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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 14, 2022 at 7:33am

Researchers find the missing photonic link to enable an all-silicon quantum internet

Researchers have made a crucial breakthrough in the development of quantum technology.

Their research, published in Nature today, describes their observations of more than 150,000 silicon "T center" photon-spin qubits, an important milestone that unlocks immediate opportunities to construct massively scalable quantum computers and the quantum internet that will connect them.

Quantum computing has enormous potential to provide computing power well beyond the capabilities of today's supercomputers, which could enable advances in many other fields, including chemistry, materials science, medicine and cybersecurity.

In order to make this a reality, it is necessary to produce both stable, long-lived qubits that provide processing power, as well as the communication technology that enables these qubits to link together at scale.

Past research has indicated that silicon can produce some of the most stable and long-lived qubits in the industry. Now this new research   provides proof of principle that T centers, a specific luminescent defect in silicon, can provide a "photonic link" between qubits. 

This work is the first measurement of single T centers in isolation, and actually, the first measurement of any single spin in silicon to be performed with only optical measurements.

Stephanie Simmons, Optical observation of single spins in silicon, Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04821-y. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04821-y

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 14, 2022 at 7:10am

A glove that mimics the arm of an octopus

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 13, 2022 at 10:10am

Crew aboard private yacht confirm sighting of bioluminescent 'milky sea'

An atmospheric scientist has gained confirmation of his discovery of a bioluminescent "milky sea" event through testimony of a crew aboard a private yacht. In his paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientist describes how he discovered the event while studying satellite images and then gained confirmation from a crew aboard a yacht that happened to be sailing through the area.

Prior incidents have suggested that large bioluminescent events sometimes occur in parts of the ocean, but such events are rare and there is little photographic evidence of them. One of the more notorious was Charles Darwin and crew sailing over such an event just below the tip of South America. Ocean scientists think they are created by millions of tiny bioluminescent creatures all glowing together. Only one test has been confirmed, a research vessel sailing through such an event collected water samples and found them filled with glowing bacteria.

Researchers now pored over old sailor logs looking for descriptions of bioluminescent events and found a lot of them, most describing them as traveling through a milky sea. They noted that the events were seen most commonly in the Indian Ocean and the waters around Java.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFkaGM8rDGw&t=9s

A  private yacht, had sailed in the area and had documented what they saw. They described the sea as glowing at night, from below the surface, with a description of it appearing as if sailing on snow. 

Steven D. Miller, Boat encounter with the 2019 Java bioluminescent milky sea: Views from on-deck confirm satellite detection, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2207612119

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 13, 2022 at 10:02am

How stressed-out plants produce their own aspirin

Plants protect themselves from environmental hazards like insects, drought and heat by producing salicylic acid, also known as aspirin. A new understanding of this process may help plants survive increasing stress caused by climate change.

Scientists recently published a seminal paper in the journal Science Advances reporting how plants regulate the production of salicylic acid.

The researchers studied a model plant called Arabidopsis, but they hope to apply their understanding of stress responses in the cells of this plant to many other kinds of plants, including those grown for food. They'd like to be able to use the gained knowledge to improve crop resistance. That will be crucial for the food supply in our increasingly hot, bright world.

Environmental stresses result in the formation of reactive oxygen species or ROS in all living organisms. High levels of ROS in plants are lethal. 

As with many substances, the poison is in the amount. At low levels, ROS have an important function in plant cells. At non-lethal levels, ROS are like an emergency call to action, enabling the production of protective hormones such as salicylic acid. 

The research team discovered that heat, unabated sunshine, or drought cause the sugar-making apparatus in plant cells to generate an initial alarm molecule known as MEcPP.

Going forward, the researchers want to learn more about MEcPP, which is also produced in organisms such as bacteria and malaria parasites. Accumulation of MEcPP in plants triggers the production of salicylic acid, which in turn begins a chain of protective actions in the cells.

