Simulations of quantum many-body problems are a challenge for even the most powerful conventional computers. Quantum computing has the potential to solve this challenge using an approach called an analog quantum simulation. To succeed, these simulations need theoretical approximations of how quantum computers represent many-body systems. In this research, nuclear physicists developed a new framework to analyze these approximations and minimize their effects.

A recent study reveals how the expansion and functional divergence of terpene synthase genes (TPSs) in flowering plants (angiosperms) have driven the astonishing diversity of terpenes—critical compounds involved in plant defense, floral scents, and fruit flavors. 

Dr. Elizabeth Houghton recently graduated from the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science’s Department of Biology. Her latest paper, published in Plant Biology, examines how sweet cherries, like many fruit trees, use a natural survival strategy called supercooling to protect undeveloped flower buds during freezing temperatures.

A recent review has shed light on the transformative potential of acoustic technologies in the fields of biofabrication and tissue engineering.

Ventilation is an important process within the global ocean, where waters sink to deeper layers, are transported by deep currents, and eventually upwelled back to the surface. This process affects the distribution of oxygen and carbon in the global ocean by transporting these elements from the surface to deeper regions of the ocean. Scientists are still trying to understand the exact dynamics and circulation pathways that determine how dense, cold water from deep in the Gulf of Mexico gets circulated within the Gulf. Current theories suggest that deep water is transformed into intermediate water through small scale mixing which drives upwelling before flowing out of the Gulf through the Yucatán Channel.