Nanozymes are synthetic materials that mimic the properties of natural enzymes for applications in biomedicine and chemical engineering. They are generally considered too toxic and expensive for use in agriculture and food science. Now, researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a nanozyme that is organic, non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and cost effective. In a newly published paper, they describe its features and its capacity to detect the presence of glyphosate, a common agricultural herbicide. Their goal is to eventually create a user-friendly test kit for consumers and agricultural producers.
“The word nanozyme is derived from nanomaterial and enzyme. Nanozymes were first developed about 15 years ago, when researchers found that iron oxide nanoparticles may perform catalytic activity similar to natural enzymes (peroxidase),” explained Dong Hoon Lee, a doctoral student in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE), part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) and The Grainger College of Engineering at U. of I.
These nanozymes mimic the activity of peroxidase, an enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of a substrate by using hydrogen peroxide as an oxidizing agent. They provide higher stability and lower cost than natural peroxidase, and they are widely used in biomedical research, including biosensors for detection of target molecules in disease diagnostics.
“Traditional nanozymes are created from inorganic, metal-based materials, making them too toxic and expensive to be directly applied on food and agriculture,” Lee said.
“Our research group is pioneering the development of fully organic compound-based nanozymes (OC nanozymes) which exhibit peroxidase-like activities. The OC nanozyme follows the catalytic activity of the natural enzyme but is predominantly based on agriculture-friendly organic compounds, such as urea acting as a chelating-like agent and polyvinyl alcohol as a particle stabilizer.”
The researchers also implemented a colorimetric sensing system integrated with the OC nanozyme for target molecule detection. Colorimetric assays, an optical sensing method, use color intensity to provide an estimated concentration of the presence of specific molecules in a substance, such that darker or lighter color indicates lower or higher quantity of target molecules. The organic-compound nanozyme performed on par with nanozymes typically used in biosensing applications within their kinetic profile with molecule detection performance.
“Traditional nanozymes come with a host of issues: toxicity, lengthy degradation, and a complex production process. In contrast, our nanozyme is quicker to produce, cost-effective, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly,” said Mohammed Kamruzzaman, assistant professor in ABE and co-author on the study.
Lee and Kamruzzaman applied the OC nanozyme-based, colorimetric sensing platform to detect the presence of glyphosate, a widely used herbicide in the agricultural industry. They performed colorimetric assays in solutions containing varying concentrations of glyphosate, finding the organic nanozyme was able to successfully detect glyphosate with adequate accuracy.
“There is an increasing demand for testing pesticide or herbicide presence in agricultural products to protect human and crop health. We want to develop an OC nanozyme-based, point-of-use testing platform for farmers or consumers that they can apply in the field or at home,” Kamruzzaman stated. “People would obtain a test kit with a substance to mix with their sample, then take a picture and use an app on their phone to identify the color intensity and interpret if there is any glyphosate present. The ultimate goal is to make the test portable and applicable anywhere.”
The researchers are also working on developing additional nanozymes, envisioning these environmental-friendly materials hold great potential for a wide range of applications.
There are three upcoming Simon Fraser University (SFU) Café Scientifique events (Zoom) and one upcoming Nobel=themed lecture (in person) according to a January 15, 2024 notice (received via email), Note: All the events are free,
Hello SFU Cafe Scientifique friends!
We are back with a brand new line up for our Cafe Scientifique discussion series. Zoom invites will be sent closer to the event dates [emphasis mine]. We hope you can join us.
Café Scientifique: Why Do Babies Get Sick? A Systems Biology Approach to Developing Diagnostics and Therapeutics for Neonatal Sepsis.
Tuesday, January 30, 5:00-6:30pm over Zoom
Around the world five newborn babies die each second from life-threatening infections. Unfortunately there is no fast or easy way to tell which microbes are involved. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry assistant professor Amy Lee will share how we can use genomics and machine learning approaches to tackle this challenge. Register here. https://events.sfu.ca/event/38235-cafe-scientifique-january-why-do-babies-get-sick?
Cafe Scientifique: From data to dollars: A journey through financial modelling Tuesday, February 27, 5:00-6:30 pm over Zoom
Financial modelling involves using mathematical and statistical techniques to understand future financial scenarios, helping individuals and businesses make informed decisions about their investments. Join Dr. Jean-François Bégin as he explores how these models can empower us to navigate the complexities of financial markets.
Cafe Scientifique: Overtraining and the Everyday Athlete Tuesday, April 30, 5:00-6:30 pm over Zoom
What happens when we train too hard, don’t take enough time to recover, or underfuel while exercising, and how that applies to both elite athletes and just your “everyday athlete.” Join Dr. Alexandra Coates from our Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology Department in this interesting discussion.
Missed our last Café Scientifique talk [Decoding how life senses and responds to carbon dioxide gas] with Dustin King? [SFU Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Assistant Professor Dustin King’s Indigenous background is central to his work and relationship with the biochemical research he conducts. He brings Indigenous ways of knowing and a two-eye seeing approach to critical questions about humanity’s impact upon the natural world …] Watch it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCHTSbF3RVs&list=PLTMt9gbqLurAMfSHQqVAHu7YbyOFq81Ix&index=10
The ‘2023 Nobel Prize Lectures’ being presented by SFU do not feature the 2023 winners but rather, SFU experts in the relevant field, from the January 15, 2024 SFU Café Scientifique notice (received via email),
BACK IN-PERSON AT THE SCIENCE WORLD THEATRE!
