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Gordon Moore, Intel co-founder who predicted rise of the PC, dies at 94

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Saturday, March 25, 2023

Engineer, whose microchip forecast became known as ‘Moore’s Law’, foresaw mobile phones and home computers decades before they existedIntel Corp co-founder Gordon Moore, a pioneer in the semiconductor industry whose “Moore’s Law” predicted a steady rise in computing power for decades, has died at the age of 94, the company announced.Intel and Moore’s family philanthropic foundation said he died on Friday surrounded by family at his home in Hawaii. Continue reading...

Engineer, whose microchip forecast became known as ‘Moore’s Law’, foresaw mobile phones and home computers decades before they existedIntel Corp co-founder Gordon Moore, a pioneer in the semiconductor industry whose “Moore’s Law” predicted a steady rise in computing power for decades, has died at the age of 94, the company announced.Intel and Moore’s family philanthropic foundation said he died on Friday surrounded by family at his home in Hawaii. Continue reading...

Engineer, whose microchip forecast became known as ‘Moore’s Law’, foresaw mobile phones and home computers decades before they existed

Intel Corp co-founder Gordon Moore, a pioneer in the semiconductor industry whose “Moore’s Law” predicted a steady rise in computing power for decades, has died at the age of 94, the company announced.

Intel and Moore’s family philanthropic foundation said he died on Friday surrounded by family at his home in Hawaii.

Continue reading...
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Quantum Computing Breakthrough: Photons That Make Quantum Bits “Fly”

Two physicists at the University of Konstanz are developing a method that could enable the stable exchange of information in quantum computers. In the leading...

Researchers have pioneered a photon-based qubit communication model, facilitating precise control in quantum computing information transfer. Credit: SciTechDaily.comTwo physicists at the University of Konstanz are developing a method that could enable the stable exchange of information in quantum computers. In the leading role: photons that make quantum bits “fly.”Quantum computers are considered the next big evolutionary step in information technology. They are expected to solve computing problems that today’s computers simply cannot solve – or would take ages to do so. Research groups around the world are working on making the quantum computer a reality. This is anything but easy, because the basic components of such a computer, the quantum bits or qubits, are extremely fragile.One type of qubit consists of the intrinsic angular momentum (spin) of a single electron, i.e. they are at the scale of an atom. It is hard enough to keep such a fragile system intact. It is even more difficult to interconnect two or more of these qubits. So how can a stable exchange of information between qubits be achieved? Flying QubitsThe two Konstanz physicists Benedikt Tissot and Guido Burkard have now developed a theoretical model of how the information exchange between qubits could succeed by using photons as a “means of transport” for quantum information.The general idea: The information content (electron spin state) of the material qubit is converted into a “flying qubit,” namely a photon. Photons are “light quanta” that constitute the basic building blocks making up the electromagnetic radiation field.The special feature of the new model: stimulated Raman emissions are used for converting the qubit into a photon. This procedure allows more control over the photons.“We are proposing a paradigm shift from optimizing the control during the generation of the photon to directly optimizing the temporal shape of the light pulse in the flying qubit,” explains Guido Burkard.Illustration of a quantum system (silver arrow and yellow, green and purple orbitals) interacting with a resonator (two mirrors and pink light field between them). In addition, the quantum system is controlled by a control field (green laser). A photon (pink luminous drop) has been emitted into an optical fibre through one of the mirrors. Credit & Copyright: Benedikt TissotBenedikt Tissot compares the basic procedure with the Internet: “In a classic computer, we have our bits, which are encoded on a chip in the form of electrons. If we want to send information over long distances, the information content of the bits is converted into a light signal that is transmitted through optical fibers.”The principle of information exchange between qubits in a quantum computer is very similar: “Here, too, we have to convert the information into states that can be easily transmitted – and photons are ideal for this,” explains Tissot.A Three-Level System for Controlling the Photon“We need to consider several aspects,” says Tissot: “We want to control the direction in which the information flows – as well as when, how quickly, and where it flows to. That’s why we need a system that allows for a high level of control.”The researchers’ method makes this control possible by means of resonator-enhanced, stimulated Raman emissions. Behind this term is a three-level system, which leads to a multi-stage procedure. These stages offer the physicists control over the photon that is created. “We have ‘more buttons’ here that we can operate to control the photon,” Tissot illustrates.Stimulated Raman emission are an established method in physics. However, using them to send qubit states directly is unusual. The new method might make it possible to balance the consequences of environmental perturbations and unwanted side effects of rapid changes in the temporal shape of the light pulse, so that information transport can be implemented more accurately.The detailed procedure was published in the journal Physical Review Research in February 2024.Reference: “Efficient high-fidelity flying qubit shaping” by Benedikt Tissot and Guido Burkard, 8 February 2024, Physical Review Research.DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.013150

Many of the U.S. Banks Funding Coal Have an Unusual Carve-Out

They will still directly fund coal plants that are taking steps to abate their emissions using the untested technology. The post Many of the U.S. Banks Funding Coal Have an Unusual Carve-Out appeared first on .