It's like plants use a painkiller for aches and pains, just like we do. The acid protects plants' chloroplasts, which are the site of photosynthesis, a process of using light to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugars for energy.

Because salicylic acid helps plants withstand stresses becoming more prevalent with climate change, being able to increase plants' ability to produce it represents a step forward in challenging the impacts of climate change on everyday life. 

 Jin-Zheng Wang et al, Reciprocity between a retrograde signal and a putative metalloprotease reconfigures plastidial metabolic and structural states, Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo0724

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 12, 2022 at 1:25pm

Wearable Muscles

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 12, 2022 at 1:18pm

What happens to your brain during a migraine 

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 11, 2022 at 8:21am

Mathematical calculations show that quantum communication across interstellar space should be possible

A team of physicists  has used mathematical calculations to show that quantum communications across interstellar space should be possible. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review D, the group describes their calculations and also the possibility of extraterrestrial beings attempting to communicate with us using such signaling.

Over the past several years, scientists have been investigating the possibility of using quantum communications as a highly secure form of message transmission. Prior research has shown that it would be nearly impossible to intercept such messages without detection. In this new effort, the researchers wondered if similar types of communications might be possible across interstellar space. To find out, they used math that describes that movement of X-rays across a medium, such as those that travel between the stars. More specifically, they looked to see if their calculations could show the degree of decoherence that might occur during such a journey.

With quantum communications, engineers are faced with quantum particles that lose some or all of their unique characteristics as they interact with obstructions in their path—they have been found to be quite delicate, in fact. Such events are known as decoherence, and engineers working to build quantum networks have been devising ways to overcome the problem. Prior research has shown that the space between the stars is pretty clean. But is it clean enough for quantum communications? The math shows that it is. Space is so clean, in fact, that X-ray photons could travel hundreds of thousands of light years without becoming subject to decoherence—and that includes gravitational interference from astrophysical bodies. They noted in their work that optical and microwave bands would work equally well.

The researchers noted that because quantum communication is possible across the galaxy, if other intelligent beings exist in the Milky Way, they could already be trying to communicate with us using such technology and we could begin looking for them. They also suggest that quantum teleportation across interstellar space should be possible.

Arjun Berera et al, Viability of quantum communication across interstellar distances, Physical Review D (2022). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.105.123033

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 10, 2022 at 10:44am

Scientists hijack bacteria to ease drug manufacturing

Many of the medicines we take are made with ingredients extracted from plants (think, for example, morphine, the narcotic painkiller that comes from poppies, or galantamine, a drug treatment for dementia that comes from daffodils). Extracting drugs from these plants is complicated and resource-intensive, requiring water and acreage to grow the crops. Supply chains are easily disrupted. And crops can be damaged by floods, fires and drought. Deriving similar therapeutic components using synthetic chemistry brings problems, too, since the process depends on petroleum and petroleum-based products linked to waste and expense.

Enter the humble bacteria, a cheap, efficient and sustainable alternative. The genetic code of bacteria can be easily manipulated to become factories for drug production. In a process called biosynthesis, the bacteria’s biological systems are harnessed to produce specific molecules as part of the natural cellular process. And bacteria can replicate at high speed. All they need to do the job is sugar.

For more affordable, sustainable drug options than we have today, the medication we take to treat high blood pressure, pain or memory loss may one day come from engineered bacteria, cultured in a vat like yogurt. And thanks to a new bacterial tool developed by scientists , the process of improving drug manufacturing in bacterial cells may be coming sooner than we thought.

For decades, researchers have been eyeing ways to make drug manufacturing more affordable and sustainable than pharmaceutical makers’ current processes, many of which depend on either plant crops or petroleum. Using bacteria has been suggested as a good organic alternative, but detecting and optimizing the production of therapeutic molecules is difficult and time-consuming, requiring months at a stretch. In a new paper out this week in Nature Chemical Biology, researchers introduce a biosensor system, derived from E. coli bacteria, that can be adapted to detect all kinds of therapeutic compounds accurately and in mere hours.

