(BURLINGTON, Vermont) – To persist, life must reproduce. Over billions of years, organisms have evolved many ways of replicating, from budding plants to sexual animals to invading viruses.
Now scientists at the University of Vermont, Tufts University, and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have discovered an entirely new form of biological reproduction—and applied their discovery to create the first-ever, self-replicating living robots.
A team of researchers has developed the first chip-scale titanium-doped sapphire laser—a breakthrough with applications ranging from atomic clocks to quantum computing and spectroscopic sensors.
The work was led by Hong Tang, the Llewellyn West Jones, Jr. Professor of Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics & Physics. The results are published in Nature Photonics.
When the titanium-doped sapphire laser was introduced in the 1980s, it was a major advance in the field of lasers. Critical to its success was the material used as its gain medium—that is, the material that amplifies the laser’s energy. Sapphire doped with titanium ions proved to be particularly powerful, providing a much wider laser emission bandwidth than conventional semiconductor lasers. The innovation led to fundamental discoveries and countless applications in physics, biology, and chemistry.
A notable aspect of the CL1 is its ability to learn and adapt to tasks. Previous research has demonstrated that neuron-based systems can be trained to perform basic functions, such as playing simple video games. Cortical Labs’ work suggests that integrating biological elements into computing could improve efficiency in tasks that traditional AI struggles with, such as pattern recognition and decision-making in unpredictable environments.
Cortical Labs says that the first CL1 computers will be available for shipment to customers in June, with each unit priced at approximately $35,000.
The use of human neurons in computing raises questions about the future of AI development. Biological computers like the CL1 could provide advantages over conventional AI models, particularly in terms of learning efficiency and energy consumption. The adaptability of neurons could lead to improvements in robotics, automation, and complex data analysis.
Name of the field of biology the study of life in the universe. Exobiology?
Snippets from Nature’s past.
One limitation of producing biofuel is that the alcohol created by fermentation is toxic to the microbes that produce it. Now scientists are closer to overcoming this obstacle.
Researchers from the University of Cincinnati and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have achieved a breakthrough in understanding the vulnerability of microbes to the alcohols they produce during fermentation of plant biomass.
With the national lab’s neutron scattering and simulation equipment, the team analyzed fermentation of the biofuel butanol, an energy-packed alcohol that also can be used as a solvent or chemical feedstock.
Brain-computer interfaces have enabled people with paralysis to move a computer cursor with their mind and reanimate their muscles with their thoughts. But the performance of the technology — how easily and accurately a BCI user’s thoughts move a cursor, for example—is limited by the number of channels communicating with the brain.
Science Corporation, one of the companies working towards commercial brain-computer interfaces(BCIs), is forgoing the traditional method of sticking small metal electrodes into the brain in favor of a biology-based approach to increase the number of communication channels safely. “What can I stick a million of, or what could I stick 10 million of, into the brain that won’t hurt it?” says Alan Mardinly, Science Corp co-founder.
The answer: Neurons.
For decades, scientists have relied on electrodes and dyes to track the electrical activity of living cells. Now, engineers at the University of California San Diego have discovered that quantum materials just a single atom thick can do the job—using only light.
A new study, published in Nature Photonics, shows that these ultra-thin semiconductors, which trap electrons in two dimensions, can be used to sense the biological electrical activity of living cells with high speed and resolution.
Scientists have continually been seeking better ways to track the electrical activity of the body’s most excitable cells, such as neurons, heart muscle fibers and pancreatic cells. These tiny electrical pulses orchestrate everything from thought to movement to metabolism, but capturing them in real time and at large scales has remained a challenge.
This quantum light manipulation breakthrough paves the way for unprecedented technologies.
Scientists from the University of Basel and the University of Sydney successfully manipulated and identified interacting packets of light energy, or photons, with unprecedented precision.
This breakthrough, published in Nature Physics, marks the first-ever observation of stimulated light emission at the single-photon level—a phenomenon first predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916.
By measuring the time delay between photon interactions, researchers demonstrated how photons could become entangled in a “two-photon bound state,” opening up new possibilities for quantum computing and enhanced measurement techniques.
This discovery has profound implications for photonic quantum computing and metrology, particularly in fields like biological microscopy, where high-intensity light can damage delicate samples. Dr. Sahand Mahmoodian, a leading researcher on the project, emphasized that harnessing quantum light could lead to more precise measurements with fewer photons. Meanwhile, tech companies like PsiQuantum and Xanadu are already exploring how this research could contribute to fault-tolerant quantum computing. As scientists refine their ability to manipulate quantum light, the door opens to a future of more powerful computing, ultra-sensitive sensors, and revolutionary advancements in technology.