Location: Science World Theatre 1455 Quebec Street Vancouver, BC V6A 3Z7
NOBEL PRIZE LECTURES
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
6:30-7:30 pm Refreshments, 7:30-9:30 pm Lectures
Celebrate the 2023 Nobel awardees in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine!
SFU experts will explain Nobel laureates’ award-winning research and its significance to our everyday lives.
Featured presenters are
*Mark Brockman from Molecular Biology and Biochemistry for the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology;
*Byron Gates from Chemistry for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry; and
*Shawn Sederberg from the School of Engineering Science for the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Caption: The researchers at Google Quantum AI and Stanford University explored how measurements can fundamentally change the structure of quantum information in space-time. Credit: Google Quantum AI, designed by Sayo-Art
interesting approach to illustrating a complex scientific concept! This October 18, 2023 news item on phys.org describes the measurement problem,
Quantum mechanics is full of weird phenomena, but perhaps none as weird as the role measurement plays in the theory. Since a measurement tends to destroy the “quantumness” of a system, it seems to be the mysterious link between the quantum and classical world. And in a large system of quantum bits of information, known as “qubits,” the effect of measurements can induce dramatically new behavior, even driving the emergence of entirely new phases of quantum information.
This happens when two competing effects come to a head: interactions and measurement. In a quantum system, when the qubits interact with one another, their information becomes shared nonlocally in an “entangled state.” But if you measure the system, the entanglement is destroyed. The battle between measurement and interactions leads to two distinct phases: one where interactions dominate and entanglement is widespread, and one where measurements dominate, and entanglement is suppressed.
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An October 18, 2023 Google Quantum AI news release, which originated the news item, on EurekAlert provides more information about a research collaboration between Google and Stanford University,
As reported today [October 18, 2023] in the journal Nature, researchers at Google Quantum AI and Stanford University have observed the crossover between these two regimes — known as a “measurement-induced phase transition” — in a system of up to 70 qubits. This is by far the largest system in which measurement-induced effects have been explored. The researchers also saw signatures of a novel form of “quantum teleportation” — in which an unknown quantum state is transferred from one set of qubits to another — that emerges as a result of these measurements. These studies could help inspire new techniques useful for quantum computing.
One can visualize the entanglement in a system of qubits as an intricate web of connections. When we measure an entangled system, the impact it has on the web depends on the strength of the measurement. It could destroy the web completely, or it could snip and prune selected strands of the web, but leave others intact.
To actually see this web of entanglement in an experiment is notoriously challenging. The web itself is invisible, so researchers can only infer its existence by seeing statistical correlations between the measurement outcomes of qubits. Many, many runs of the same experiment are needed to infer the pattern of the web. This and other challenges have plagued past experiments and limited the study of measurement-induced phase transitions to very small system sizes.
To address these challenges, the researchers used a few experimental sleights of hand. First, they rearranged the order of operations so that all the measurements could be made at the end of the experiment, rather than interleaved throughout, thus reducing the complexity of the experiment. Second, they developed a new way to measure certain features of the web with a single “probe” qubit. In this way, they could learn more about the entanglement web from fewer runs of the experiment than had been previously required. Finally, the probe, like all qubits, was susceptible to unwanted noise in the environment. This is normally seen as a bad thing, as noise can disrupt quantum calculations, but the researchers turned this bug into a feature by noting that the probe’s sensitivity to noise depended on the nature of the entanglement web around it. They could therefore use the probe’s noise sensitivity to infer the entanglement of the whole system.
The team first looked at this difference in sensitivity to noise in the two entanglement regimes and found distinctly different behaviors. When measurements dominated over interactions (the “disentangling phase”), the strands of the web remained relatively short. The probe qubit was only sensitive to the noise of its nearest qubits. In contrast, when the measurements were weaker and entanglement was more widespread (the “entangling phase”) the probe was sensitive to noise throughout the entire system. The crossover between these two sharply contrasting behaviors is a signature of the sought-after measurement-induced phase transition.
The team also demonstrated a novel form of quantum teleportation that emerged naturally from the measurements: by measuring all but two distant qubits in a weakly entangled state, stronger entanglement was generated between those two distant qubits. The ability to generate measurement-induced entanglement across long distances enables the teleportation observed in the experiment.
The stability of entanglement against measurements in the entangling phase could inspire new schemes to make quantum computing more robust to noise. The role that measurements play in driving new phases and physical phenomena is also of fundamental interest to physicists. Stanford professor and co-author of the study, Vedika Khemani, says, “Incorporating measurements into dynamics introduces a whole new playground for many-body physics where many fascinating and new types of non-equilibrium phases could be found. We explore a few of these striking and counter-intuitive measurement induced phenomena in this work, but there is much more richness to be discovered in the future.”
Before getting to the citation for and link to the paper, I have an interview with some of the researchers that was written up by Holly Alyssa MacCormick (Associate Director of Public Relations. Science writer and news editor for Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences) in an October 18, 2023 article for Stanford University, Note 1: Some of this will be redundant; Note 2: Links have been removed,
Harnessing the “weirdness” of quantum mechanics to solve practical problems is the long-standing promise of quantum computing. But much like the state of the cat in Erwin Schrödinger’s famous thought experiment, quantum mechanics is still a box of unknowns. Similar to the solid, liquid, and gas phases of matter, the organization of quantum information, too, can assume different phases. Yet unlike the phases of matter we are familiar with in everyday life, the phases of quantum information are much harder to formulate and observe and as a result have been only a theoretical dream until recently.
