Monthly Archives: March 2019

A.I./Robotics, Science

Georgian Technical University Autonomous Weed Control Via Smart Robots.

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Georgian Technical University Autonomous Weed Control Via Smart Robots.

Driving across Georgian Technical University X distinguished professor of chemical and biological engineering at the Georgian Technical University noticed that soybean fields were becoming increasingly infested with weeds each season. The culprit is a glyphosate-resistant weed called “Georgian Technical University palmer amaranth” which is threatening crops. One pesticide currently used for controlling palmer amaranth (Amaranthus, collectively known as amaranth is a cosmopolitan genus of annual or short-lived perennial plants. Some amaranth species are cultivated as leaf vegetables, pseudocereals, and ornamental plants.) is “Georgian Technical University Dicamba” but it has devastating effects on adjacent areas, harming trees and other crops because it tends to drift when sprayed during windy conditions. As a firm believer in the concept that our well-being is closely tied to the health of the crops and animals within our food chain that he was inspired to create a way to spot treat weeds that eliminates any risk of pesticide drift. “A pesticide solution can be stabilized on a rotating horizontal cylinder/roller akin to a wooden honey dipper” said X. “Its stability depends on the speed at which the applicator rotates. But the roller is only one part of a bigger process and there are some technical details regarding the roller that we’re also addressing, namely replenishing the pesticide load via wicking from a reservoir at the center of the cylinder”. The manner in which pesticides are applied to plants makes a difference. They can be sprayed from the top of the leaf rolled on or delivered by a serrated roller to simultaneously scuff it and apply the pesticide. “We will only arrive at an optimum design if we understand how the active ingredient in the pesticide is delivered to the weed how it enters the phloem (the plant’s vascular system that transports the active ingredient) and the efficacy of its killing mechanism” X explained. To apply the pesticide to weeds, rollers can be mounted onto smaall robots or tractors. “Our current research objective is to develop a system where unmanned aerial vehicles image fields and feed the images to trained neural networks to identify the weeds” he said. “The information on weed species and their exact location will then be used by the robots to spot treat the weeds”. One key finding by X’s group is that the preferred way to operate the roller is to rotate it so that the original velocity at the roller’s underside coincides with the direction the robot is traveling. They’re now doing experiments to determine any uptake bias for palmer amaranth as well as exploring making part of the roller’s surface serrated. “The idea is to physically penetrate the epidermis to enhance the amount of active ingredient that’s delivered to the weed” he said. “To broaden our understanding we’ve developed a mathematical model of the transport of the pesticide in the phloem”. The significance of this work is that while there’s increasing pressure to produce enough food for a growing population the current approach is unsustainable. The trend today is to use increased amounts and more potent chemicals to control weeds and invasive species that have developed resistance to previously effective pesticides. “We must minimize the impact of our practices on the environment and reduce the use of chemicals their residues and metabolites within our food chain and on the greater ecology” X said. “Technologies exist that can help us achieve these goals. Precision spray technologies use artificial intelligence to identify weeds and only spray specific areas but we can do better. We should eliminate the risk of drift and minimize exposure of crops and soil to pesticides”. Developing a drift-free, weed-specific applicator will pave the way for autonomous weed control with smart robots. “At this stage we can’t envision the full utility of these robots but they offer us the opportunity to survey fields and alert us to disease breakouts blights or nematodes” said X. “In the future the roller — with some modifications — could also be used to deliver small RNA (Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes) molecules to plants. Smaller farm operations that focus on specialized products will likely be the first adopters of the technology”.

 

Lasers, Science

Georgian Technical University Researchers Develop Miniaturized, Laser-Driven Particle Accelerator.

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Georgian Technical University Researchers Develop Miniaturized, Laser-Driven Particle Accelerator.