At COP28, the U.S. finally joined a six-year-old compact called the Powering Past Coal Alliance, promising to stop investing in new coal plants and to phase out existing coal plants — or at least the members of this alliance will stop directly investing in “unabated” coal plants: plants that are taking no steps to limit their emissions.  Any movement away from coal is a win for the climate and for the frontline communities living near coal plants, say climate experts, but the “abatement” caveat could weaken that commitment. The Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act includes considerable funding for emissions abatement using carbon capture and storage technology, a solution favored by industry but that critics say is ineffective and risks prolonging the production of fossil fuels.  In this approach to coal, the U.S. is joined by many of its largest private banks. Yet four top U.S. banks have a unique carve-out in their coal exit policies: They will still directly fund coal plants that take steps to abate their emissions using carbon capture and storage. To date, only three coal plants worldwide are actually using carbon capture and storage at scale; the strategy is not currently a financially practical one for coal plants. If that remains true, these “no coal without carbon capture” loopholes could remain unused. If carbon capture and storage does become financially viable, it could be a helpful low-carbon solution — or it could give governments and banks an excuse to invest in new coal plants or to keep aging coal plants alive without hoped-for emissions decreases materializing. “The big risk is that carbon capture and storage might be used as an excuse to prolong the lives of coal plants that should be closed very soon now,” said Yann Louvel, a policy analyst for Reclaim Finance, an NGO that tracks fossil fuel funding.  To meet global climate goals, new coal funding must stop, and unabated coal plants must be phased out in advanced economies by 2030, according to an International Energy Agency analysis. That means coal plants in developed countries should be retired or retrofitted within the next six years. The U.S. continues to retire coal plants, but at current closure rates, it will still have dozens of plants in use by 2030. Strong coal exit policies are not a panacea — but they could help.  “Strong coal exit policies will impact the profitability of new coal projects, or the expansion of existing ones, as their cost of capital will increase. This should hinder proposed projects from moving forward and lead to the early retirement of existing ones,” wrote Dan Saccardi, company network program director at the environmental consulting nonprofit Ceres. “However, relying solely on exit policies has its limitations.” Banks are increasingly viewing coal as a financially risky bet; the number of financial institutions with policies to limit coal funding has doubled since 2019. And those coal exit policies do appear to be effective once adopted: Coal companies whose biggest lenders had coal divestment policies were more likely to retire their coal-fired power plants, according to a working paper by Harvard Business School faculty.  Unsurprisingly, that outcome was more likely when banks that strongly supported coal pivoted to adopt strong coal exit policies. But that is a rare combination: Most of today’s strongest coal policies are at banks that don’t have much financial exposure to coal to begin with. Many top coal underwriters (often Chinese banks) and institutional investors (led by BlackRock and Vanguard), on the other hand, have not adopted formal policies that commit to abstaining from investing in new coal plants.  The top banks writing loans for coal companies, however, look different. They claim to prioritize climate action, are members of climate groups like the Net-Zero Banking Alliance and do have coal exit policies. But many banks continue to play a major role in fossil fuel funding via loopholes: Their policies prohibit loans for coal but do not prohibit coal underwriting, for example, or they limit project-level funding but not general financing of a company. None of these policies fully align with the climate goals set out in the Paris Agreement, according to an analysis by Reclaim Finance.  In addition, four of the top seven U.S. banks funding coal — JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley — all have similar versions of an unusual loophole: They promise not to fund new or expanding coal plants directly unless those plants abate their emissions with technology like carbon capture and storage.  Bank of America had a similar policy until December 2023, when it removed its prohibitions on directly funding new coal plants and mines. Now, it simply requires enhanced due diligence for these projects. And the abatement carve-out remained, despite that policy change; new or expanding coal plants that try to abate emissions don’t even trigger extra due diligence. After Chinese banks, U.S. banks are the second largest private financers of coal, according to Reclaim Finance. Their policies likely have a substantial impact. But globally, their carbon capture and storage carve-outs are the exception, not the norm.  