Physicists Build 'Electronic Synapses' for Neural Networks

A team of scientists from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) have created prototypes of "electronic synapses" based on ultra-thin films of hafnium oxide (HfO2). These prototypes could potentially be used in fundamentally new computing systems. The paper has been published in the journal Nanoscale Research Letters.

The group of researchers from MIPT have made HfO2-based memristors measuring just 40x40 nm2. The nanostructures they built exhibit properties similar to biological synapses. Using newly developed technology, the memristors were integrated in matrices: in the future this technology may be used to design computers that function similar to biological neural networks.

Scientists Observe Solar Flare from Multiple Angles

A pulsating orb of light, the sun produces unexpected bursts known as solar flares. These eruptions are sometimes causes for concern, as they’ve been hitherto unpredictable and can affect the Earth’s ionosphere, in turn interfering with humanity’s communications systems.

Since these flares travel at the speed of light, scientists want to pinpoint the events leading up to a solar flare. InAstrophysical Journal Letters, scientists on Tuesday published their observations of a December 2013 solar flare. The flare was recorded from three solar observatories in hopes of gaining a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon. Specifically, the research team noted the presence of an electromagnetic phenomenon called a current sheet.

Current sheets are a crucial component of solar flare models, so the existence of them only bolsters previous theories regarding solar flares, according to study author and astrophysicist James McAteer, of New Mexico State University.  

Snake Robots to Handle Subsea Maintenance

It slithers along the dark water’s surface, a beam of light emanating from its anterior. And then, it submerges to investigate the world below.

While the above description may sound like a sea monster sighting of yesteryear, it actually has a manmade explanation.

Roboticists have long been exploring the efficacy of snake robots in a variety of fields, from medical surgery to search-and-rescue missions in disaster areas. Now, Norwegian companies are banding together to create snake robots meant for subsea inspection, maintenance, and repair. 

Norwegian University of Science and Technology spinoff company Eelume recently signed an agreement with Kongsberg Maritime and Statoil to accelerate the technology’s development.

Do Gut Microbes, Hosts Work Together During Evolution?

Feed two separate groups of fruit flies different food, and the two groups will develop different gut microbiotas tailored to their diet. But according to Prof. Michael Shapira, who teaches integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, within one generation, the difference in diet led to the fruit flies exhibiting a mating preference for flies in their own group.

“This led to de facto reproductive isolation of two populations and could facilitate future speciation, that is, real reproductive isolation—a genetic barrier preventing members of the two groups from parenting viable or fertile progeny,” Shapira said in a statement.

Hubble Captures Birthday Bubble

This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image, released to celebrate Hubble's 26th year in orbit, captures in stunning clarity what looks like a gigantic cosmic soap bubble. The object, known as the Bubble Nebula, is in fact a cloud of gas and dust illuminated by the brilliant star within it. The vivid new portrait of this dramatic scene wins the Bubble Nebula a place in the exclusive Hubble hall of fame, following an impressive lineage of Hubble anniversary images.

Twenty six years ago, on 24 April 1990, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit aboard the space shuttle Discovery as the first space telescope of its kind. Every year, to commemorate this momentous day in space history, Hubble spends a modest portion of its observing time capturing a spectacular view of a specially chosen astronomical object.

ZEISS Increases Speed of World’s Fastest Scanning Electron Microscope

ZEISS has launched a new variant of the world’s fastest scanning electron microscope: ZEISS MultiSEM 506, which features 91 beams that works in parallel and increases the throughput of the ZEISS MultiSEM 505 by a factor of three.

The unrivaled net acquisition speed of more than 2 Tera pixel per hour enables large-scaled experiments such as imaging of cubic millimeters of brain tissue at nanometer resolution for the analysis of neural circuits. For the research work conducted as part of numerous brain initiatives, this product will speed up the ability to map whole areas of the brain to understand the neuronal network.

The new product also demonstrates that the ZEISS multi-beam technology is scalable and will satisfy future throughput needs also in other fields, for example in semiconductor applications.
A first prototype of the ZEISS MultiSEM 506 has already been installed at Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Munich earlier this year.

The ZEISS MultiSEM 505 and 506 are designed for continual operation and fitted with the intuitive ZEISS ZEN Software, which provides new features like automated section detection of serial tissue sections.

