Technology
Here we bring you all the latest technological news both here on Earth and in space.
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Say Goodbye to Bulky Lenses: How AI and Metalenses Are Reshaping Imaging Systems
By International Society for Optics and Photonics – SciTechDaily
AI-powered metalenses enable high-resolution, full-color imaging for compact optical systems.
Modern imaging systems, including those in smartphones, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) devices, are continually advancing to achieve greater compactness, efficiency, and performance. Conventional optical systems, which depend on bulky glass lenses, face challenges such as chromatic aberrations, inefficiency across multiple wavelengths, and large physical sizes.
These drawbacks present challenges when designing smaller, lighter systems that still produce high-quality images. To overcome these issues, researchers have developed metalenses—ultra-thin lenses composed of tiny nanostructures that can manipulate light at the nanoscale.
Metalenses offer tremendous potential for miniaturizing optical systems, but they are not without their own challenges, particularly when it comes to capturing full-color images without…Read more here.
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How AI Is Turning DNA Secrets Into Lifesaving Medical Insights
By Los Alamos National Laboratory – ScitechDaily
A new AI model leverages deep learning to understand the binding of transcription factors to DNA, focusing on the process of DNA breathing.
This innovative approach has led to a 9.6% improvement in predicting transcription factor bindings, offering insights that could revolutionize drug development and genomic research.
Revolutionary AI Model for Disease Research… To better understand DNA’s role in disease, scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed EPBDxDNABERT-2, a pioneering multimodal deep learning model. This model is designed to precisely identify interactions between transcription factors—proteins that regulate gene activity—and DNA. EPBDxDNABERT-2 uses a process known as “DNA breathing,” where the DNA double-helix spontaneously opens and closes, allowing the model to capture these subtle dynamics. This capability has the potential to enhance drug design for diseases rooted in gene activity.
“There are many types of transcription factors, and the human genome is…Read more here.
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Real-Life Star Wars Tech: MIT Researchers Have Created a Miniature “Tractor Beam” To Capture Cells
By Adam Zewe, Massachusetts Institute of Technology – SciTechDaily
MIT researchers have developed a miniature, chip-based “tractor beam,” like the one that captures the Millennium Falcon in the film “Star Wars,” that could someday help biologists and clinicians study DNA, classify cells, and investigate the mechanisms of disease.
Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, the device uses a beam of light emitted by a silicon-photonics chip to manipulate particles millimeters away from the chip surface. The light can penetrate the glass cover slips that protect samples used in biological experiments, enabling cells to remain in a sterile environment.
Traditional optical tweezers, which trap and manipulate particles using light, usually require bulky microscope setups, but chip-based optical tweezers could offer a more compact, mass-manufacturable, broadly accessible, and high-throughput solution for optical manipulation in biological experiments.
However, other similar integrated optical tweezers can only capture and manipulate…Read more here.
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Groundbreaking 8-Photon Qubit Chip Accelerates Quantum Computing
National Research Council of Science & Technology / SciTechDaily
South Korean researchers have developed a groundbreaking photonic quantum circuit chip that promises to accelerate the global race in quantum computation.
This chip, capable of controlling up to eight photons, marks a significant leap forward in manipulating complex quantum phenomena like multipartite entanglement.
Breakthrough in Photonic, Quantum Circuit Development… A team of South Korean researchers has achieved a major milestone by developing an integrated quantum circuit chip that uses photons, or light particles. This breakthrough is expected to boost their position in global quantum computation research.
The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) announced the creation of a photonic integrated-circuit chip capable of controlling eight photons. This innovative system allows researchers to investigate complex quantum phenomena, including multipartite entanglement, which…Read more here.
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