In addition to the U.S. banks, a review of Reclaim Finance’s coal policy tracker turned up a handful of other banks in Canada, Japan, and the UK that incorporate carbon capture and storage technology into their coal policies, including Bank of Montreal, TD Bank, HSBC, Barclays and Mitsubishi UFJ. Barclays and Mitsubishi UFJ have both ranked among the top lenders to coal companies in recent years.  Each of the U.S. banks declined to comment. Without transparency, the impact of these “no coal without carbon capture and storage” policies is hard to judge. One generous read is to see these policies as tools banks can use to incentivize carbon capture and storage. But Louvel, who has been tracking fossil fuel financing for over a decade, said that he had seen no cases where this language actually caused a new coal plant to adopt carbon capture and storage in order to get funding.  Globally, most coal funding is currently at the company level, said Louvel, meaning that banks can provide general funding for companies with coal projects without funding the projects directly. That means in many cases, project-level carbon capture and storage policies “become irrelevant.” It’s possible, Louvel said, that part of the goal was just to get any coal exit policies approved at all. Internal teams at banks, Louvel hypothesized, might have decided “that it was a bit easier to adopt as a policy with the carbon capture and storage loophole.”  Carbon capture and storage is a favorite climate solution of the oil and gas industry, so banks may have also calculated that adopting this language would help curry favor with other clients. That’s the logic Louvel’s colleague Rémi Hermant suspects was behind BlackRock’s recent investment in carbon capture. “They need to reinforce their links with fossil partners,” he said, “specifically in the U.S. where you have this anti-work, anti-ESG [environmental, social and governance] wave.” Not Necessarily an Effective Climate Solution Even as banks and fossil fuel companies rally behind carbon capture and storage, that does not mean it is an effective climate solution. The International Energy Agency, which models possible pathways to meet global climate targets, does include some carbon capture and storage in its roadmaps. But in November, International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol warned fossil fuel companies not to use carbon capture and storage as an excuse to continue business as usual. In conjunction with a recent report, Birol said in a statement that for industry, meeting climate targets will mean “letting go of the illusion that implausibly large amounts of carbon capture are the solution.” Captured carbon is not just used to limit emissions — often, it is used to produce additional oil. For coal plants, capturing carbon is not currently a financially sustainable option, according to a Reclaim Finance analysis. Instead of adding carbon capture, companies moving away from unabated coal are opting to retire their thermal coal plants or to see them reborn as natural gas plants. Despite decades of R&D, it still takes a lot of energy to capture carbon.  While the costs of renewables have come down in recent decades, the cost of carbon capture has not. “Basically, it doubles the cost of electricity,” said Hermant. “Consumers are not going to accept this.” The Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute, an industry group that tracks and promotes carbon capture and storage projects, did not respond to requests for comment.  Carbon capture is still technologically challenging and comes with big financial risks; it is most economically viable when the captured carbon is used to extract more oil from depleted oil fields before being stored in those fields. Only one coal plant in the United States is currently integrating carbon capture at commercial scale: a U.S. government–backed project that started in 2017 called Petra Nova.  Petra Nova’s captured carbon is transported off-site and used to extract oil. Even so, it shut down for more than three years during the pandemic because it wasn’t profitable. The plant just started back up under new ownership on September 5, 2023. Petra Nova stands as a warning: Under current policies, banks might fund coal plants that promise carbon capture and storage, only to see those plants pause carbon capture and storage operations whenever the projects run into technical or economic challenges. And even when carbon capture and storage projects are operational, they may still have a negative climate impact by allowing the exploitation of otherwise inaccessible oil. As a climate solution, carbon capture also has another big drawback: it doesn’t actually capture that much carbon. Even in a best-case scenario — one where renewables, rather than natural gas, power carbon capture and storage — plant-level carbon capture and storage for coal would not address emissions from other parts of the coal supply chain. One Stanford analysis from 2019 found that plant-level carbon capture and storage could only capture about 10% of total coal emissions over 20 years.  