Researchers at QuTech, a collaboration of TU Delft and TNO, have developed a new magnetic quantum sensing technology that can image samples with atomic-scale resolution. It opens the door towards imaging individual molecules, like proteins and other complex systems, atom by atom. The team reports on their results in Nature on the 18th of December. …
Tag: resolution
Why are whales big, but not bigger?
How did whales that feed on tiny prey evolve into the largest creatures on Earth? And why don’t they get even bigger? Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/why-are-whales-big…
Very Large Telescope images stunning central region of Milky Way, finds ancient star burst
ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has observed the central part of the Milky Way with spectacular resolution and uncovered new details about the history of star birth in our galaxy. Thanks to the new observations, astronomers have found evidence for a dramatic event in the life of the Milky Way: a burst of star formation so intense that it resulted in…
Engineers pull off daring rescue of OSIRIS-REx asteroid mission
On Friday, Oct. 11, the OSIRIS-REx team should have been preparing to point their spacecraft cameras precisely over the asteroid Bennu to capture high-resolution images of a region known as Osprey. It is one of four sites scientists are considering from which the spacecraft can safely collect a sample in late 2020. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-12-osiris-rex-asteroid-mission.html…
IRAS 18379–1707 is a metal-poor high-velocity star, observations find
Astronomers have conducted high-resolution spectroscopic observations of IRAS 18379–1707 (or LS 5112), a candidate post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) star in the Milky Way galaxy. Results of the observations provide more details about the properties of this object, revealing that it is a metal-poor, high-velocity star. The findings are detailed in a paper published November 28 on arXiv.org. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-12-iras-metal-poor-high-velocity-star.html…
Snapdragon XR2 Chip To Enable Standalone Headsets With 3K x 3K Resolution, 7 Cameras
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Road to VR: Qualcomm today announced Snapdragon XR2 5G, its latest chipset platform dedicated to the needs of standalone VR and AR headsets. The new platform is aimed at high-end devices with support for 3K x 3K displays at 90Hz, along with integrated 5G, accelerated AI processing, and up to seven simultaneous camera feeds…
Brother of Drug Lord Pablo Escobar Launches ‘Unbreakable’ Foldable Smartphone
Roberto Escobar, brother of the late drug lord Pablo Escobar, has announced a foldable smartphone that is “very difficult to break” thanks to the screen’s “special type of plastic.” The Escobar Fold 1, as it is called, significantly undercuts Samsung’s Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X with a price of only $349. Neowin reports: While all the foldable phones announced so…
Russia To Upgrade Homegrown Encyclopedia After Putin Pans Wikipedia
Russia is to set up a new online site for its national encyclopedia after President Vladimir Putin said Wikipedia was unreliable and should be replaced. From a report: The move will ensure people can find “reliable information that is constantly updated on the basis of scientifically verified sources of knowledge,” a government resolution said. Putin last month proposed replacing the crowd-sourced…
Public Libraries Drop Overdue Book Fines To Alleviate Inequity
The San Diego Public Library system just wiped out overdue fines for 130,000 people. It’s part of a growing trend, reports NPR: The changes were enacted after a city study revealed that nearly half of the library’s patrons whose accounts were blocked as a result of late fees lived in two of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. “I never realized it impacted…
Zuckerberg’s Quest to Explore Future Featured Mostly White Men
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg completed his 2019 “personal challenge” on Monday, his version of a New Year’s resolution. From a report: This year he pledged to “host a series of public discussions about the future of technology in society — the opportunities, the challenges, the hopes, and the anxieties.” The problem? Almost all of Zuckerberg’s discussions were with fellow white…