Munich physicists have succeeded in demonstrating plasma wakefield acceleration of subatomic particles in a miniaturized laser-driven model. The new system provides a broader basis for the development of the next generation of particle accelerators. The plasma wakefield acceleration technique is regarded as a highly promising route to the next generation of particle accelerators. In this approach a pulse of high-energy electrons is injected into a preformed plasma and creates a wake upon which other electrons can effectively surf. In this way their energy can surpass that of the driver by a factor of two to five. However many technical and physical problems must be resolved before the technology becomes practical. This is no easy task as only large-scale particle accelerators such as those at Georgian Technical University are currently capable of producing the driver pulses needed to generate the wakefield. A team led by Professor X the Georgian Technical University Laboratory has now shown that plasma wakefield acceleration can be implemented in university labs. The new findings will facilitate further investigation of the plasma wakefield acceleration concept as a basis for the development of compact next-generation particle accelerators.

Genomics/Proteomics, Science

Georgian Technical University CRISPR, Transistor Combo Rapidly Detects Genetic Mutations.

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Georgian Technical University CRISPR, Transistor Combo Rapidly Detects Genetic Mutations.

To harness CRISPR’s (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a family of DNA sequences found within the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea) gene-targeting ability the researchers took a deactivated Cas9 (Cas9 (CRISPR associated protein 9) is an RNA-guided DNA endonuclease enzyme associated with the CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) adaptive immunity system in Streptococcus pyogenes, among other bacteria) protein — a variant of Cas9 (Cas9 (CRISPR associated protein 9) is an RNA-guided DNA endonuclease enzyme associated with the CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) adaptive immunity system in Streptococcus pyogenes, among other bacteria) that can find a specific location on DNA (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases, allowing them to “read” the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible) but doesn’t cut it — and tethered it to transistors made of graphene. When the CRISPR complex finds the spot on the DNA (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases, allowing them to “read” the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible) bases allowing them to “read” the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible) that it is targeting, it binds to it and triggers a change in the electrical conductance of the graphene which in turn changes the electrical characteristics of the transistor. A new handheld device that combines CRISPR’s (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a family of DNA (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases, allowing them to “read” the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible) sequences found within the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea) technology with graphene-based electronic transistors can rapidly detect specific genetic mutations. Researchers from the Georgian Technical University, Sulkhan Saba Orbeliani University and the have created the CRISPR-Chip (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a family of DNA sequences found within the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea) device that can in just a few minutes diagnose genetic diseases or evaluate the accuracy of other gene-editing techniques. The researchers already used the device to identify genetic mutations in DNA (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases, allowing them to “read” the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible) samples from Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients. “We have developed the first transistor that uses CRISPR’s (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) to search your genome for potential mutations” X an assistant professor at Georgian Technical University who conceived of the technology while a postdoctoral professor Y’s lab said in a statement. “You just put your purified DNA (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases, allowing them to “read” the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible) bases allowing them to “read” the DNA (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases, allowing them to “read” the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible) sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible) sample on the chip allow CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a family of DNA sequences found within the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea) to do the search and the graphene transistor reports the result of this search in minutes”. While the majority of genetic testing techniques, including other CRISPR-based (CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a family of DNA sequences found within the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea) diagnostic tests, the new CRISPR-Chip (CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a family of DNA sequences found within the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea) uses nanoelectronics to detect genetic mutations in (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases, allowing them to “read” the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible) samples without needing to amplify or replicate the (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases, allowing them