Petra Nova was designed to capture 33% of the carbon from one of the plant’s boilers. It was a technical success in that it captured over 90% of the carbon that it tried to capture. But issues with the carbon capture and storage technology, and the natural gas plant powering it, caused the facility to keep shutting down, so the carbon capture technology spent a lot of time idle, not trying to capture anything. As a result, the project fell well short of its overall target, capturing 3.8 million short tons of carbon during its first three years instead of a projected 4.6 million. In Norway, carbon capture and storage projects not associated with coal plants also ran into challenges on the storage side, with underground issues that went unnoticed — and that could have led to unforeseen leaks — and storage locations that held much less CO2 than initially expected. At COP28, countries finally committed to transitioning away from fossil fuels, including the “phase-down of unabated coal power,” by 2050 — without setting benchmarks for measuring success for carbon capture and storage projects. Similarly vague language shows up in banks’ coal policies as well: Only two banks with coal-related carbon capture and storage carve-outs specified emissions targets (Barclays and Bank of America aimed for “complete” and “near elimination”), while the others simply said carbon capture and storage should be used. With clear abatement targets, wrote Saccardi, a net-zero approach to coal is reasonable. “To be credible, however, it would be incumbent upon the industry to prove that emissions abatement is economically viable and that any continuing operations address ongoing social impacts (such as coal ash waste contamination and emissions impacts on frontline communities).” Capturing some carbon from fossil fuel production is arguably better than capturing none. “If we’re in a theoretical context, when we have unlimited amounts of financing and unlimited amount of time, I’d say, yeah, why not? Let’s give it a shot,” said Hermant. “But we are in a time constraint.”  Meeting climate goals will require massive investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy storage, from which Hermant believes carbon capture and storage is a distraction. “Banks do not have unlimited amounts of money,” he said. “So at some point, banks have to choose.” Banks That Incorporate Carbon Capture and Storage Into Their Coal Financing Policies Below are excerpts of policies at some of the world’s largest banks.   JPMorgan Chase: “We will not provide project financing or other forms of asset-specific financing where the proceeds will be used to develop a greenfield coal-fired power plant or the expansion and/or refinancing of an existing coal-fired power plant. Coal-fired power plants utilizing carbon capture and sequestration technology will be considered on a case-by-case basis.” Goldman Sachs: “We will decline any financings that directly support the development of new coal fired power generation unless it has carbon capture and storage or equivalent carbon emissions reduction technology (‘CCS’). This applies globally in both developed and developing economies.”  Morgan Stanley: “We will not finance transactions globally that directly support the development of new or physical expansions of coal-fired power generation or provide financing for a stand-alone coal-fired power plant unless there is carbon capture and storage or equivalent carbon emissions reduction technology.” Bank of America: New language says that “Direct financing of the construction of new coal-fired power plants or expansion of existing — unless those facilities employ technology that is focused on complete or near elimination of atmospheric carbon emissions” is something that “must go through an enhanced due diligence process and be escalated to the senior-most risk review body.” It does not say “we will not directly finance” those projects anymore. Wells Fargo: “Wells Fargo will not provide project financing or other forms of asset-specific financing associated with the expansion of an existing, or development of a new, coal mine, or development of a new coal-fired power plant. Coal-fired power plants utilizing carbon capture and sequestration technology will be considered on a case-by-case basis.” Barclays: “Exceptions to the phase out date(s) for thermal coal-fired power generation apply if: Remaining thermal coal-fired power plants are abated to reduce GHG emissions to near zero; OR Remaining thermal coal-fired power plants solely utilised as backup to low carbon power supply; OR Remaining thermal coal-fired power plants are required to remain open by operation of law, regulation or contract.” Copyright 2024 Capital & Main