Measurements are arguably the weirdest facet of quantum mechanics. Intuition tells us that a state has some definite property and measurement reveals that property. However, measurements in quantum mechanics produce intrinsically random results, and the act of measurement irreversibly changes the state itself. Unlike laptops, smartphones, and other classical computers that rely on binary “bits” to code in the state of 0 (off) or 1 (on), quantum computers use “qubits” of information that can be in the state of 0, 1, or 0 and 1 at the same time, a concept known as superposition. The act of measurement doesn’t just extract information, but also changes the state, randomly “collapsing” a superposition into a specific value (0 or 1).
Moreover, this collapse affects not just the qubit that was measured, but also potentially the entire system—an effect described by Einstein as “spooky action at a distance.” This is due to “entanglement,” a quantum property that allows multiple particles in different places to jointly be in superposition, which is a key ingredient for quantum computing. The collapse of an entangled state can also enable spooky phenomena such as “teleportation,” thereby irretrievably altering the “arrow of time” (the concept that time moves in one forward direction) that governs our everyday experience.
In other words, measurements can be used to fundamentally reorganize the structure of quantum information in space and time.
Now, a new collaboration between Stanford and Google Quantum AI investigates the effect of measurements on quantum systems of many particles on Google’s quantum computer and has obtained the largest experimental demonstration of novel measurement-induced phases of quantum information to date. The study was co-led by Jesse Hoke, a physics graduate student and fellow at Stanford’s Quantum Science and Engineering initiative (Q-FARM), Matteo Ippoliti, a former postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Physics, and senior author Vedika Khemani, associate professor of physics at the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences and Q-FARM. Their results were published Oct. 18 in the journal Nature.
Here, Hoke, Ippoliti, and Khemani discuss how they observed measurement-induced phases of quantum information—a feat once thought to be beyond the realm of what could be achieved in an experiment—and how their new insights could help pave the way for advancements in quantum science and engineering.
Question: What distinguishes the phases investigated in this study from one another, and what is teleportation?
Ippoliti: In the simplest case, there are two phases. In one phase, the structure of quantum information in the system forms a strongly connected web where qubits share a lot of entanglement, even at large spatial distances and/or temporal separations. In the other, the system is weakly connected, so correlations like entanglement decay quickly with distance or time. These are the two phases that we probed in our experiment. The strongly entangled phase enables teleportation, which occurs when the state of one qubit is instantly transmitted, or “teleported,” to another far away qubit by measuring all but those two qubits.
Question: How did you control when a phase transition occurred
Khemani: The competing forces at play are the interactions between qubits, which tend to build entanglement, and measurements of the qubits, which can destroy it. This is the famous “wave function collapse” of quantum mechanics—think of Schrödinger’s cat “collapsing” into one of two states (dead or alive) when we open the box. However, because of entanglement, the collapse is not restricted to the qubit we directly measure but affects the rest of the system too. By controlling the strength or frequency of measurements on the quantum computer, we can induce a phase transition between an entangled phase and a disentangled one.
Question: What were some of the challenges your team needed to overcome to measure quantum states, and how did you do it?
Ippoliti: Measurements in quantum mechanics are inherently random, which makes observing these phases notoriously challenging. This is because every repetition of our experiment produces a different, random-looking quantum state. This is a problem because detecting entanglement (the feature that sets our two phases apart) requires observations on many copies of the same state. To get around this difficulty, we developed a diagnostic that cross-correlates data from the quantum processor with the results of simulations on classical computers. This hybrid quantum-classical diagnostic allowed us to see evidence of the different phases on up to 70 qubits, making this one of the largest digital quantum simulations and experiments to date.
Hoke: Another challenge was that quantum experiments are currently limited by environmental noise. Entanglement is a delicate resource that is easily destroyed by interactions from the outside environment, which is the primary challenge in quantum computing. In our setup, we probe the entanglement structure between the system’s qubits, which is destroyed if the system is not perfectly isolated and instead gets entangled with the surrounding environment. We addressed this challenge by devising a diagnostic that uses noise as a feature rather than a bug—the two phases (weak and strong entanglement) respond to noise in different ways, and we used this as a probe of the phases.
Khemani: In addition, we used the fact that the “arrow of time” loses meaning with measurement-induced teleportation. This allowed us to reorganize the sequence of operations on the quantum computer in advantageous ways to mitigate the effects of noise and to devise new probes of the organization of quantum information in space-time.
Question: What do the findings mean?
Khemani: At the level of fundamental science, our experiments demonstrate new phenomena that extend our familiar concepts of “phase structure.” Instead of thinking of measurements merely as probes, we are now thinking of them as an intrinsic part of quantum dynamics, which can be used to create and manipulate novel quantum correlations. At the level of applications, using measurements to robustly generate structured entanglement is inspiring new ways to make quantum computing more robust against noise. More generally, our understanding of general phases of quantum information and dynamics is still nascent, and many exciting surprises await.
Acknowledgements
Hoke conducted research on this study while working as an intern at Google Quantum AI under the supervision of Xiao Mi and Pedram Roushan. Ippoliti is now an assistant professor of physics at the University of Texas at Austin. Additional co-authors on this study include the Google Quantum AI team and researchers from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Auburn University; University of Technology, Sydney; University of California, Riverside; and Columbia University. The full list of authors is available in the Nature paper.
Ippoliti was funded in part by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s EPiQS Initiative. Khemani was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences; the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; and the Packard Foundation.
Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper, Note: There are well over 100 contributors to the paper and I have not listed each one separately, You can find the list if you go to the Nature paper and click on Google Quantum AI and Collaborators in the author field,
Apparently, the Morpho butterfly (or blue morpho butterfly) could inspire more balanced lighting, from an October 12, 2023 news item on phys.org,
As you watch Morpho butterflies wobble in flight, shimmering in vivid blue color, you’re witnessing an uncommon form of structural color that researchers are only beginning to use in lighting technologies such as optical diffusers. Furthermore, imparting a self-cleaning capability to such diffusers would minimize soiling and staining and maximize practical utility.
Now, in a study recently published in Advanced Optical Materials, researchers at Osaka University have developed a water-repelling nanostructured light diffuser that surpasses the functionality of other common diffusers. This work might help solve common lighting dilemmas in modern technologies.
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Caption: Design and diffused light for the anisotropic (left) and isotropic (right) Morpho-type diffusers. It has high optical functionalities and anti-fouling properties, which until now have not been realized in one device. Credit: K.Yamashita, A.Saito
Standard lighting can eventually become tiring because it’s unevenly illuminating. Thus, many display technologies use optical diffusers to make the light output more uniform. However, conventional optical diffusers reduce the light output, don’t work well for all emitted colors, or require special effort to clean. Morpho butterflies are an inspiration for improved optical diffusers. Their randomly arranged multilayer architecture enables structural color: in this case, selective reflection of blue light over a ≥±40° angle from the direction of illumination. The goal of the present work is to use this inspiration from nature to design a simplified optical diffuser that has both high transmittance and wide angular spread, works for a range of colors without dispersion, cleans by a simple water rinse, and can be shaped with standard nanofabrication tools.
“We create two-dimensional nanopatterns—in common transparent polydimethylsiloxane elastomer—of binary height yet random width, and the two surfaces have different structural scales,” explains Kazuma Yamashita, lead author of the study. “Thus, we report an effective optical diffuser for short- and long-wavelength light.”
The researchers tailored the patterns of the diffuser surfaces to optimize the performance for blue and red light, and their self-cleaning properties. The experimentally measured light transmittance was >93% over the entire visible light spectrum, and the light diffusion was substantial and could be controlled into anisotropic shape: 78° in the x-direction and 16° in the y-direction (similar to values calculated by simulations). Furthermore, the surfaces both strongly repelled water in contact angle and self-cleaning experiments.
“Applying protective cover glass layers on either side of the optical diffuser largely maintains the optical properties, yet protects against scratching,” says Akira Saito, senior author. “The glass minimizes the need for careful handling, and indicates our technology’s utility to daylight-harvesting windows.”
This work emphasizes that studying the natural world can provide insights for improved everyday devices; in this case, lighting technologies for visual displays. The fact that the diffuser consists of a cheap material that essentially cleans itself and can be easily shaped with common tools might inspire other researchers to apply the results of this work to electronics and many other fields.
Science Meets Parliament BC Applications [in BC, it’s not a provincial Parliament, it’s the Legislative Assembly] Deadline Extended to Jan 19th, 2024!
The SMP-BC application deadline has been extended to Friday, January 19th, 2024, with expanded eligibility!
SMP-BC is an invaluable opportunity for scientists in BC to engage with the legislative process. The non-advocacy program provides researchers with the opportunity to interact with MLAs, attend committee meetings, and delve into political decision-making. The program will be open to three groups of researchers who are working in an academic institution in BC:
Faculty members within their first 10 years of appointment
Indigenous researchers
Postdoctoral fellows and have been directly awarded either a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship or a CIHR [Canadian Institutes of Health Research] / NSERC [Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada] / SSHRC [Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada] Tri-agency Postdoctoral Fellowship
For more information on the program, eligibility, and how to apply, please click the [on the link] below
According to the SMP program webpage, applications for the standard SMP program in Ottawa, which will take place May 6-7, 2024 (see 2024 program brochure, PDF), are closed.
Here’s a little more about this special version of Science Meets Parliament (Legislative Assembly), from the SMP-BC 2024 webpage,
The Canadian Science Policy Centre (CSPC), with the honourary patronage of the Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable Janet Austin, and made possible with the support of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, the Honourable Raj Chouhan, are pleased to announce that registration is now open for the first edition of Science Meets Parliament – British Columbia! This program is scheduled to take place in Victoria in April 22-23, 2024.
Apply now! Deadline Extended: January 19, 2024 Eligibility expanded!
The objective of the Science Meets Parliament (SMP) – British Columbia program is that scientists in BC learn about the process of policy making at the provincial legislature and become familiar with the provincial parliamentary process. In addition, it serves as an opportunity for BC MLAs [Members of the Legislative Assembly] to explore the application of scientific evidence in policy making.
The program helps to strengthen the connections between Canada’s scientific and political communities, enable a two-way dialogue, and promote mutual understanding. Delegates will gain practical knowledge of the inner workings of political policy making, broaden their professional networks to include influential members of the science and policy communities, enhance their communication skills for new contexts and audiences, and carry their experiences back to share with their home institutions. The program is NOT an advocacy exercise for science or for the scientific community.
The program has been a great success, receiving positive feedback from both Science Meets Parliament delegates and participating Parliamentarians. We are delighted to expand our program to the provincial level with Science Meets Parliament – British Columbia.
This program is funded only through registration fees and sponsorship. We invite interested organizations to consider sponsorship opportunities – please contact sciencemeetsparliament@sciencepolicy.ca for more information.
