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Category: computing – Page 10

Major autism study uncovers biologically distinct subtypes, paving the way for precision diagnosis and care

Researchers at Princeton University and the Simons Foundation have identified four clinically and biologically distinct subtypes of autism, marking a transformative step in understanding the condition’s genetic underpinnings and potential for personalized care.

Analyzing data from over 5,000 children in SPARK, an cohort study, the researchers used a computational model to group individuals based on their combinations of traits.

The team used a “person-centered” approach that considered a broad range of over 230 traits in each individual, from social interactions to to developmental milestones, rather than searching for to single traits.

Wood-based material can improve safety and lifespan of lithium-ion batteries

For consumers worried about the risks associated with using lithium-ion batteries—which are used in everything from phones to laptops to electric vehicles—Michigan State University has discovered that a natural material found in wood can improve battery safety while also improving the battery’s life.

Chengcheng Fang, assistant professor in the College of Engineering, and Mojgan Nejad, an associate professor in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, collaborated to engineer , a natural ingredient of wood that provides support and rigidity, into a thin film separator that can be used inside to prevent short circuits that can cause a fire.

“We wanted to build a better battery,” said Fang. “But we also wanted it to be safe, efficient and sustainable.”

New quantum record: Transmon qubit coherence reaches millisecond threshold

On July 8, 2025, physicists from Aalto University in Finland published a transmon qubit coherence measurement in Nature Communications that dramatically surpasses previous scientifically published records. The millisecond coherence measurement marks a quantum leap in computational technology, with the previous maximum echo coherence measurements approaching 0.6 milliseconds.

Longer coherence allows for an extended window of time in which quantum computers can execute error-free operations, enabling more complex quantum computations and more quantum logic operations before errors occur. Not only does this allow for more calculations with noisy quantum computers, but it also decreases the resources needed for , which is a path to noiseless quantum computing.

“We have just measured an echo time for a transmon qubit that landed at a millisecond at maximum with a median of half a millisecond,” says Mikko Tuokkola, the Ph.D. student who conducted and analyzed the measurements. The median reading is particularly significant, as it also surpasses current recorded readings.

Ice in Space Could Do Something We Thought Was Impossible

Water frozen in the darkness of space doesn’t appear to behave the way we thought.

A new research effort using computer simulations and experiments to explore the most common form water takes in the Universe has found that it is not as structureless as scientists had thought. Rather, repeating patterns – otherwise known as crystals – just a few nanometers across are likely embedded in an otherwise frozen jumble of molecules.

Since scientists had thought space too cold for ice crystals to have the energy to form, this discovery comes as a big surprise.

Devices that pull water out of thin air poised to take off

More than 2 billion people worldwide lack access to clean drinking water, with global warming and competing demands from farms and industry expected to worsen shortages. But the skies may soon provide relief, not in the form of rain but humidity, sucked out of the air by “atmospheric water harvesters.” The devices have existed for decades but typically are too expensive, energy-hungry, or unproductive to be practical.

Now, however, two classes of materials called hydrogels and metal-organic frameworks have touched off what Evelyn Wang, a mechanical engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), calls “an explosion of efforts related to atmospheric water harvesting.”

So far, none of the devices can compete with established approaches to augment water supplies, such as desalinating seawater. But some applications—cooling data centers and slaking the thirst of soldiers on the move—could support higher costs until the technology scales up, says Samer Taha, CEO of Atoco, a California-based startup. “There are many applications where atmospheric water harvesting can help.”

Hydrogen atom transfer method selectively transforms carboxylic acids using an inexpensive photocatalyst

Carboxylic acids are ubiquitous in bioactive organic molecules and readily available chemical building blocks. Carboxylic acids can be converted into carboxy radicals that can initiate versatile carbon–carbon and carbon–heteroatom bond formations, which are highly desirable for developing materials and pharmaceuticals. Currently, however, there are few applicable methods that use inexpensive catalysts.

To this end, researchers from WPI-ICReDD and University of Shizuoka have developed a facile hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) method that selectively transforms into carboxy radicals using xanthone, an inexpensive commercial organic ketone photocatalyst. This research was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

HAT converts substrates into radical species by removing a hydrogen atom and ketones are highly accessible, inexpensive, and known for HAT photocatalysis. However, selective HAT for carboxylic acids is challenging because the O–H bond is stronger than adjacent C–H bonds. Nonetheless, using the artificial force–induced reaction (AFIR) method, a developed at ICReDD, the authors identified xanthone as a promising ketone photocatalyst for selective O–H bond HAT.

Physicists reveal how a lone spinon emerges in quantum magnetic models

Researchers from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw and the University of British Columbia have described how a so-called lone spinon—an exotic quantum excitation that is a single unpaired spin—can arise in magnetic models. The discovery deepens our understanding of the nature of magnetism and could have implications for the development of future technologies such as quantum computers and new magnetic materials. The work is published in Physical Review Letters.

Magnetism has been known to humanity since ancient times, when naturally magnetized magnetite was discovered. This finding soon found highly practical applications. The first compasses were created in the in China, and began to be used for navigation.

Today, magnets play an important role in many technologies that surround us, from computer memory and speakers to and medical diagnostics. Interestingly, alongside photography, magnets have also become a common souvenir of travel, occupying a prominent place in our homes.

Cracking the quantum code: Light and glass are set to transform computing

European researchers are developing quantum computers using light and glass, in a collaboration that promises breakthroughs in computing power, battery technology and scientific discovery.

Giulia Acconcia grew up in the picturesque, historic town of Spoleto, nestled in the foothills of Italy’s Apennine Mountains. Already in secondary school, she became fascinated with modern technology—a passion that would shape her future.

Her love of electronics led her to the Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy, where she now finds herself at the forefront of quantum computing research.

Scientists Just Simulated the “Impossible” in Quantum Computing

Quantum computers hold incredible promise, but one major challenge still stands in the way: their struggle to correct errors during calculations. To build truly reliable quantum machines, scientists need to simulate these quantum processes on regular computers to make sure they’re working correct