Gateway to The Brain

Scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) have derived a structural model of a transporter at the blood-brain barrier called Mfsd2a. This is the first molecular model of this critical transporter, and could prove important for the development of therapeutic agents that need to be delivered to the brain --- across the blood-brain barrier. In future, this could help treat neurological disorders such as glioblastoma.

Currently, there are limitations to drug delivery to the brain as it is tightly protected by the blood-brain barrier. The blood-brain barrier is a protective barrier that separates the circulating blood from the central nervous system which can prevent the entry of certain toxins and drugs to the brain. This restricts the treatment of many brain diseases. However, as a transporter at the blood-brain barrier, Mfsd2a is a potential conduit for drug delivery directly to the brain, thus bypassing the barrier.

DNA Barcodes Gone Wild

A team of researchers at Sinai Health System'sLunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute (LTRI) and University of Toronto's Donnelly Centre has developed a new technology that can stitch together DNA barcodes inside a cell to simultaneously search amongst millions of protein pairs for protein interactions. The paper will be published today in the journal Molecular Systems Biology.

In recent years, DNA barcoding has enabled scientists to carry out highly parallel experiments, in which many different types of cells can be tested in the same tube. This has been further enabled by next-generation DNA sequencing which can efficiently count barcodes and 'read out' the results. However, the number of experiments that can be combined in the same tube has been limited to the number of barcoded cell types. Allowing barcodes to fuse together inside cells means scientists can now break that barrier. The new technology results in a 10-fold increased rate of discovery for the same price.

By 2020, China Wants a Rover on Mars

China plans to land a rover on Mars by 2020.

“The USA, Europe and India have all sent probes to Mars,” said Wu Weiren, the designer of its lunar missions in an interview with BBC News. “We will orbit Mars, land and deploy a rover—all in one mission.

According to the Associated Press (AP), the chief administrator of the country’s space program confirmed the plan at a news conference on Friday. The mission was approved in January. Also around that time China announced its plans to land a probe on the moon’s far side. 

“Our short-term goal is to orbit the moon, land on the moon and take samples back from the moon,” Weiren told BBC News. “Our long-term goal is to explore, land, and settle” the moon.

China National Space Administration head Xu Dazhe said the Martian undertaking is quite a challenge. “Only by completing this Mars probe mission can China say it has embarked on an exploration of deep space in the true sense,” Dazhe said at a press conference, according to theXinhua News Agency.   

WHY SPACEX'S ROCKET LANDING ON A DRONE SHIP IS A BIG DEAL

There couldn't have been a more perfect launch than yesterday's. The sun was shining, a gentle breeze was blowing, and SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket took off right on schedule. As we watched from a few miles away, the glare of the rocket's flames was searingly bright, hard to look at but impossible to look away from, like the sparklers kids play with on the Fourth of July. The sound, too, was like Independence Day, the boom and shake of a thousand fireworks going off, crashing through the sound barrier.

HOW YOU'LL DIE ON MARS

We're on our way to Mars. NASA has a plan to land astronauts on its surface by the 2030s. Private spaceflight companies like SpaceX have alsoexpressed interest in starting their own colonies there, while the infamousMars One project has already enlisted civilians for a one-way trip to our planetary neighbor in 2020.While many may dream of living their remaining days on Mars, those days may be numbered. The Martian environment poses significant challenges to Earth life, and establishing a Mars habitat will require an extraordinary amount of engineering prowess and technological knowhow to ensure the safety of its residents.

4 SCIENTIFIC NAMING CONTESTS THAT WENT AWRY

Sometimes, naming contests can go the way that their creators expected.Asteroids get perfectly appropriate names like 'Bennu' sent in by adorable kids. When the International Astronomical Union (IAU) asked people to submit names of exoplanets and stars in 2014, they got 45 perfectly reasonable names with the voting public mostly sticking to one person one vote, and rejecting such silly names as 'Starry Bunnies' in favor of the more academic (and boring) 'Helvetios'.

Other times, things don't go so smoothly. People running internet polls seem to forget that everyone with internet access can vote in the polls, not just the die-hard fans taking the contest seriously. Internet polls sent the rapper Pitbull to a rural Alaskan Walmart, almost sent Justin Bieber to North Korea, and almost got Austin Texas' garbage division renamed the “Fred Durst Society of the Humanitiesand Arts”.