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Category: computing

‘Rosetta stone’ of code allows scientists to run core quantum computing operations

To build a large-scale quantum computer that works, scientists and engineers need to overcome the spontaneous errors that quantum bits, or qubits, create as they operate.

Scientists encode these building blocks of quantum information to suppress errors in other so that a minority can operate in a way that produces useful outcomes.

As the number of useful (or logical) qubits grows, the number of physical qubits required grows even further. As this scales up, the sheer number of qubits needed to create a useful quantum machine becomes an engineering nightmare.

Growing ultrathin semiconductors directly on electronics could eliminate a fragile manufacturing step

A team of materials scientists at Rice University has developed a new way to grow ultrathin semiconductors directly onto electronic components.

The method, described in a study published in ACS Applied Electronic Materials, could help streamline the integration of two-dimensional materials into next-generation electronics, neuromorphic computing and other technologies demanding ultrathin high-speed semiconductors.

The researchers used (CVD) to grow tungsten diselenide, a 2D semiconductor, directly onto patterned gold electrodes. They next demonstrated the approach by building a functional, proof-of-concept transistor. Unlike conventional techniques that require transferring fragile 2D films from one surface to another, the Rice team’s method eliminates the transfer process entirely.

Researchers develop novel miniaturized lidar technology based on cross dual-microcomb

Optical frequency combs, as a time and frequency “ruler,” have important applications in precision ranging. Conventional dual-comb ranging schemes utilize the optical Vernier effect to achieve long-distance measurements, and they typically require asynchronously secondary sampling, either after changing the repetition rates or swapping dual-comb roles.

These approaches have a commonly overlooked issue: When considering real-time distance variations induced by target motion or atmospheric turbulence in practical measurement scenarios, the asynchronously secondary sampling will introduce substantial absolute distance measurement error, namely asynchronous measurement error (AME).

In a study published in Science Advances, Prof. Zhang Wenfu’s team from the Xi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics (XIOPM) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed an on-chip cross dual-microcomb (CDMC) ranging method based on dispersion interferometry. This method resolves the AME issue by eliminating secondary measurements through one-shot spectral sampling of cross dual-microcomb carrying distance information in the frequency domain.

Scientists Discover Revolutionary New Class of Materials: “Intercrystals”

Scientists at Rutgers University-New Brunswick have identified a new type of material known as intercrystals, which display unusual electronic behaviors that may help shape future technologies.

According to the research team, intercrystals demonstrate electronic characteristics not previously observed, opening the door to progress in areas such as advanced electronic devices, quantum computing.

Quantum computers exploit superposition and entanglement to solve complex problems that are intractable for traditional computers.

Changing how we understand, and potentially treat, misophonia

Throughout her career, Laurie Heller has listened closely—not just to words, but to sound itself. In the Auditory Lab at Carnegie Mellon University, the psychology professor explores how the brain interprets everything from environmental clatter to the subtle noises that can spark deep feelings of safety, connection, or in some cases, rage.

So when Yuqi “Monica” Qiu, then an undergraduate in , emailed Heller after seeing a recruitment poster for a study, Heller was ready to listen.

“I have misophonia,” Qiu wrote. “And I want to help.”

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