This regenerative treatment is at a very early stage, which means the Swiss researchers have tried it on mice as you can see in the following video (runtime: 2 mins. 15 secs.). Towards the end of the video, researcher Grégoire Courtine cautions there are many hurdles before this could be used in humans, if ever,
When the spinal cords of mice and humans are partially damaged, the initial paralysis is followed by the extensive, spontaneous recovery of motor function. However, after a complete spinal cord injury, this natural repair of the spinal cord doesn’t occur and there is no recovery. Meaningful recovery after severe injuries requires strategies that promote the regeneration of nerve fibers, but the requisite conditions for these strategies to successfully restore motor function have remained elusive.
“Five years ago, we demonstrated that nerve fibers can be regenerated across anatomically complete spinal cord injuries,” says Mark Anderson, a senior author of the study. “But we also realized this wasn’t enough to restore motor function, as the new fibers failed to connect to the right places on the other side of the lesion.” Anderson is the director of Central Nervous System Regeneration at .NeuroRestore and a scientist at the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering.
Working in tandem with peers at UCLA [University of California at Los Angeles] and Harvard Medical School, the scientists used state-of-the-art equipment at EPFL’s Campus Biotech facilities in Geneva to run in-depth analyses and identity which type of neuron is involved in natural spinal-cord repair after partial spinal cord injury. “Our observations using single-cell nuclear RNA sequencing not only exposed the specific axons that must regenerate, but also revealed that these axons must reconnect to their natural targets to restore motor function,” says Jordan Squair, the study’s first author. The team’s findings appear in the 22 September 2023 issue of Science.
Towards a combination of approaches
Their discovery informed the design of a multipronged gene therapy. The scientists activated growth programs in the identified neurons in mice to regenerate their nerve fibers, upregulated specific proteins to support the neurons’ growth through the lesion core, and administered guidance molecules to attract the regenerating nerve fibers to their natural targets below the injury. “We were inspired by nature when we designed a therapeutic strategy that replicates the spinal-cord repair mechanisms occurring spontaneously after partial injuries,” says Squair.
Mice with anatomically complete spinal cord injuries regained the ability to walk, exhibiting gait patterns that resembled those quantified in mice that resumed walking naturally after partial injuries. This observation revealed a previously unknown condition for regenerative therapies to be successful in restoring motor function after neurotrauma. “We expect that our gene therapy will act synergistically with our other procedures involving electrical stimulation of the spinal cord,” says Grégoire Courtine, a senior author of the study who also heads .NeuroRestore together with Jocelyne Bloch. “We believe a complete solution for treating spinal cord injury will require both approaches – gene therapy to regrow relevant nerve fibers, and spinal stimulation to maximize the ability of both these fibers and the spinal cord below the injury to produce movement.”
While many obstacles must still be overcome before this gene therapy can be applied in humans, the scientists have taken the first steps towards developing the technology necessary to achieve this feat in the years to come.
Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,
Recovery of walking after paralysis by regenerating characterized neurons to their natural target region by Jordan W. Squair, Marco Milano, Alexandra de Coucy, Matthieu Gautier, Michael A. Skinnider, Nicholas D. James, Newton Cho, Anna Lasne, Claudia Kathe,Thomas H. Hutson, Steven Ceto, Laetitia Baud, Katia Galan, Viviana Aureli, Achilleas Laskaratos, Quentin Barraud, Timothy J. Deming, Richie E. Kohman, Bernard L. Schneider, Zhigang He, Jocelyne Bloch, Michael V. Sofroniew, Gregoire Courtine, and Mark A. Anderson. Science 21 Sep 2023 Vol 381, Issue 6664 pp. 1338-1345 DOI: 10.1126/science.adi641
This paper is behind a paywall.
This March 25, 2015 posting, “Spinal cords, brains, implants, and remote control,” features some research from EPFL researchers whose names you might recognize from this posting’s research paper.
Mentioned in the press release, the Swiss research centre website for NeuroRestore is here.
Promote, carry out and coordinate research activities and the diffusion of scientific results in the field of living technology. The scientific areas for living technology are the nano-bio-technologies, self-organizing and evolving information and production technologies, and adaptive complex systems.
…
History
Founded in 2004 the European Centre for Living Technology is an international and interdisciplinary research centre established as an inter-university consortium, currently involving 18 European and extra-European institutional affiliates.
The Centre is devoted to the study of technologies that exhibit life-like properties including self-organization, adaptability and the capacity to evolve.
…
Despite the reference to “nano-bio-technologies,” this October 11, 2023 news item on ScienceDaily focuses on microscale living technology,
It is noIn a recent article in the high-profile journal “Advanced Materials,” researchers in Chemnitz show just how close and necessary the transition to sustainable living technology is, based on the morphogenesis of self-assembling microelectronic modules, strengthening the recent membership of Chemnitz University of Technology with the European Centre for Living Technology (ECLT) in Venice.
It is now apparent that the mass-produced artefacts of technology in our increasingly densely populated world – whether electronic devices, cars, batteries, phones, household appliances, or industrial robots – are increasingly at odds with the sustainable bounded ecosystems achieved by living organisms based on cells over millions of years. Cells provide organisms with soft and sustainable environmental interactions with complete recycling of material components, except in a few notable cases like the creation of oxygen in the atmosphere, and of the fossil fuel reserves of oil and coal (as a result of missing biocatalysts). However, the fantastic information content of biological cells (gigabits of information in DNA alone) and the complexities of protein biochemistry for metabolism seem to place a cellular approach well beyond the current capabilities of technology, and prevent the development of intrinsically sustainable technology.