‘I write all my poems with a quill by candlelight’: John Cooper Clarke on the joy of life without tech

The punk poet has no smartphone, no email, not even a computer. Everyone should try it, he saysBack in the day, I used to feel a degree of sympathy for those who had been ­compelled to become computer ­literate. I would see these guys in the city, ­struggling home with a rucksack loaded with technology, ruining the line of their Hugo Boss suit. It looked like a ball and chain to me. So I stayed away. Whenever anyone mentioned ­computers, I would say: “What do I need a computer for? I’m a poet.”Later, when mobile phones came out, I was sitting on public transport next to two girls when I heard one of them say to the other: “My boss has just bought me a new mobile phone.” I thought, yeah, I bet he has. If he’d put an iron collar around your neck, would you be happy about that, too? Continue reading...

Back in the day, I used to feel a degree of sympathy for those who had been ­compelled to become computer ­literate. I would see these guys in the city, ­struggling home with a rucksack loaded with technology, ruining the line of their Hugo Boss suit. It looked like a ball and chain to me. So I stayed away. Whenever anyone mentioned ­computers, I would say: “What do I need a computer for? I’m a poet.”Later, when mobile phones came out, I was sitting on public transport next to two girls when I heard one of them say to the other: “My boss has just bought me a new mobile phone.” I thought, yeah, I bet he has. If he’d put an iron collar around your neck, would you be happy about that, too?The adoption of mobile phones is probably the moment I truly drifted away from technology. At first people said they admired me, as though it was some sort of principled position I was taking. I thought, yeah, you’re admiring me now, but further down the line it’s going to be, “Who the fuck do you think you are to not have a mobile phone?” And so it proved. Their love soon turned to hate.If I tried to write a modern-day detective story, people would say, ‘What’s he going into a phone booth for?’The last piece of technology I got involved with was a DVD player. After that, I decided I didn’t need any more machinery in my life. I write all my poems with a quill – a beautiful thing with a calligrapher’s nib – and parchment by candlelight. The quill was originally a prop for a photoshoot I was doing, but they let me keep it, along with a pot of ink. I don’t have a typewriter or a computer, I don’t own a mobile phone, and it’s not possible to send me an email. If someone needs me, they can call my landline. I’m usually in the house anyway – it’s not as if I’m living off-grid.When I was a teenager, I quite liked the idea of being the next Mickey Spillane, the great American crime writer. But I’ve had to abandon that idea. If I tried to write a detective story set in the modern day, people would be like, “What’s he running up there for? Why didn’t he just text him? What’s he going in a phone booth for? Why didn’t he Google him on his Skype?”Not all change is for the better. Progress is great, but I often want to say, “You can stop there now.” That’s the nature of progress, isn’t it? It always goes on longer than it’s needed. Who on earth asked for controls on everything to be touch sensitive?Most of my music is on cassette tape now, because the best place to listen to music is in the car. I’ve got a ghetto blaster in every room at home. I’ve also got a TV, a VHS player and a spare VHS player in the shed. I’ve got three large chests of drawers containing all the videos that I’ve recorded, along with some stuff I forgot to return to Blockbuster in 1989 such as The Terminator.Staying away from technological development was never a political decision, or even a conscious one. I’m not convinced I made the right choice, because I suffer the thousand daily punishments visited upon the analogue community. Every day it’s, “Go to our app!” or, “Visit our website!” At my time of life, you have to deal with the medical authorities regularly and just you try talking to a flesh-and-blood person. It’s impossible.I don’t like the “cashless society”, either. I spent 40 years trying to make some money from this poetry lark, and the minute I get any, suddenly nobody wants it. Even my bank has moved to another town. I have to get a cab there, a 70-quid round trip, just to get my own money. But I won’t bank online. You hear horror stories about large sums of money going missing. When you get money it’s supposed to be the end of your worries, not the beginning of a whole new set of worse ones.I’d hate for anyone to go running away with the idea that I’m some sort of social justice warrior, but technology seems to have a detrimental effect on those struggling in society. How does it impinge on the mendicants, for instance? If nobody has any spare change, how does your regular fella living in a cardboard box get by?I can’t have a computer. I would get