fuel for a low-carbon future, capable of powering everything from heavy industry to transportation without producing carbon emissions at the point of use. Yet there is a major contradiction at the heart of today’s hydrogen economy. Despite its clean reputation, around 95% of hydrogen is still produced using fossil fuels, often through energy-intensive processes that generate significant carbon dioxide emissions.

Now, researchers at the University of Birmingham have developed a new low-temperature method for producing hydrogen that could make the fuel cheaper, cleaner, and easier to generate close to where it is needed.

Their approach uses a perovskite catalyst to split water into hydrogen and oxygen at the…Read more here.

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It Took 40 Years for Technology To Catch Up to This Revolutionary Zipper Design

Alex Shipps / MIT / SciTechDaily

A decades-old patent from MIT Professor Bill Freeman inspired the new “Y-zipper,” a three-sided fastener that can snap gear, robots, and art into shape with the push of a button.

Long before shape-shifting robots and self-assembling structures became engineering goals, one MIT professor had already imagined a zipper that could transform floppy materials into rigid forms on demand. The problem? In 1985, the technology needed to build it simply didn’t exist.

That year, the Innovative Design Fund placed an ad in Scientific American offering up to $10,000 for inventive ideas in clothing, textiles, and home design. William Freeman PhD ’92 — then an electrical engineer at Polaroid and now an MIT professor — responded with an unusual concept: a three-sided zipper that could make objects instantly switch between soft and stiff states. Instead of fastening jackets or pants, Freeman envisioned it helping items like tents, chairs, and bags collapse flat for transport and then lock themselves into sturdy 3D structures when zipped together. Read more, and see video here.

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Scientists Just Used Sunlight To Pull Off a Quantum Physics Feat Once Thought Impossible

SPIE–International Society for Optics and Photonics / SciTechDaily

Scientists have shown that sunlight alone can generate quantum-correlated photons capable of producing “ghost images,” a feat once thought to require stable lasers.

Quantum optics experiments typically rely on carefully controlled lasers to create correlated or entangled photon pairs. These photon pairs are produced through a process known as spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC), in which laser light is directed into a nonlinear crystal. Because the process depends on stable, coherent illumination, scientists have generally assumed that sunlight would not work as a practical alternative.

Scientists Turn Sunlight Into a Quantum Light Source… That assumption has started to change in recent years. Researchers have found that SPDC does not require perfectly coherent light sources. Even partially coherent light can drive the process, while passing some of its coherence properties to the generated photons. This raised an intriguing possibility: could sunlight itself produce correlated photon pairs? Read more here.

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