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Nov 23, 2022

Physiological responses to playing Overwatch depend on skill level, study finds

Posted by in categories: entertainment, health

A study of physiological responses of college-age Overwatch players found that many skilled players tend to start the game with elevated physiological stress responses, adjusting them during gameplay. The physiological stress responses of low skill players, in contrast, tend to increase as the game progresses. The study was published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

Competitive electronic gaming or eSport is gaining traction as a recognized sport. The rise of eSports into a multi-billion dollar industry has been attributed to the emergence of streaming platforms and advertisement revenues and high-values sponsorships that came with them. eSports are one of the 24 competitive sports included in the 2022 Asian games held in Hangzhou, China.

Following their rise in popularity, scientists have become interested in studying eSports athletes to understand the stress related to participating in eSports both in competitive and noncompetitive settings. First studies focused on health concerns, given the sedentary nature of eSports, and primarily studied players of League of Legends (LOL) as one of the most popular eSports games at the time.

Nov 23, 2022

Water wars: Causes and possible solutions

Posted by in categories: economics, food

Will today’s wars over oil be over water in the future? For years this question has been at the heart of a scientific debate on the causes of these wars and how they should be studied.

A study published in the prestigious Nature Sustainability by a group of researchers from the Politecnico di Milano has investigated the phenomenon, also in light of “new” types of in which paramilitary groups seem to capitalize on .

In order to define the relationship between water and conflict, speaking only of —or lack thereof—is not enough: in fact, conflicts tend to be associated with specific and complex socio-hydrological conditions, which in turn deal with the socio-economic value of water as a form of livelihood, especially in agriculture, and with the effects that human use of water has on the accessibility of this resource.

Nov 23, 2022

Transporting of two-photon quantum states of light through a phase-separated Anderson localization optical fiber

Posted by in categories: particle physics, quantum physics

Invented in 1970 by Corning Incorporated, low-loss optical fiber became the best means to efficiently transport information from one place to another over long distances without loss of information. The most common way of data transmission nowadays is through conventional optical fibers—one single core channel transmits the information. However, with the exponential increase of data generation, these systems are reaching information-carrying capacity limits.

Thus, research now focuses on finding new ways to utilize the full potential of fibers by examining their and applying new approaches to signal generation and transmission. Moreover, applications in are enabled by extending this research from classical to .

In the late 50s, the physicist Philip W. Anderson (who also made important contributions to particle physics and superconductivity) predicted what is now called Anderson localization. For this discovery, he received the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physics. Anderson showed theoretically under which conditions an electron in a disordered system can either move freely through the system as a whole, or be tied to a specific position as a “localized electron.” This disordered system can for example be a semiconductor with impurities.

Nov 23, 2022

Spin correlation between paired electrons demonstrated

Posted by in categories: nanotechnology, particle physics, quantum physics

Physicists at the University of Basel have experimentally demonstrated for the first time that there is a negative correlation between the two spins of an entangled pair of electrons from a superconductor. For their study, the researchers used spin filters made of nanomagnets and quantum dots, as they report in the scientific journal Nature.

The entanglement between two particles is among those phenomena in that are hard to reconcile with everyday experiences. If entangled, certain properties of the two particles are closely linked, even when far apart. Albert Einstein described entanglement as a “spooky action at a distance.” Research on entanglement between light particles (photons) was awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics.

Two can be entangled as well—for example in their spins. In a superconductor, the electrons form so-called Cooper pairs responsible for the lossless electrical currents and in which the individual spins are entangled.

Nov 23, 2022

How to test whether we’re living in a computer simulation

Posted by in categories: alien life, computing, particle physics

Physicists have long struggled to explain why the universe started out with conditions suitable for life to evolve. Why do the physical laws and constants take the very specific values that allow stars, planets and ultimately life to develop? The expansive force of the universe, dark energy, for example, is much weaker than theory suggests it should be—allowing matter to clump together rather than being ripped apart.

A common answer is that we live in an infinite multiverse of universes, so we shouldn’t be surprised that at least one has turned out as ours. But another is that our universe is a computer simulation, with someone (perhaps an advanced alien species) fine-tuning the conditions.

Continue reading “How to test whether we’re living in a computer simulation” »

Nov 23, 2022

Leading the way in superconductor research: New compounds of lanthanum and hydrogen

Posted by in categories: particle physics, sustainability

Superconducting materials are characterized by the fact that they lose their electrical resistance below a certain temperature, the so-called transition temperature. In principle, they would be ideal for transporting electrical energy over very long distances from the electricity producer to the consumer.

Numerous energy challenges would be solved in one fell swoop: For example, the electricity generated by on the coast could be channeled inland without losses. However, this would only be possible if materials were available that have superconducting properties at normal room and ambient temperatures.

In 2019, an unusually high transition temperature of minus 23 degrees Celsius was measured in experiments coordinated by the Max Planck Institute in Mainz. The measurement took place at a compression pressure of 170 gigapascals—1.7 million times higher than the pressure of the Earth’s atmosphere. The material was a lanthanum (LaH10+δ), a compound of atoms of the metal lanthanum with atoms. The report on these experiments and other similar reports remain highly controversial. They have internationally aroused great interest in research on lanthanum hydrides with different compositions and structures.

Nov 23, 2022

Glass-like shells of diatoms help turn light into energy in dim conditions

Posted by in categories: computing, solar power, sustainability

A new study has revealed how the glass-like shells of diatoms help these microscopic organisms perform photosynthesis in dim conditions. A better understanding of how these phytoplankton harvest and interact with light could lead to improved solar cells, sensing devices and optical components.

“The and toolkit we developed could pave the way toward mass-manufacturable, sustainable optical devices and more efficient harvesting tools that are based on shells,” said research team member Santiago Bernal from McGill University in Canada. “This could be used for biomimetic devices for sensing, new telecommunications technologies or affordable ways to make clean energy.”

Continue reading “Glass-like shells of diatoms help turn light into energy in dim conditions” »

Nov 23, 2022

Researchers report new technique to measure the fine structure constant

Posted by in category: particle physics

The fine structure constant is one of the most important natural constants of all. At TU Wien, a remarkable way of measuring it has been found—it shows up as a rotation angle.

One over 137: This is one of the most important numbers in physics. It is the approximate value of the so-called fine structure constant—a physical quantity that is of outstanding importance in atomic and .

There are many ways to measure the fine structure constant—usually it is measured indirectly, by measuring other physical quantities and using them to calculate the fine structure constant. At TU Wien, however, an experiment has now been performed, in which the fine structure constant itself can be directly measured—as an angle.

Nov 23, 2022

Pag-asa incident

Posted by in category: futurism

‘Friendly consultation’

Marcos wants note verbale sent.

Nov 23, 2022

An optical chip that can train machine learning hardware

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, supercomputing

A multi-institution research team has developed an optical chip that can train machine learning hardware. Their research is published today in Optica.

Machine learning applications have skyrocketed to $165 billion annually, according to a recent report from McKinsey. But before a machine can perform intelligence tasks such as recognizing the details of an image, it must be trained. Training of modern-day (AI) systems like Tesla’s autopilot costs several million dollars in electric power consumption and requires supercomputer-like infrastructure.

This surging AI “appetite” leaves an ever-widening gap between computer hardware and demand for AI. Photonic integrated circuits, or simply optical chips, have emerged as a possible solution to deliver higher computing performance, as measured by the number of operations performed per second per watt used, or TOPS/W. However, though they’ve demonstrated improved core operations in machine intelligence used for data classification, photonic chips have yet to improve the actual front-end learning and machine training process.