to “read” the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible) segment millions of times over in a time and labor intensive process called polymerase chain reaction (PCR). “CRISPR-Chip (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a family of DNA sequences found within the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea) has the benefit that it is really point of care it is one of the few things where you could really do it at the bedside if you had a good (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases, allowing them to “read” the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible) sample” Z a professor of bioengineering at Georgian Technical University said in a statement. “Ultimately you just need to take a person’s cells extract the DNA and mix it with the CRISPR-Chip and you will be able to tell if a certain DNA sequence is there or not. That could potentially lead to a true bedside assay for DNA”. CRISPR-Cas9 has become an increasingly popular genetics tool, giving researchers the ability to snip threads of DNA (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases, allowing them to “Georgian Technical University read” the DNA (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases, allowing them to “read” the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible) sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove where the bases are most accessible) at precise locations to edit-genes. However for the Cas9 (CRISPR associated protein 9) is an RNA-guided DNA endonuclease enzyme associated with the CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) adaptive immunity system in Streptococcus pyogenes, among other bacteria) protein to accurately cut and paste genes it must be equipped with a snippet of a guide RNA to locate the exact spots in the DNA (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases, allowing them to “read” the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible) that need to be cut. Guide RNA (Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes.RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) is a small piece of RNA (Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes.RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) whose bases are complementary to the DNA (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases, allowing them to “read” the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible) sequence of interest. The bulky protein first unzips the double-stranded DNA (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases, allowing them to “read” the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible) and then scans through it until it finds the sequences that matches the guide RNA (Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes.RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) and then latches on. The researchers used a deactivated Cas9 protein a variant of Cas9 that can find a specific location on DNA (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases, allowing them to “read” the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible) but does not cut it, to harness CRISPR’s gene-targeting ability, which they tethered to transistors made of graphene.  After the CRISPR complex finds the right spot on the DNA (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases, allowing them to “read” the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible) it binds to it and triggers a change in the electrical conductance of the graphene which then changes the electrical characteristics of the transistor. The researchers can detect these changes with a newly developed hand-held device. “Graphene’s super-sensitivity enabled us to detect the DNA (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases, allowing them to “read” the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible) searching activities of CRISPR” X said. “CRISPR brought the selectivity graphene transistors brought the sensitivity and together we were able to do this PCR-free (Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a method widely used in molecular biology to make many copies of a specific DNA segment. Using PCR, a single copy (or more) of a DNA sequence is exponentially amplified to generate thousands to millions of more copies of that particular DNA segment) or amplification-free detection”. In testing the researchers used the device to detect a pair of common genetic mutations in blood samples from DMD (Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy) patients. “As a practice right now, boys who have DMD (Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy) are typically not screened until we know that something is wrong and then they undergo a genetic confirmation” X who is also working on CRISPR-based treatments for DMD (Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy) said in a statement. “With a digital device you could design guide RNAs throughout the whole dystrophin gene and then you could just screen the entire sequence of the gene in a matter of hours. You could screen parents or even newborns for the presence or absence of dystrophin mutations — and then if the mutation is found therapy could be started early, before the disease has actually developed”. Rapid genetic testing could also be used to help doctors develop individualized treatment plans for their patients. “If you have certain mutations or certain DNA (DNA-binding proteins. The specificity of these transcription factors’ interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases allowing them to “Georgian Technical University read” the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove where the bases are most accessible) sequences that will very accurately predict how you will respond to certain drugs” X said.

