Lifeboat Foundation

Warning: Spoilers for both films, The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor ahead!

This year is the 25th anniversary of both The Matrix (see my article here) and The Thirteenth Floor (released on May 28, 1999). Both films depict what we now call the simulation hypothesis, the idea that we might live inside a computer simulation. In my college-level class that I teach about the emerging field of simulation (titled Simulation Theory: Sci-Fi, Technology, Religion and Philosophy), while The Matrix is the first sci-fi film I assign to my students, the second one is The Thirteenth Floor. While The Matrix is by far the most recognizable popular media depiction of the simulation idea, on this anniversary I am arguing that The Thirteenth Floor may be a better and richer representation of a number of aspects of the simulation hypothesis than even The Matrix.

Phosphorus is an exciting element: It is essential for the survival of organisms and promises numerous electronic applications. With this in mind, researchers at the University of Basel have synthesized two-dimensional layers containing rings of five phosphorus atoms (phosphorus pentamers (cyclo-P5)) on a silver surface.

For the first time, they have been able to investigate their electronic properties using combined atomic force and scanning tunneling spectroscopy. They found that the atomic phosphorus pentamer layer retains its semiconductor properties and forms a special electronic interface where the layer joins the silver surface (p-type semiconductor-metal Schottky junction).

This shows that phosphorus pentamers on the silver surface fulfill a basic requirement for applications in field-effect transistors, diodes or solar cells, as recently reported by the research team in the scientific journal Nature Communications (“Probing charge redistribution at the interface of self-assembled cyclo-P5 pentamers on Ag(111)”).

Researchers at TMOS, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems, and their collaborators at RMIT University have developed a new 2D quantum sensing chip using hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) that can simultaneously detect temperature anomalies and magnetic field in any direction in a new, groundbreaking thin-film format.

In a paper released in Nature Communications (“Multi-species optically addressable spin defects in a van der Waals material”), they detail a sensor that is significantly thinner than current quantum technology for magnetometry, paving the way for cheaper, more versatile quantum sensors.

Experimental set-up of hBN quantum sennsor. (Image: RMIT University)

Soon, data storage centers are expected to consume almost 10% of the world’s energy generation. This increase is, among other things, due to intrinsic limitations of the materials used—ferromagnets. Consequently, this problem has ignited a quest for faster and more energy-efficient materials.

In solar cells and light-emitting diodes, maintaining the excited state kinetics of molecules against annihilation is a race against time. These systems need to strike a careful balance between different processes that lead to loss of energy and those that lead to the desired outcome.

CU Boulder scientists have found how ions move in tiny pores, potentially improving energy storage in devices like supercapacitors. Their research updates Kirchhoff’s law, with significant implications for energy storage in vehicles and power grids.

Imagine if your dead laptop or phone could be charged in a minute, or if an electric car could be fully powered in just 10 minutes. While this isn’t possible yet, new research by a team of scientists at CU Boulder could potentially make these advances a reality.

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers in Ankur Gupta’s lab discovered how tiny charged particles, called ions, move within a complex network of minuscule pores. The breakthrough could lead to the development of more efficient energy storage devices, such as supercapacitors, said Gupta, an assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering.

A team of physicists has successfully created superconducting properties in materials known for conducting electricity only at their edges, marking a potential leap forward in quantum computing technology.

This achievement, which has eluded researchers for over a decade, was made possible through meticulous control of the experimental conditions.

Quantum Breakthroughs

“The moment when we wrote down the terms of this equation and saw that it all clicked together, it felt pretty incredible,” Wordsworth said. “It’s a result that finally shows us how directly the quantum mechanics links to the bigger picture.”

In some ways, he said, the calculation helps us understand climate change better than any computer model. “It just seems to be a fundamentally important thing to be able to say in a field that we can show from basic principles where everything comes from.”

The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) has designed a new type of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment that could significantly reduce the cost to produce 7nm and smaller semiconductors, and thus revolutionize the chip manufacturing supply chain.

According to reports, the EUV equipment’s optical system is greatly simplified while power consumption is reduced by a factor of ten, raising the prospect of much cheaper advanced chip-making machines.

If so, it could mark the end of ASML’s monopoly on EUV lithography, which would have serious implications for semiconductor manufacturers, investors and governments.