distracted. You’d find me dead weeks later, buried under a pile of pizza boxes Another thing I don’t like to see is the checkout workers at Tesco being rendered unemployed by those do-it-yourself tills. People talk about the speed of technology, but what has it actually sped up? Back in the day, if there was a queue at the newsagent and you were on your way to work, you could grab your paper, run to the front of the queue and leave your ninepence on the counter: “Daily Guardian, mate, there it is.” Now you’ve got to stand in line while someone takes 20 minutes to self-scan every single item. I’m glad people live longer these days, because there are so many more things that you have to waste your time doing.For me, it’s always been a case of computer or career. I’d never get any work done! I know this because my daughter has a computer. I didn’t want to get her one, but at the same time you never want to foist your prejudices on your child. She’d have been the only person in her class at school without one.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Inside SaturdayThe only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend.Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotion Photograph: Alicia Canter/The GuardianAnyway, when she got this computer she said, “You should get one, too, Dad, you’d really like it.” I said, “I know I would – that’s the problem.” I wanted to see how good they really were, so I said to her, “Can you get me Dion and the Belmonts? Let’s see how long that takes you.” Three seconds later and Runaround Sue’s playing. That’s why I can’t have a computer. It would be too easy to get distracted. You’d find me dead six weeks later, buried under a pile of pizza boxes.I’m bad enough with the TV. I’ve never really gotten over the television, if I’m being honest. We’ve got Freeview and you’ve got about 800 channels. I like those shows: Bangers & Cash or Wheeler Dealers. And I like Portillo’s Great British Railway Journeys and Great American Railroad Journeys. You learn more in half an hour with that guy than you do with 10 years at school. (An amazing reinvention of a person, Portillo.)That’s a problem with technology – it gets rid of something we used to call a social lifeI hear some people pay a lot of money these days to go “off-grid”. I imagine it as some kind of retreat that’s got a religious, Zen Buddhist vibe about it; a step in another dimension for a little while. I’m not like that. I’m a big fan of electricity, for example. I enjoy a brief power cut, just to remind those gung-ho environmental fanatics what life without electricity would be like. If you abolished electricity, millions of people would die immediately. So 10 minutes without power is a healthy lesson for everybody. There are lots of other things about the modern world I like. They’d just discovered streptomycin when I was a sick kid with tuberculosis. And when I was younger, I really liked electric guitars; I used to play bass in a band. So I’m not one of these people who wishes I’d lived 200 years ago.People’s natural skills have started to atrophy due to technology. I get asked, “What do you do when you’re out of the house without a mobile phone and you get lost?” Well, I don’t get lost. As long as you’ve got a tongue in your head, you’ll find your way. People have stopped talking to other people. Anyway, the only time I’m out of the house alone is when I ride my bike. Even that’s old school: a 1959 Hercules. I cycle to the bookies. There’s a lot of technology involved with betting now, but I prefer it as it used to be – knee-deep in cigarette ends and full of losers. My first job was as a bookies runner and so I was exposed, at a very early age, to the world of the degenerate gambler. I think that sort of protected me against becoming one.That’s a problem with technology – you stop interacting with the real world. It gets rid of something we used to call a social life. Knocking on people’s doors. Meeting up in pubs. They go on a lot today about responsible drinking, but neighbourhood pubs used to enforce that. There’d be a pal of your dad’s in there saying, “You’ve had a few too many, kid, steady on – it’s still three hours till closing time.” Just subtle stuff like that – low-level checks that stopped you from becoming a housebound booze hound, sitting alone having a nervous breakdown while drinking hyper-potent cheap lager in front of a pornographic movie. People worry about technology in these grand, sci-fi terms, thinking that it could end the world. But there’s no point in looking towards a dystopian future. Just look around you. The nightmare is already upon us. As told to Tim Jonze.What, the new poetry collection from John Cooper Clarke, is out now, priced £16.99 (Picador). To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy from guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply. Cooper Clarke tours his new show, Get Him While He’s Still Alive, around the UK from 5 March to 28 June.