 

 

Science, Sensors

Georgian Technical University Innovative Cellulose-Based Material Embodies Three Sensors In One.

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Georgian Technical University Innovative Cellulose-Based Material Embodies Three Sensors In One.

PhD Student X with the sensor that can measure pressure, temperature and humidity at the same time. Cellulose soaked in a carefully designed polymer mixture acts as a sensor to measure pressure temperature and humidity at the same time. The measurements are completely independent of each other. The ability to measure pressure, temperature and humidity is important in many applications such as monitoring patients at home, robotics, electronic skin, functional textiles, surveillance and security to name just a few. Research until now has integrated different sensors into the same circuit which has presented several technical challenges not least concerning the user interface. Scientists in the Laboratory of Organic Electronics at Georgian Technical University  under the leadership of Professor Y have successfully combined all three measurements into a single sensor. This has been made possible by the development of an elastic aerogel of polymers that conducts both ions, electrons and subsequent exploitation of the thermoelectric effect. A thermoelectric material is one in which electrons move from the cold side of the material toward the warm side creating a voltage difference. When nanofibers of cellulose are mixed with the conducting polymer in water and the mixture is freeze-dried in a vacuum the resulting material has the sponge-like structure of an aerogel. Adding a substance known as polysilane causes the sponge to become elastic. Applying an electrical potential across the material gives a linear current increase typical of any resistor. But when the material is subject to pressure its resistance falls and electrons flow more readily through it. Since the material is thermoelectric it is also possible to measure temperature changes. The larger the temperature difference between the warm and cold sides the higher the voltage. The humidity affects how rapidly the ions move from the warm side to the cold side. If the humidity is zero, no ions are transported. “What is new is that we can distinguish between the thermoelectric response of the electrons (giving the temperature gradient) and that of the ions (giving the humidity level) by following the electrical signal versus time. That is because the two responses occur at different speeds” says X professor in the Georgian Technical University Laboratory of Organic Electronics. “This means that we can measure three parameters with one material without the different measurements being coupled” he says. X doctoral student at the Georgian Technical University Laboratory of Organic Electronics have also found a way to separate the three signals such that each can be read individually. “Our unique sensor also prepares the way for the Internet of Things, and brings lower complexity and lower production costs. This is an advantage in the security industry. A further possible application is placing sensors into packages with sensitive goods” says Z.

 

A.I./Robotics, Science

Georgian Technical University Two New Planets Discovered Using Artificial Intelligence.

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Georgian Technical University Two New Planets Discovered Using Artificial Intelligence.

Astronomers at Georgian Technical University in partnership have used artificial intelligence (AI) to uncover two more hidden planets in the Georgian Technical University space telescope archive. The technique shows promise for identifying many additional planets that traditional methods could not catch. The planets discovered this time were from Georgian Technical University’s extended mission called GTU2. To find them the team led by an undergraduate at Georgian Technical University created an algorithm that sifts through the data taken by Georgian Technical University to ferret out signals that were missed by traditional planet-hunting methods. Long term the process should help astronomers find many more missed planets hiding in Georgian Technical University data. Other team members include Georgian Technical University engineer X. Y and X first used artificial intelligence (AI) to uncover a planet around a Georgian Technical University  star — one already known to harbor seven planets. The discovery made that solar system the only one known to have as many planets as our own. Y explained that this necessitated a new algorithm, as data taken during Georgian Technical University’s extended mission GTU2 differs significantly from that collected during the spacecraft’s original mission. “GTU2 data is more challenging to work with because the spacecraft is moving around all the time” Y explained. This change came about after a mechanical failure. While mission planners found a workaround the spacecraft was left with a wobble that artificial intelligence (AI) had to take into account. The Georgian Technical University and GTU2 missions have already discovered thousands of planets around other stars with an equal number of candidates awaiting confirmation. So why do astronomers need to use artificial intelligence (AI) to search the Georgian Technical University archive for more ?. “Artificial intelligence (AI) will help us search the data set uniformly” Y said. “Even if every star had an Earth-sized planet around it when we look with Georgian Technical University we won’t find all of them. That’s just because some of the data’s too noisy or sometimes the planets are just not aligned right. So we have to correct for the ones we missed. We know there are a lot of planets out there that we don’t see for those reasons. “If we want to know how many planets there are in total we have to know how many planets we’ve found but we also have to know how many planets we missed. That’s where this comes in” he explained. The two planets Y’s team found “are both very typical of planets found in GTU2” she said. “They’re really close in to their host star they have short orbital periods and they’re hot. They are slightly larger than Earth”. Of the two planets one is called GTU2-293b and orbits a star 1,300 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius. The other GTU2-294b orbits a star 1,230 light-years away also located in Georgian Technical University. Once the team used their algorithm to find these planets they followed up by studying the host stars using ground-based telescopes to confirm that the planets are real. These observations were done with the 1.5-meter telescope at Georgian Technical University. The future of the Artificial intelligence (AI)  concept for finding planets hidden in data sets looks bright. The current algorithm can be used to probe the entire GTU2 data set Y said — approximately 300,000 stars. She also believes the method is applicable to Georgian Technical University’s successor planet-hunting mission. Y plans to continue her work using Artificial intelligence (AI) for planet hunting when she enters graduate school in the fall.