SMARTLETs: tiny shape-changing modules that collectively self-organize to larger more complex systems
A recent perspective review published in the very high impact journal Advanced Materials this month [October 2023] by researchers at the Research Center for Materials, Architectures and Integration of Nanomembranes (MAIN) of Chemnitz University of Technology, shows how a novel form of high-information-content Living Technology is now within reach, based on microrobotic electronic modules called SMARTLETs, which will soon be capable of self-assembling into complex artificial organisms. The research belongs to the new field of Microelectronic Morphogenesis, the creation of form under microelectronic control, and builds on work over the previous years at Chemnitz University of Technology to construct self-folding and self-locomoting thin film electronic modules, now carrying tiny silicon chiplets between the folds, for a massive increase in information processing capabilities. Sufficient information can now be stored in each module to encode not only complex functions but fabrication recipes (electronic genomes) for clean rooms to allow the modules to be copied and evolved like cells, but safely because of the gating of reproduction through human operated clean room facilities.
Electrical self-awareness during self-assembly
In addition, the chiplets can provide neuromorphic learning capabilities allowing them to improve performance during operation. A further key feature of the specific self-assembly of these modules, based on matching physical bar codes, is that electrical and fluidic connections can be achieved between modules. These can then be employed, to make the electronic chiplets on board “aware” of the state of assembly, and of potential errors, allowing them to direct repair, correct mis-assembly, induce disassembly and form collective functions spanning many modules. Such functions include extended communication (antennae), power harvesting and redistribution, remote sensing, material redistribution etc.
So why is this technology vital for sustainability?
The complete digital fab description for modules, for which actually only a limited number of types are required even for complex organisms, allows their material content, responsible originator and environmentally relevant exposure all to be read out. Prof. Dagmar Nuissl-Gesmann from the Law Department at Chemnitz University of Technology observes that “this fine-grained documentation of responsibility intrinsic down to microscopic scales will be a game changer in allowing legal assignment of environmental and social responsibility for our technical artefacts”.
Furthermore, the self-locomotion and self-assembly-disassembly capabilities allows the modules to self-sort for recycling. Modules can be regained, reused, reconfigured, and redeployed in different artificial organisms. If they are damaged, then their limited and documented types facilitate efficient custom recycling of materials with established and optimized protocols for these sorted and now identical entities. These capabilities complement the other more obvious advantages in terms of design development and reuse in this novel reconfigurable media. As Prof. Marlen Arnold, an expert in Sustainability of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration observes, “Even at high volumes of deployment use, these properties could provide this technology with a hitherto unprecedented level of sustainability which would set the bar for future technologies to share our planet safely with us.”
Contribution to European Living Technology
This research is a first contribution of MAIN/Chemnitz University of Technology, as a new member of the European Centre for Living Technology ECLT, based in Venice,” says Prof. Oliver G. Schmidt, Scientific Director of the Research Center MAIN and adds that “It’s fantastic to see that our deep collaboration with ECLT is paying off so quickly with immediate transdisciplinary benefit for several scientific communities.” “Theoretical research at the ECLT has been urgently in need of novel technology systems able to implement the core properties of living systems.” comments Prof. John McCaskill, coauthor of the paper, and a grounding director of the ECLT in 2004.
Here’s a link to and a citation for the researchers’ perspective paper,
I received a January 8, 2024 announcement (via email) from Waterloo’s Perimeter Institute about an AI event (free tickets available on Tuesday, January 9, 2024, more about that below the announcement),
TRuST Scholarly Network’s Conversations on Artificial Intelligence: Should It Be Trusted?
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17 [2024] at 7:00 pm ET
Artificial Intelligence and big data are dramatically transforming the way we work, live and connect. Innovators have begun designing AI solutions to advance society at a rapid pace, but often, new technologies bring both promise and risk. How can we trust AI and safeguard society from unintended consequences to ensure a safe and human-centred digital future?
Join the University of Waterloo in partnership with the Perimeter Institute for the TRuST Scholarly Network’s Conversations on lecture series, where technology leaders from UWaterloo, Google and NASA will discuss how AI is transforming society and if we should trust these technologies.
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Panelists: – Lai-Tze Fan, Professor of Sociology and Legal Studies and Canada Research Chair in Technology and Social Change – Makhan Virdi, NASA researcher – Anindya Sen, Professor of Economics and associate director of the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute – Leah Morris, Senior Director, Velocity Program, Radical Venture[s]
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This is one my older pieces as the information dates back to October 2023 but neuromorphic computing is one of my key interests and I’m particularly interested to see the upsurge in the discussion of hardware, here goes. From an October 17, 2023 news item on Nanowerk,
There is an intense, worldwide search for novel materials to build computer microchips with that are not based on classic transistors but on much more energy-saving, brain-like components. However, whereas the theoretical basis for classic transistor-based digital computers is solid, there are no real theoretical guidelines for the creation of brain-like computers.
Such a theory would be absolutely necessary to put the efforts that go into engineering new kinds of microchips on solid ground, argues Herbert Jaeger, Professor of Computing in Cognitive Materials at the University of Groningen [Netherlands].
Key Takeaways Scientists worldwide are searching for new materials to build energy-saving, brain-like computer microchips as classic transistor miniaturization reaches its physical limit.
Theoretical guidelines for brain-like computers are lacking, making it crucial for advancements in the field.
The brain’s versatility and robustness serve as an inspiration, despite limited knowledge about its exact workings.
A recent paper suggests that a theory for non-digital computers should focus on continuous, analogue signals and consider the characteristics of new materials.
Bridging gaps between diverse scientific fields is vital for developing a foundational theory for neuromorphic computing..
Computers have, so far, relied on stable switches that can be off or on, usually transistors. These digital computers are logical machines and their programming is also based on logical reasoning. For decades, computers have become more powerful by further miniaturization of the transistors, but this process is now approaching a physical limit. That is why scientists are working to find new materials to make more versatile switches, which could use more values than just the digitals 0 or 1.
