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Category: computing

Corral technique measures fragile quantum states in magnet-superconductor hybrids from afar

Hybrid materials made of magnets and superconductors give rise to fascinating quantum phenomena, which are so sensitive that it is crucial to measure them with minimal interference. Researchers at the University of Hamburg and the University of Illinois Chicago have now demonstrated, both experimentally and theoretically, how these quantum phenomena can be detected and controlled over longer distances using special techniques with a scanning tunneling microscope.

Their findings, which could be important for topological quantum computers, were published in the journal Nature Physics.

When a magnetic atom is located in a superconductor, so-called Yu-Shiba-Rusinov quasiparticles are created. Normally, they can only be measured with a high detection probability directly at the location of the atom using the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope.

Schizophrenia-spectrum disorders may originate in specific brain regions that show early structural damage

Researchers at the University of Seville have identified the possible origins of structural damage in the brains of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs). These are regions that show the greatest morphological alterations in the early stages of the disease compared to neurotypical people of the same sex and age. The study also found that people with SSD have significant reductions in structural similarity between different regions of the temporal, cingulate and insular lobes.

The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.

Vicarious body maps bridge vision and touch in the human brain

A central question in sensory neuroscience is how inputs from vision and touch are combined to generate cohesive representations of the external world. Here we reveal a widespread mode of brain organization in which aligned topographic maps bridge vision and somatosensation. We developed a computational model that revealed somatotopic structure in dorsolateral visual cortex. Somatotopic tuning in these regions was predictive of visual field locations more dorsally and visual body part selectivity more ventrally. These results suggest more extensive cross-modal overlap than traditionally assumed: the computational machinery classically attributed to the somatosensory system is also embedded within and aligned with that of the visual system. These aligned visual and bodily maps are a likely brain substrate for internalized somatosensory representations of visual signals, and are a candidate human homologue of findings in mice whereby somatomotor responses dominate visual cortex36.

Consistent with embodied perception theories, our model-based quantifications of somatotopic and retinotopic connectivity revealed that dorsolateral visual cortical responses to naturalistic stimuli are best explained by selectivities in both modalities, as opposed to visual selectivity alone. The necessity of incorporating body-referenced processing into models of dorsolateral visual cortex supports evidence that its role extends beyond passive visual analysis, encompassing perceptual, semantic and bodily functions optimized for behavioural interactions with the world25.

Consistent with visuospatial alignment of somatosensory tuning, we found that body part preferences in dorsolateral visual cortex predicted visual field tuning. Such alignment, previously reported at the terminus of the dorsal visual pathway around the postcentral sulcus28, therefore extends far into dorsal and lateral streams of the visual system. This alignment may be reinforced by shared developmental influences, as somatotopic and retinotopic maps are shaped trophically from birth: dorsal regions represent the upper body and visual field, and ventral regions to the lower body and visual field22, providing a roughly aligned sensory periphery optimized for efficient environmental sampling and action. The explicit interweaving of touch and retinal coordinates may subserve efficient perception of environmental affordances and a cohesive sense of spatial self-representation.

Power-Hungry Data Centers Are Warming Homes in the Nordics

When Finnish engineer Ari Kurvi takes a hot shower or turns up the thermostat in his apartment, he’s tapping into waste heat generated by a 75-megawatt data center 5 kilometers away. As its computer servers churn through terabytes of digital information to support video calls, car navigation systems and web searches, an elaborate system of pipes and pumps harvests the cast-off energy and feeds it to homes in the town of Mantsala in southern Finland.

Since it began operation about a decade ago, the data center has provided heat for the town. Last year, it heated the equivalent of 2,500 homes, about two-thirds of Mantsala’s needs, cutting energy costs for residents and helping to blunt the environmental downsides associated with power-hungry computing infrastructure. Some of the world’s biggest tech companies are now embracing heat recovery from data centers in an effort to become more sustainable.

Kurvi is one of the pioneers of this emerging technology: As an engineer and project manager for Hewlett Packard starting in the 1980s, he spent years working with humming stacks of hardware in hot server rooms during the freezing Finnish winters. That made him think that there must be a good way to put that wasted heat to use.

By pairing computer processing facilities with district heating systems, countries like Finland and Sweden are trying to limit their environmental downsides.

Musicians drift less in blindfolded walk: Could musical training be utilized in cognitive rehabilitation?

A multi-institutional team of researchers led by Université de Montréal report that extensive musical training can steady the body in space, both with and without guiding sounds, during a blindfolded stepping test.

Spatial cognition is at the heart of everyday movement, linking mental maps of the environment with the body’s position and orientation. Spatial abilities support tasks such as mental rotation, navigation, walking through space, and maintaining spatial information in working memory, all of which depend on a stable sense of where the body is located.

Body representation provides a solution to what some researchers describe as the computational “where” problem of the body, knitting together inputs from vision, touch, and the vestibular system. Auditory cues join this network as well, supplying information that can help stabilize posture and guide movement when other senses are limited or absent, as described in prior work on postural control and ambulation.

Higher resolution climate models show 41% increase in daily extreme land precipitation by 2100

Despite continuous efforts to evaluate and predict changes in Earth’s climate, most models still struggle to accurately simulate extreme precipitation events. Models like the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phases 5 and 6 (CMIP5 and CMIP6) use fairly coarse resolution due to computing constraints, making it a little easier, faster and less expensive to run simulations, while still providing some degree of accuracy.

However, a new study, published in Nature Geoscience, is shedding light on some of the features missed by these coarser resolution models.

The team involved in the study developed a higher resolution model that breaks up the atmosphere into 10–25 km (6–15.5 mile) squares for analysis, instead of 100 km (62 mile) squares. Their high-resolution model is based on the Community Earth System Model v.1.3 (CESM-HR), which looks at the time period between 1920–2100. These results are then compared with the low-resolution version’s (CESM-LR) results.

New p-wave magnet with helix spin structure could enable smaller computer chips

A novel magnetic material with an extraordinary electronic structure might allow for the production of smaller and more efficient computer chips in the future: the p-wave magnet. Researchers from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) were involved in its development.

The magnetic behavior in the interior of this material results from the way the electron spins arrange themselves—in the shape of a helix. Therefore, the electric current flowing through is deflected laterally. The results are published in Nature.

Magnetism, as we experience it every day, makes us usually think of materials such as iron, nickel, or cobalt that generate permanent magnetic fields or are attracted by magnetic forces. In these ferromagnetic materials, the spins, i.e. the moments of all electrons, move in the same direction.

Microsoft to remove WINS support after Windows Server 2025

Microsoft has warned IT administrators to prepare for the removal of Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) from Windows Server releases starting in November 2034.

The legacy WINS computer name registration and resolution service has been deprecated with the release of Windows Server 2022 in August 2021, when Microsoft stopped active development and working on new features.

Windows Server 2025 will be the final Long-Term Servicing Channel release to come with WINS support, with the feature to be removed from future releases.

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