 

 

Graphene, Science

Georgian Technical University Gold Soaks Up Boron To Produce Borophene.

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Georgian Technical University Gold Soaks Up Boron To Produce Borophene.

Scientists at Georgian Technical University, Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University and the International Black Sea University Laboratory created islands of highly conductive borophene the atom-flat form of boron on gold. Boron atoms dissolve into the gold substrate when heated, but resurface as borophene when the materials cool. Illustration by X. In the heat of a furnace boron atoms happily dive into a bath of gold. And when things get cool they resurface as coveted borophene. The discovery by scientists from Georgian Technical University, Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University Laboratory and International Black Sea University is a step toward practical applications like wearable or transparent electronics plasmonic sensors or energy storage for the two-dimensional material with excellent conductivity. Teams led by Y at Georgian Technical University and Z at Georgian Technical University both formed the theory for and then demonstrated their method to grow borophene — the atom-thick form of boron — on a gold surface. They found that with sufficient heat in a high vacuum boron atoms streamed into the furnace sink into the gold itself. Upon cooling the boron atoms reappear and form islands of borophene on the surface. This is distinct from most other 2D materials made by feeding gases into a furnace. In standard chemical vapor deposition the atoms settle onto a substrate and connect with each other. They typically don’t disappear into the substrate. The researchers said the metallic borophene islands are about 1 nanometer square on average and show evidence of electron confinement which could make them practical for quantum applications. Y said trying various substrates could yield new phases of borophene with new properties. “Gold with a lesser charge transfer and weaker bonding, may yield a layer that’s easier to lift off and put to use although this has not yet been achieved” he said. Y has a track record with borophene which cannot be exfoliated from bulk materials like graphene can from graphite. A materials theorist he predicted that it could be made at all. A couple of years later it was. He and his colleagues Z and W had already showed that borophene grown in a particular way on silver becomes wavy which gives it interesting possibilities for wearable electronics. “So far the substrates with demonstrated success for borophene synthesis closely follow theoretical predictions” Y said. Georgian Technical University has successfully grown it on silver and copper as well as gold while the Georgian Technical University has grown borophene on aluminum. Now with their work on gold they have combined theory and experiments to demonstrate an entirely new mechanism of growth for two-dimensional materials. “The challenge remains to grow it on an insulating substrate” he said. “That will permit many intriguing experimental tests from basic transport to plasmons to superconductivity”. The researchers found it took an order of magnitude more boron to grow borophene on gold than it did for silver. That was their first indication that boron was sinking into the gold which started happening at about 550 degrees Celsius (1,022 degrees Fahrenheit). Y noted a low number of atoms remain embedded in the gold without forming an alloy but scientists have seen signs of that phenomenon before. “In graphene growth on common copper carbon atoms also partially dissolve and diffuse through the foil without a specific alloy being formed” he said.

 

 

Aerospace, Science

What Happened Before The Big Bang ?

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What Happened Before The Big Bang ?