Unlocking Affordable Disease Detection With Cutting-Edge Nanotechnology

Researchers introduce Subak, an affordable nanotechnology-based tool for detecting nuclease digestion, critical in nucleic acid sensing applications like COVID-19 identification, offering a cost-effective alternative to...

Scientists have developed Subak, a cost-effective tool for detecting nuclease digestion. This breakthrough technology uses fluorescent silver nanoclusters to signal enzyme activity, offering a simpler and cheaper alternative to traditional FRET probes. With each Subak reporter costing just $1 to produce, this innovation promises to significantly lower the costs of nucleic acid sensing applications, including COVID-19 testing. Credit: SciTechDaily.comResearchers introduce Subak, an affordable nanotechnology-based tool for detecting nuclease digestion, critical in nucleic acid sensing applications like COVID-19 identification, offering a cost-effective alternative to FRET probes.Southern Methodist University nanotechnology expert MinJun Kim helped a team of researchers at The University of Texas at Austin to develop a less expensive way to detect nuclease digestion – one of the critical steps in many nucleic acid sensing applications, such as those used to identify COVID-19.Nucleic acid detection is the primary method for identifying pathogens that cause infectious diseases. As millions of PCR tests were run worldwide every day during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to reduce the costs of these tests. Advancements in Nucleic Acid DetectionA study published today (February 13) in the journal Nature Nanotechnology shows that this low-cost tool, called Subak, is effective at telling when nuclease digestion has occurred, which is when an enzyme called nuclease breaks down nucleic acids, such as DNA or RNA, into smaller fragments.The traditional way of identifying nuclease activity, Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) probe, costs 62 times more to produce than the Subak reporter.A study published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology shows that a low-cost tool, called Subak, is effective at telling when nuclease digestion has occurred, which is when an enzyme called nuclease breaks down nucleic acids, such as DNA or RNA, into smaller fragments. Researchers programmed the Subak reporters to emit a different color when they are digested by nucleases. Credit: Nature NanotechnologySubak Versus Conventional Methods“Subak reporter is more cost-effective and simpler than FRET-based systems, offering an alternative method for detecting nuclease activity,” said Kim, the Robert C. Womack Chair in the Lyle School of Engineering at SMU and principal investigator of the BAST Lab. “Many nucleic acid detection methods today, such as PCR and DETECTR, still rely on the use of FRET probes in their final steps.”Unlike PCR, DETECTR (DNA endonuclease-targeted CRISPR trans reporter) is an easier assay, or test, that relies on CRISPR-Cas nuclease for pathogenic DNA detection. Kim and the researchers at UT Austin have successfully replaced the FRET probe with Subak reporter in the DETECTR assay, thus substantially reducing the assay cost.Innovative Nanotechnology in Subak ReportersSubak reporters are based on a special class of what are known as fluorescent silver nanoclusters. They are made up of 13 silver atoms wrapped around a short DNA strand – an organic/inorganic composite nanomaterial that is too small to be visible to the naked eye and ranging in size from 1 to 3 nanometers (one billionth of a meter) in size.Nanomaterials at this length scale can be highly luminescent, such as quantum dots, and exhibit different colors. Fluorescent nanomaterials have found applications in TV displays and in biosensing, such as the Subak reporter.Lead researcher Tim Yeh, an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Cockrell School of Engineering at UT Austin, and his team programmed the Subak reporters to emit a different color when they are digested by nucleases.“These DNA-templated silver nanoclusters initially emit green fluorescence, but undergo a remarkable color-switching to bright red when DNA is fragmented by nucleases,” Kim said. “The color change of Subak reporters is easily visible under a UV lamp,” even though the actual device is minuscule.The Cost-Effective Nature of Subak ReportersSubak reporters cost just $1 per nanomolecule to make. In contrast, FRET – which requires using different fluorescent dyes that require more to get results – costs $62 per nanomolecule to produce, Kim said. This significant reduction in cost could revolutionize the field of nucleic acid detection by making tests more accessible and affordable.Future Directions and OptimizationsKim and Madhav L. Ghimire, SMU’s Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellow in SMU’s Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, worked with Yeh to optimize and characterize the DNA/AgNC silver nanoclusters. This included increasing the intensity of the green and red fluorescence before and after fragmentation by nucleases.Characterization involved confirming the size, structure, and the stability of the nanoclusters in specific environments.“Optimization of these low-cost detectors is essential to monitor their fluorescence properties, ensuring nanocluster’s stability, controlling size and structure, and most importantly to enhance their sensitivity and selectivity in various environmental conditions, making them more reliable for the sensing purpose,” Ghimire said.In addition to further testing of the Subak reporter for nuclease digestion, the team also wants to investigate if it can be a probe for other biological targets.Reference: “A non-FRET DNA reporter that changes fluorescence colour upon nuclease digestion” by Soonwoo Hong, Jada N. Walker, Aaron T. Luong, Jonathan Mathews, Samuel W. J. Shields, Yu-An Kuo, Yuan-I Chen, Trung Duc Nguyen, Yujie He, Anh-Thu Nguyen, Madhav L. Ghimire, Min Jun Kim, Jennifer S. Brodbelt and Hsin-Chih Yeh, 13 February 2024, Nature Nanotechnology.DOI: 10.1038/s41565-024-01612-6

Innovative New Technology Could Boost US Rubber Production

The world’s natural supply is at risk, making crucial developments essential. Amid the challenges of disease and high demand affecting the primary natural rubber supply...