Dangerous pitfall
Jaeger is part of the Groningen Cognitive Systems and Materials Center (CogniGron), which aims to develop neuromorphic (i.e. brain-like) computers. CogniGron is bringing together scientists who have very different approaches: experimental materials scientists and theoretical modelers from fields as diverse as mathematics, computer science, and AI. Working closely with materials scientists has given Jaeger a good idea of the challenges that they face when trying to come up with new computational materials, while it has also made him aware of a dangerous pitfall: there is no established theory for the use of non-digital physical effects in computing systems.
Our brain is not a logical system. We can reason logically, but that is only a small part of what our brain does. Most of the time, it must work out how to bring a hand to a teacup or wave to a colleague on passing them in a corridor. ‘A lot of the information-processing that our brain does is this non-logical stuff, which is continuous and dynamic. It is difficult to formalize this in a digital computer,’ explains Jaeger. Furthermore, our brains keep working despite fluctuations in blood pressure, external temperature, or hormone balance, and so on. How is it possible to create a computer that is as versatile and robust? Jaeger is optimistic: ‘The simple answer is: the brain is proof of principle that it can be done.’
Neurons
The brain is, therefore, an inspiration for materials scientists. Jaeger: ‘They might produce something that is made from a few hundred atoms and that will oscillate, or something that will show bursts of activity. And they will say: “That looks like how neurons work, so let’s build a neural network”.’ But they are missing a vital bit of knowledge here. ‘Even neuroscientists don’t know exactly how the brain works. This is where the lack of a theory for neuromorphic computers is problematic. Yet, the field doesn’t appear to see this.’
In a paper published in Nature Communications on 16 August, Jaeger and his colleagues Beatriz Noheda (scientific director of CogniGron) and Wilfred G. van der Wiel (University of Twente) present a sketch of what a theory for non-digital computers might look like. They propose that instead of stable 0/1 switches, the theory should work with continuous, analogue signals. It should also accommodate the wealth of non-standard nanoscale physical effects that the materials scientists are investigating.
Sub-theories
Something else that Jaeger has learned from listening to materials scientists is that devices from these new materials are difficult to construct. Jaeger: ‘If you make a hundred of them, they will not all be identical.’ This is actually very brain-like, as our neurons are not all exactly identical either. Another possible issue is that the devices are often brittle and temperature-sensitive, continues Jaeger. ‘Any theory for neuromorphic computing should take such characteristics into account.’
Importantly, a theory underpinning neuromorphic computing will not be a single theory but will be constructed from many sub-theories (see image below). Jaeger: ‘This is in fact how digital computer theory works as well, it is a layered system of connected sub-theories.’ Creating such a theoretical description of neuromorphic computers will require close collaboration of experimental materials scientists and formal theoretical modellers. Jaeger: ‘Computer scientists must be aware of the physics of all these new materials [emphasis mine] and materials scientists should be aware of the fundamental concepts in computing.’
Blind spots
Bridging this divide between materials science, neuroscience, computing science, and engineering is exactly why CogniGron was founded at the University of Groningen: it brings these different groups together. ‘We all have our blind spots,’ concludes Jaeger. ‘And the biggest gap in our knowledge is a foundational theory for neuromorphic computing. Our paper is a first attempt at pointing out how such a theory could be constructed and how we can create a common language.’
Caption: A general theory of physical computing systems would comprise existing theories as special cases. Figure taken from an extended version of the Nature Comm paper on arXiv. Credit: Jaeger et al. / University of Groningen
With regard to new materials for neuromorphic computing, my January 4, 2024 posting highlights a proposed quantum material for this purpose.
The US National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) was signed into existence by then US President Bill Clinton in 2000 (one of his last official acts while still in office) but it was then US President George W. Bush who signed the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act in 2003. My understanding is the act gave the NNI a more permanent status.
In any event it’s the 20th anniversary of the 2003 signing of the act as noted in a December 6, 2023 posting by : Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton on the National Law Review blog, Note: A link has been removed,
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) announced on December 4, 2023, a series of events to drive U.S. leadership in nanotechnology, in celebration of the 20-year anniversary of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act. The announcement notes that for the past two decades, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) “has worked with more than 20 departments and agencies to advance a vision to understand and control matter at the nanoscale, for the benefit of society.” …
In celebration of the 20-year anniversary of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) are announcing a series of events to drive U.S. leadership in nanotechnology.
For the past two decades, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) has worked with more than 20 departments and agencies to advance a vision to understand and control matter at the nanoscale, for the benefit of society. Coordination across the government has allowed Americans to safely enjoy the benefits of nanotechnology, which has led to revolutions in technology and industry, including faster microchips, powerful mRNA vaccines, and clean energy technologies. Meanwhile, carbon nanotubes have improved the power and lifecycle of batteries; quantum dots make flat screen TVs more vibrant; and nanoparticles allow for faster medical diagnostics.
“Over the years, the NNI has dynamically and responsibly responded to the needs of the country,” said Dr. Branden Brough, Director of NNCO, which coordinates the NNI. “The initiative is a model for collaborative and thoughtful technology development, while supporting the rapid development of other emerging fields by creating the infrastructure and workforce development programs that bolster these growing industries.”