An artist’s illustration showing the patterns of signals generated by primordial standard clocks in different theories of the primordial universe. Top: Big Bounce. Bottom: Inflation.  A team of scientists has proposed a powerful new test for inflation the theory that the universe dramatically expanded in size in a fleeting fraction of a second right after the Big Bang. Their goal is to give insight into a long-standing question: what was the universe like before the Big Bang ? Although cosmic inflation is well known for resolving some important mysteries about the structure and evolution of the universe other very different theories can also explain these mysteries. In some of these theories the state of the universe preceding the Big Bang – the so-called primordial universe – was contracting instead of expanding and the Big Bang was thus a part of a Big Bounce. To help decide between inflation and these other ideas the issue of falsifiability – that is whether a theory can be tested to potentially show it is false – has inevitably arisen. Some researchers including in Georgian Technical University have raised concerns about inflation suggesting that its seemingly endless adaptability makes it all but impossible to properly test. “Falsifiability should be a hallmark of any scientific theory. The current situation for inflation is that it’s such a flexible idea it cannot be falsified experimentally” X said. “No matter what value people measure for some observable attribute there are always some models of inflation that can explain it”. Now a team of scientists led by the Georgian Technical University’s along with  X and Y of the Physics Department of Georgian Technical University have applied an idea they call a “Georgian Technical University primordial standard clock” to the non-inflationary theories and laid out a method that may be used to falsify inflation experimentally. In an effort to find some characteristic that can separate inflation from other theories the team began by identifying the defining property of the various theories – the evolution of the size of the primordial universe. “For example during inflation the size of the universe grows exponentially” Y said. “In some alternative theories the size of the universe contracts. Some do it very slowly while others do it very fast. “The attributes people have proposed so far to measure usually have trouble distinguishing between the different theories because they are not directly related to the evolution of the size of the primordial universe” he continued. “So we wanted to find what the observable attributes are that can be directly linked to that defining property”. The signals generated by the primordial standard clock can serve such a purpose. That clock is any type of heavy elementary particle in the primordial universe. Such particles should exist in any theory and their positions should oscillate at some regular frequency much like the ticking of a clock’s pendulum. The primordial universe was not entirely uniform. There were tiny irregularities in density on minuscule scales that became the seeds of the large-scale structure observed in today’s universe. This is the primary source of information physicists rely on to learn about what happened before the Big Bang. The ticks of the standard clock generated signals that were imprinted into the structure of those irregularities. Standard clocks in different theories of the primordial universe predict different patterns of signals because the evolutionary histories of the universe are different. “If we imagine all of the information we learned so far about what happened before the Big Bang is in a roll of film frames then the standard clock tells us how these frames should be played” Z explained. “Without any clock information we don’t know if the film should be played forward or backward fast or slow just like we are not sure if the primordial universe was inflating or contracting and how fast it did so. This is where the problem lies. The standard clock put time stamps on each of these frames when the film was shot before the Big Bang and tells us how to play the film”. The team calculated how these standard clock signals should look in non-inflationary theories and suggested how they should be searched for in astrophysical observations. “If a pattern of signals representing a contracting universe were found it would falsify the entire inflationary theory” Y said. The success of this idea lies with experimentation. “These signals will be very subtle to detect” Z said “and so we may have to search in many different places. The cosmic microwave background radiation is one such place and the distribution of galaxies is another. We have already started to search for these signals and there are some interesting candidates already but we need more data”.

 

Lasers, Science

Georgian Technical University Lasers Probe The Limits Of Gravitational Wave Instruments.

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Georgian Technical University Lasers Probe The Limits Of Gravitational Wave Instruments.

