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1 week ago | 
chemistryworld.com | Tim Wogan
A new polymer membrane for separating hydrocarbons in crude oil might one day save huge amounts of energy by removing the need for fractional distillation. The polymer is similar to reverse osmosis membranes used for desalination of seawater, making it potentially scalable to the large volumes that would be needed in industry.
Fractional distillation of crude oil consumes nearly 1% of global energy and accounts for 6% of the world’s carbon emissions.
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2 weeks ago | 
chemistryworld.com | Tim Wogan
The connections between brain cells have been mapped with unprecedented molecular resolution using a new light-microscopy technique that swells and blows up brain tissue without significantly distorting it. The researchers believe the technique, which most labs could carry out, could provide new insights into neuroscience and could also be useful in other tissues.
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2 weeks ago | 
chemistryworld.com | Tim Wogan
Biocompatible inks allowed polymers to be printed in animals without harming them
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1 month ago | 
physicsworld.com | Tim Wogan
Nonlocal correlations that define quantum entanglement could be reconciled with Einstein’s theory of relativity if space–time had two temporal dimensions. That is the implication of new theoretical work that extends nonlocal hidden variable theories of quantum entanglement and proposes a potential experimental test.
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1 month ago | 
chemistryworld.com | Tim Wogan
A low-temperature chemical reaction between helium ions and carbon monoxide can be slowed by microwave excitation of the carbon monoxide, researchers in Switzerland have shown. The result shows that microwaves can have non-thermal effects on chemical reaction rates, and could be important in astrochemistry.
Since their introduction to the laboratory around 2000, microwaves have become invaluable for heating reaction mixtures in laboratories.
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2 months ago | 
chemistryworld.com | Tim Wogan
A self-powered, bioresorbable temporary pacemaker the size of a grain of rice has been developed by an international team of researchers. The device, which could potentially prevent lethal complications of heart surgery, could be especially valuable in young children.
Source: © John A Rogers/Northwestern University
After major cardiac surgery that requires stopping the heart, most patients receive a temporary pacemaker to ensure stable cardiac rhythm for several days or weeks.
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2 months ago | 
chemistryworld.com | Tim Wogan
A self-powered, bioresorbable temporary pacemaker the size of a grain of rice has been developed by an international team of researchers. The device, which could potentially prevent lethal complications of heart surgery, could be especially valuable in young children.
Source: © John A Rogers/Northwestern University
After major cardiac surgery that requires stopping the heart, most patients receive a temporary pacemaker to ensure stable cardiac rhythm for several days or weeks.
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2 months ago | 
chemistryworld.com | Tim Wogan
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – the persistent, bio-accumulative anthropogenic pollutants colloquially known as ‘forever chemicals’ – can be mechanochemically broken down into fluoride sources for industrially important molecules, researchers in the UK and US have shown.1 The process, which followed a serendipitous discovery, could potentially reduce demand for fluorspar (calcium fluoride), which is considered a critical mineral in many parts of the world.
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2 months ago | 
physicsworld.com | Tim Wogan
Researchers in China have unveiled a 105-qubit quantum processor that can solve in minutes a quantum computation problem that would take billions of years using the world’s most powerful classical supercomputers. The result sets a new benchmark for claims of so-called “quantum advantage”, though some previous claims have faded after classical algorithms improved. The fundamental promise of quantum computation is that it will reduce the computational resources required to solve certain problems.
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2 months ago | 
physicsworld.com | Tim Wogan
D-Wave Systems has used quantum annealing to do simulations of quantum magnetic phase transitions. The company claims that some of their calculations would be beyond the capabilities of the most powerful conventional (classical) computers – an achievement referred to as quantum advantage. This would mark the first time quantum computers had achieved such a feat for a practical physics problem.