The NNI community will host a symposium on March 5, 2024 [emphasis mine] at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, D.C., to recognize the impact of research and development at the nanoscale and plan the NNI’s promising future. The event is open to the public. …
This week, as we celebrate the Act’s signing, the NNCO will release a series of reports and stories that illustrate the impact of the NNI. This includes readouts from the Nano4EARTH roundtable discussions [emphasis mine] about applying nanotechnology solutions to address climate change, such as surface technologies, new batteries and energy storage solutions, and greenhouse gas capture approaches. Also, the NNCO will highlight a new independent study [emphasis mine] about how the U.S. nanotechnology community contributes tens of billions of dollars—and potentially hundreds of billions of dollars—to the economy each year. And, to highlight the importance of this growing field, NNCO will feature the stories of early-career scientists who represent the promising future of nanotechnology.
Additional events will be held during the coming months, including science cafes across the country, activities at local museums, and podcasts and articles in the media. For more information about these activities, visit the NNI website.
The report/study
The independent study (Economic Impact Analysis: 20 Years of Nanotechnology Investments, 2002 – 2022) mentioned in the OSTP news release was launched on December 5, 2023 and highlighted here in a January 2, 2024 posting.
The symposium
Here’s a poster of the March 5, 2024 symposium celebrating the 20th anniversary of the act,
There’s a registration page where you can register for the in-person symposium and find more information about the speakers. I thought introduction and agenda from the registration page might be of interest, Note: A link has been removed,
Scientists and engineers across many fields and disciplines are united by their work at the nanoscale. Their diverse efforts have helped produce everything from faster microchips to powerful mRNA vaccines. The transformative impact of this work has been spurred by the coordination and focus on U.S. nanotechnology established by the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act in 2003. Celebrating such a broad impact and envisioning the future can be quite challenging, but this event will bring together voices from across the emerging technology landscape. There will be experts who can speak on the importance of nanotechnology in quantum engineering, optics, EHS, plastics, DEIA, microelectronics, medicine, education, manufacturing, and more. We can’t predict what will emerge from this lively discussion between researchers, policymakers, members of industry, educators, and the public, but the conversation can only benefit from including more diverse perspectives – especially yours.
AGENDA
8:30-9:00 Coffee and refreshments
9:00-9:05 Welcome and Introduction
9:05-9:30 Policy Perspectives #1
9:30-10:15 Morning Keynote
10:15-10:45 Coffee Break
10:45-11:30 Panel: Responsible Development
11:30-12:15 Panel: Fundamental Research
12:15-1:15 Lunch, Poster Session, and Networking
1:15-1:45 Policy Perspectives #2
1:45-2:30 Keynote Panel: The Future of Nanotechnology
2:30-3:15 Panel: Workforce Development
3:15-3:45 Break
3:45-4:30 Panel: Infrastructure
4:30-5:15 Panel: Commercialization
5:15-6:00 Closing Keynote
6:00-7:00 Reception Sponsored by the Kavli Foundation
No details about exactly what is being discussed but it certainly seems like it will be a busy day.
Nano4EARTH
I found the OSTP news release a little confusing with regard to the “readouts from the Nano4EARTH roundtable discussions” but here’s how the Nano4EARTH (Climate Change National Nanotechnology Challenge) webpage describes its upcoming workshop and roundtables,
Click here for information about the Nano4EARTH Kick-off hybrid workshop, to be held in Washington, DC and online on Jan. 24–25, 2023.
Nano4EARTH Roundtable Discussions
The Nano4EARTH roundtable discussions aim to identify fundamental knowledge gaps, needs, and opportunities to advance current energy efficiency, sustainable development, and climate change goals. By convening stakeholders from different sectors, backgrounds, and expertise, the goals of these roundtables are to identify applicable lessons across the spectrum of technologies, discuss system-specific needs, scalability and commercialization challenges, and potential paths forward.
The topics of the roundtables were identified at the Nano4EARTH Kick-off Workshop as particularly promising areas that could have an impact in a short time frame (four years or less).
Roundtables:
Coatings, Lubricants, Membranes, and Other Interface Technologies
There’s this December 11, 2023 notice from the “Celebrating nanotechnology around the country” webpage on the NNI website,
In celebration of the 20-year anniversary of the signing of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, which codified the National Nanotechnology Initiative, the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office is showing its appreciation for the many organizations across the country that have put together engagement events with the general public to raise awareness about nanotechnology.
Chad Mirkin at Northwestern University (Chicago, Illinois, US) who’s a pretty big deal in the nanomedicine field wrote an October 29, 2021 introductory essay for Scientific American,
A Big Bet on Nanotechnology Has Paid Off
The National Nanotechnology Initiative promised a lot. It has delivered more
We’re now more than two decades out from the initial announcement of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), a federal program from President Bill Clinton founded in 2000 to support nanotechnology research and development in universities, government agencies and industry laboratories across the United States. It was a significant financial bet on a field that was better known among the general public for science fiction than scientific achievement. Today it’s clear that the NNI did more than influence the direction of research in the U.S. It catalyzed a worldwide effort and spurred an explosion of creativity in the scientific community. And we’re reaping the rewards not just in medicine, but also clean energy, environmental remediation and beyond.
Before the NNI, there were people who thought nanotechnology was a gimmick. I began my research career in chemistry, but it seemed to me that nanotechnology was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: the opening of a new field that crossed scientific disciplines. In the wake of the NNI, my university, Northwestern University, made the strategic decision to establish the International Institute for Nanotechnology, which now represents more than $1 billion in pure nanotechnology research, educational programs and supporting infrastructure. Other universities across the U.S. made similar investments, creating new institutes and interdisciplinary partnerships.
…
He’s a little euphoric but his perspective and the information he offers is worth knowing about.