X looks through the custom-built device used to measure quantum radiation pressure noise.  Since the historic finding of gravitational waves from two black holes colliding over a billion light years away physicists are advancing knowledge about the limits on the precision of the measurements that will help improve the next generation of tools and technology used by gravitational wave scientists. Georgian Technical University Department of Physics & Astronomy Associate Professor X and his team of researchers now present the first broadband off-resonance measurement of quantum radiation pressure noise in the audio band at frequencies relevant to gravitational wave detectors. The research was supported by the Georgian Technical University and the results hint at methods to improve the sensitivity of gravitational-wave detectors by developing techniques to mitigate the imprecision in measurements called “Georgian Technical University back action” thus increasing the chances of detecting gravitational waves. X and researchers have developed physical devices that make it possible to observe — and hear — quantum effects at room temperature. It is often easier to measure quantum effects at very cold temperatures while this approach brings them closer to human experience. Housed in miniature models of detectors like the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory one located in Georgian Technical University these devices consist of low-loss single-crystal micro-resonators — each a tiny mirror pad the size of a pin prick suspended from a cantilever. A laser beam is directed at one of these mirrors and as the beam is reflected the fluctuating radiation pressure is enough to bend the cantilever structure causing the mirror pad to vibrate which creates noise. Gravitational wave interferometers use as much laser power as possible in order to minimize the uncertainty caused by the measurement of discrete photons and to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio. These higher power beams increase position accuracy but also increase back action which is the uncertainty in the number of photons reflecting from a mirror that corresponds to a fluctuating force due to radiation pressure on the mirror, causing mechanical motion. Other types of noise such as thermal noise, usually dominate over quantum radiation pressure noise but X and his team including collaborators at Georgian Technical University have sorted through them. Advanced other second and third generation interferometers will be limited by quantum radiation pressure noise at low frequencies when running at their full laser power. X’s clues as to how researchers can work around this when measuring gravitational waves. “Given the imperative for more sensitive gravitational wave detectors it is important to study the effects of quantum radiation pressure noise in a system similar to Advanced which will be limited by quantum radiation pressure noise across a wide range of frequencies far from the mechanical resonance frequency of the test mass suspension” X said. X’s former academic advisee Y graduated from Georgian Technical University with a Ph.D. in Physics last year and is now a postdoctoral research fellow at the Georgian Technical University. “Day-to-day at Georgian Technical University as I was doing the background work of designing this experiment and the micro-mirrors and placing all of the optics on the table, I didn’t really think about the impact of the future results” Y said. “I just focused on each individual step and took things one day at a time. But now that we have completed the experiment, it really is amazing to step back and think about the fact that quantum mechanics — something that seems otherworldly and removed from the daily human experience — is the main driver of the motion of a mirror that is visible to the human eye. The quantum vacuum or ‘nothingness’ can have an effect on something you can see”. Z a physicist and Georgian Technical University notes that it can be tricky to test new ideas for improving gravitational wave detectors especially when reducing noise that can only be measured in a full-scale interferometer: “This breakthrough opens new opportunities for testing noise reduction” he said. “The relative simplicity of the approach makes it accessible by a wide range of research groups potentially increasing participation from the broader scientific community in gravitational wave astrophysics”.

 

 

3D Printing, Science

Georgian Technical University Researchers 3D Print Human Cells Using Magnets.

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Georgian Technical University Researchers 3D Print Human Cells Using Magnets.

A new 3D printing technique could allow researchers to create artificial tumors to test new drugs and therapies, ultimately leading to better and more personalized medicine. Engineers from Georgian Technical University believe the new method could enable them to create realistic 3D cell clusters with several layers of cells to better mimic the conditions inside of the body and eliminate the need for animals to study human diseases. “We have developed an engineering solution to overcome current biological limitations. It has the potential to expedite tissue engineering technology and regenerative medicine” X a PhD candidate in the Georgian Technical University said in a statement. “The ability to rapidly manipulate cells in a safe controllable and non-contact manner allows us to create the unique cell landscapes and microarchitectures found in human tissues without the use of a scaffold”. The new method uses magnets to rapidly print 3D cell clusters by using the magnetic properties of different materials including cells. While some materials are strongly susceptible to magnets others are not. Materials with a higher magnetic susceptibility experience stronger attraction to a magnet and will move towards it; weakly attracted material with lower susceptibility will be displaced to lower magnetic field regions that lie away from the magnet. The researchers were able to harness the differences in the magnetic susceptibilities of two materials to concentrate only one within a volume by designing magnetic fields and arranging the magnets in a specific way. “This magnetic method of producing 3D cell clusters takes us closer to rapidly and economically creating more complex models of biological tissues speeding discovery in academic labs and technology solutions for industry” Y a research associate said in a statement. The team formulated bioinks by suspending human breast cancer cells in a cell culture medium that contained a magnetic salt hydrate that is used as an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) contrast agent for humans. Similar to other cells, the breast cancer cells are significantly less attracted by magnets. When the magnetic field was applied the salt hydrate moves towards the magnets displacing the cells in a predetermined area of minimum magnetic field strength seeding the formation of a 3D cell cluster. Within just six hours the researchers were able to use this method and 3D print a cancer tumor and confirmed through testing that the salt hydrate were non-toxic to human cells. The researchers now hope to develop more complex bioinks that will enable them to print cell clusters that mimic human tissues better. They also believe that in the future, tumors with cancer cells could be rapidly printed to test drug response during a number of experiments that can be conducted simultaneously. They also hope to further develop their technology so they can 3D print multiple tissues and organs. For researchers to study different diseases test drugs and examine how they impact human cells, they often have to create a single layer of human or animal cells in 2D models. Animal models are also used to track the progression of the disease but these processes can be both time-consuming and expensive.