Researchers aim to strengthen the U.S. rubber market by extracting latex from North American plants. This is vital due to threats to Southeast Asia’s rubber supply. Their efforts focus on enhancing extraction efficiency and leveraging the unique properties of guayule latex. A surprising discovery also improves dandelion latex extraction.The world’s natural supply is at risk, making crucial developments essential.Amid the challenges of disease and high demand affecting the primary natural rubber supply in Southeast Asia, scientists are working to ramp up the U.S. rubber market by advancing methods to extract latex from two sustainable North American plant sources: a dandelion species and a desert shrub.Researchers reported their methods to improve efficiency and increase latex yield in two recent publications, building upon decades of research led by Katrina Cornish, professor of horticulture and crop science and food, agricultural and biological engineering at The Ohio State University.Cornish and colleagues have added specialized agents during the processing of the Taraxacum kok-saghyz (TK) dandelion and the guayule shrub to coax a higher amount of latex from both plants. Neither source can simply be tapped – the method used on tropical trees that produce the only commercially available natural rubber in the world. “We need to have efficient extraction methods for any and all alternative natural rubber-producing species, especially at a large scale,” Cornish said. “And they have to be low-cost if you’re going to be able to compete in the tire market in the long term.”The TK dandelion work was published recently in Industrial Crops and Products, and the guayule research in Environmental Technology & Innovation.The Importance of a Domestic Rubber IndustryBeyond tires, rubber has applications in an estimated 50,000 products. The need is urgent for a domestic natural rubber industry: While the United States produces synthetic rubber, it is entirely dependent on imports for natural rubber. In 2019, 10% of the natural rubber supply was lost to disease – and the risk for transmission of South American leaf blight to Southeast Asia has increased with the expansion of direct airline travel between Brazil and China.It is not an overstatement, Cornish said, to suggest that if leaf blight were to make it from South America to Asia, the disease could wipe out most of the world’s natural rubber supply in short order.“And then we could see the collapse of the world’s supply chains and, subsequently, entire economies,” she said. “We’ve concentrated an entire global industry around a tropical plant. But TK dandelion and guayule are sustainable and can grow in temperate conditions.”Unique Qualities of Guayule LatexGuayule latex comes from generalized cells in the shrub’s bark. Extracting the latex involves grinding up the bark to break open its cells and release latex particles into what Cornish calls a “milkshake.” A series of washing and spinning cycles follows to separate the latex from other solid material – and with each centrifugation step, some latex is lost.The research team found that adding chemical substances called flocculants to the milkshake helped bind other solid materials together and separate them from the latex, effectively cutting the washing cycles in half and improving the overall latex yield. The addition of one substance doubled the available latex and that yield was increased by 12-fold when a creaming agent was added for purification.“By adding flocculants, latex extraction is more efficient and clean,” said first study author Beenish Saba, a postdoctoral researcher in food, agricultural, and biological engineering at Ohio State. “We found specific flocculants that work best at improving the quality of latex extraction and reducing the time it takes.”The study also showed that feeding the remaining solids back through the processing system enabled the extraction of even more latex and also reduced the environmental footprint of the entire operation, Saba said.Guayule contains a particularly attractive high-performance latex that is stronger and softer than any other known polymer, Cornish said, meaning more filler can be added in production without any loss of its valuable properties. She used guayule latex to develop the first hypoallergenic medical glove to block both radiation and pathogens.Innovative Extraction from TK DandelionThough TK dandelion latex is produced in the plant’s roots, the extraction process is similar – the roots are trimmed, blended into a slurry, and filtered to remove solid chunks of plant material and dirt. Latex floating on the top of the remaining liquid is slurped up with a pipette and rinsed up to three times for purification, and then dried.A bit of serendipity led to the improvement to this extraction method. First author Nathaniel King-Smith, a graduate student in Cornish’s lab, found that processed samples sitting in the lab for three months had significantly more latex floating on their surfaces. An analysis showed that heavy divalent cations, like magnesium, bound to the latex particle membranes weighed down the particles – until the connection eventually collapsed.The team found that adding EDTA, a chelator that binds to divalent cations, to processing the dandelion roots allowed for the extraction of more than twice as much latex than was extracted without the addition of EDTA.“Our question was, how can we free up the heavy fraction without waiting three months for rubber particles to suddenly become lighter and float?” King-Smith said. “We found that the extra latex yield after months of storage could be achieved immediately in a standard extraction just by adding EDTA before spinning.”Future Prospects and CollaborationsThe use of EDTA also increased the gel content of the extracted latex once it was dried – useful information for potential production by industries that are looking for higher-gel rubber, he said.EDTA may turn out to be applicable to latex extraction from guayule, though Cornish said her lab hopes to partner with flocculant chemists who could help further refine that process. She has been planting, harvesting, and extracting latex from TK dandelion for over a decade in Ohio and has a greenhouse full of guayule on Ohio State’s Wooster campus, where she hopes to one day build a full-scale latex processing plant.“We are working on a small scale and focusing on premium latex markets where you can make something of great value with minimal materials so that we can fund expansion,” she said. “And in the meantime, we’re making extraction more efficient so we can make the material clean and pure.”Reference: “Extractable latex yield from Taraxacum kok-saghyz roots is enhanced by increasing rubber particle buoyancy” by Nathaniel King-Smith, Kristof Molnar, Joshua J. Blakeslee, Colleen M. McMahan, Aswathy S. Pillai, Meirambek Mutalkhanov, Judit E. Puskas and Katrina Cornish, 28 October 2023, Industrial Crops and Products.DOI: 10.1016/j.indcrop.2023.117698“Base-dependent flocculant treatment improves the extraction of latex from guayule” by Beenish Saba, Cindy S. Barrera, David J. Barker and Katrina Cornish, 4 October 2023, Environmental Technology & Innovation.DOI: 10.1016/j.eti.2023.103388This work was supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

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