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A research team led by Professor Kazuaki Sawada and Project Assistant Professor Hideo Doi of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Information Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology has developed a semiconductor sensor enabling the real-time observation of two types of biomolecule dynamics in solutions. By using semiconductor technology to pattern a thin metal film functioning as a neurotransmitter-sensitive membrane on sensor pixels arranged two-dimensionally in a 2 µm pitch, the sensor captures the movement of hydrogen ions and lactate (neurotransmitters) in a solution as image data. A time resolution of milliseconds and a spatial resolution of several microns (approximately 1/17 the size of a strand of hair) were achieved, and it is expected that the measurement of relation for neurotransmitters and ions distribution which changes temporally and spatially between cells with high spatiotemporal resolution.

Precise calculations of binding free energy are pivotal in reducing the high costs and inefficiencies of drug discovery. A recent study presents PairMap, an innovative computational tool that introduces intermediates for complex compound transformations. This improves the accuracy of energy predictions, with a higher impact in reducing drug discovery costs.

An international team of researchers, led by physicists from the University of Vienna, has achieved a breakthrough in data processing by employing an "inverse-design" approach. This method allows algorithms to configure a system based on desired functions, bypassing manual design and complex simulations. The result is a smart "universal" device that uses spin waves ("magnons") to perform multiple data processing tasks with exceptional energy efficiency. Published in Nature Electronics, this innovation marks a transformative advance in unconventional computing, with significant potential for next-generation telecommunications, computing, and neuromorphic systems.

Physicists have performed a groundbreaking simulation they say sheds new light on an elusive phenomenon that could determine the ultimate fate of the Universe. 

QUT synthetic biologists have developed a prototype for an innovative biosensor that can detect rare earth elements and be modified for a range of other applications.