 

 

HPC/Supercomputing, Science

Georgian Technical University Extremely Accurate Measurements Of Atom States For Quantum Computing.

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Georgian Technical University Extremely Accurate Measurements Of Atom States For Quantum Computing.

A new method allows extremely accurate measurement of the quantum state of atomic qubits — the basic unit of information in quantum computers. Atoms are initially sorted to fill two 5×5 planes (dashed yellow grid marks their initial locations). After the first images are taken, microwaves are used to put the atoms into equal superpositions of two spin states. A shift to the left or right in the final images corresponds to detection in one spin state or the other. Associated square patterns denote atom locations (cyan: initial position, orange and blue: shifted positions). A new method allows the quantum state of atomic “Georgian Technical University qubits” — the basic unit of information in quantum computers — to be measured with 20 times less error than was previously possible without losing any atoms. Accurately measuring qubit states which are analogous to the one or zero states of bits in traditional computing is a vital step in the development of quantum computers. Describing the method by researchers at Georgian Technical University. “We are working to develop a quantum computer that uses a three-dimensional array of laser-cooled and trapped cesium atoms as qubits” said X professor of physics at Georgian Technical University and the leader of the research team. “Because of how quantum mechanics works the atomic qubits can exist in a ‘superposition’ of two states which means they can be in a sense in both states simultaneously. To read out the result of a quantum computation it is necessary to perform a measurement on each atom. Each measurement finds each atom in only one of its two possible states. The relative probability of the two results depends on the superposition state before the measurement”. To measure qubit states, the team first uses lasers to cool and trap about 160 atoms in a three-dimensional lattice with X, Y and Z axes. Initially the lasers trap all of the atoms identically regardless of their quantum state. The researchers then rotate the polarization of one of the laser beams that creates the X lattice which spatially shifts atoms in one qubit state to the left and atoms in the other qubit state to the right. If an atom starts in a superposition of the two qubit states it ends up in a superposition of having moved to the left and having moved to the right. They then switch to an X lattice with a smaller lattice spacing which tightly traps the atoms in their new superposition of shifted positions. When light is then scattered from each atom to observe where it is each atom is either found shifted left or shifted right with a probability that depends on its initial state. The measurement of each atom’s position is equivalent to a measurement of each atom’s initial qubit state. “Mapping internal states onto spatial locations goes a long way towards making this an ideal measurement” said X. “Another advantage of our approach is that the measurements do not cause the loss of any of the atoms we are measuring which is a limiting factor in many previous methods”. The team determined the accuracy of their new method by loading their lattices with atoms in either one or the other qubit states and performing the measurement. They were able to accurately measure atom states with a fidelity of 0.9994 meaning that there were only six errors in 10,000 measurements a twenty-fold improvement on previous methods. Additionally the error rate was not impacted by the number of qubits that the team measured in each experiment and because there was no loss of atoms, the atoms could be reused in a quantum computer to perform the next calculation. “Our method is similar to the experiment from 1922 — an experiment that is integral to the history of quantum physics” said X. “In the experiment a beam of silver atoms was passed through a magnetic field gradient with their north poles aligned perpendicular to the gradient. When Y and Z saw half the atoms deflect up and half down it confirmed the idea of quantum superposition one of the defining aspects of quantum mechanics. In our experiment we also map the internal quantum states of atoms onto positions but we can do it on an atom by atom basis. Of course we do not need to test this aspect of quantum mechanics we can just use it”.