Unfortunately, manufacturers have not had a way to quickly analyze different strains of engineered bacteria to identify the ones capable of producing quantities of a desired drug at commercial volumes — until now. Accurately analyzing the thousands of engineered strains on the way to a good producer can take weeks or months with current technology, but only a day with the new biosensors.

The biosensors developed now quickly and accurately determine the amount of a given molecule that a strain of bacteria is producing. The researchers developed the biosensors for several types of common drugs, such as cough suppressants and vasodilators, which are used to treat muscle spasms. Molecular images of the biosensors taken by X-ray crystallographers now show exactly how they tightly grab onto their partner drug. When the drug is detected by the biosensor, it glows. Additionally, the team engineered their own bacteria to produce a compound found in several FDA-approved drugs and used the biosensors to analyze product output, in essence showing how industry might adopt biosensors to quickly optimize chemical manufacturing.

This technique allows them to be developed faster and more efficiently. In turn, that opens the door to more medicines being produced using biosynthesis.

Simon d’Oelsnitz, Wantae Kim, Nathaniel T. Burkholder, Kamyab Javanmardi, Ross Thyer, Yan Zhang, Hal S. Alper, Andrew D. Ellington. Using fungible biosensors to evolve improved alkaloid biosyntheses. Nature Chemical Biology, 2022; DOI: 10.1038/s41589-022-01072-w

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 10, 2022 at 10:35am

 Artificial ventricle is a major step forward for organ biofabrication

New gel protects eggs and may lead to better sports helmets

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on July 10, 2022 at 10:02am

Researchers discover how sound reduces pain in mice

An international team of scientists has identified the neural mechanisms through which sound blunts pain in mice. The findings, which could inform development of safer methods to treat pain, were published in Science.

By uncovering the circuitry that mediates the pain-reducing effects of sound in mice, this study adds critical knowledge that could ultimately inform new approaches for pain therapy.

Dating back to 1960, studies in humans have shown that music and other kinds of sound can help alleviate acute and chronic pain, including pain from dental and medical surgery, labor and delivery, and cancer. However, how the brain produces this pain reduction, or analgesia, was less clear.

Human brain imaging studies have implicated certain areas of the brain in music-induced analgesia, but these are only associations. Now  researchers first exposed mice with inflamed paws to three types of sound: a pleasant piece of classical music, an unpleasant rearrangement of the same piece, and white noise. Surprisingly, all three types of sound, when played at a low intensity relative to background noise (about the level of a whisper) reduced pain sensitivity in the mice. Higher intensities of the same sounds had no effect on animals' pain responses.

So the intensity of sound, and not the category or perceived pleasantness of sound would matter.

To explore the brain circuitry underlying this effect, the researchers used non-infectious viruses coupled with fluorescent proteins to trace connections between brain regions. They identified a route from the auditory cortex, which receives and processes information about sound, to the thalamus, which acts as a relay station for sensory signals, including pain, from the body. In freely moving mice, low-intensity white noise reduced the activity of neurons at the receiving end of the pathway in the thalamus.

In the absence of sound, suppressing the pathway with light- and small molecule-based techniques mimicked the pain-blunting effects of low-intensity noise, while turning on the pathway restored animals' sensitivity to pain.

 It is unclear if similar brain processes are involved in humans, or whether other aspects of sound, such as its perceived harmony or pleasantness, are important for human pain relief.
We don't know if human music means anything to rodents, but it has many different meanings to humans—you have a lot of emotional components.

The results could give scientists a starting point for studies to determine whether the animal findings apply to humans, and ultimately could inform development of safer alternatives to opioids for treating pain.

Zhou W, et al. Sound induces analgesia via corticothalamic circuits. Science. July 7, 2022. DOI: science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn4663

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