Making Morse Code Available to More People on Gboard

You can now use Morse code on Google’s Gboard

Google recently added Morse code to Gboard, first on android after the I/O 2018 keynote and then now on iOS. The first version of Morse code came out in beta from on android back when Google had its I/O conference. But bringing out Morse code on iOS devices is not the only thing Google has done, they have also brought improvements to the android version of Morse code on Gboard.

Google has even created a game to teach people to communicate using Morse code, a handy tool for one if they are in trouble maybe? Or maybe it could be a cool way to chat with friends when you don’t want non- Morse coders to know what you are saying? But having Morse code on Gboard helps people with communication difficulties to use a device to communicate and such is what Assistive tech Tania Finlayson had in mind when she worked with Google on the Morse code project on Gboard.

How Morse code on Gboard can help people with disabilities:

Technology today is made for the masses but for people with disabilities it becomes very difficult to use a device that was intended for a person with no disabilities. Therefore this initiative of Google in bringing Morse code to Gboard is a good way to bring everyone onto the digital platform and in getting everyone to use a device irrespective of their physical abilities.

Nowadays when everything is done on phones and other gadgets alike, it becomes very difficult to live life not being able to use these gadgets that have become a staple in daily living.  By simply downloading an app people with disabilities can live life much easier knowing that they can access the world now with just the tip of their finger.

Finlayson also stated that a person with reduced mobility could even hook on external switches to their mobile device to operate it instead of using their fingers.

Using Morse code on Gboard:

Using Morse code on Gboard is simple enough. When you activate Morse code on Gboard, a dash and dot takes up the full space of the keyboard which would normally be filled with the QWERTY keyboard and just like the QWERTY keyboard as you type on the icons you get suggestions for words.

Google has even created a Morse typing Trainer game which it boasts can train people to use Morse code on Gboard in under an hour. This morse code game is available on both desktop and mobile versions. What is even better is that the game is free for anyone who is interested in learning Morse code.

A Little about Morse code:

Morse code is a communication system that dates back to the 1800s and has been used widely as a both a visual tool and an audio tool. It is used to rapidly convey information both by people with disabilities as well as was used with telegraph lines, radio circuits and undersea cables.

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Better, Faster, Stronger: Building Lithium Ion Batteries That Don’t Go Boom

Lithium Ion Batteries like never before

We all remember that unfortunate incidence or incidences of the Samsung Galaxy 7 catching fire and the dozens of memes that came out of it but what we don’t remember is that this phone was powered by lithium batteries. While holding incredible promise when it comes to a phone’s or for that matter any other devices storage capacity, Lithium Ion batteries are on the top. This is not taking into account its extremely volatile nature.

Instead of looking at the core fundamental properties of lithium batteries, industries just concentrate on the ends, which is the ability of the battery to charge fast and hold a lot of juice and in the bargain safety and other factors like lithium battery’s properties are almost forgotten.

Concentrating on lithium ion battery problems:

The main factor that causes a phone or a device using lithium ion batteries to go boom is the flammable liquid electrolyte within the battery. So the next step is finding an alternative that is preferably a non- flammable solid electrolyte with a lithium metal electrode. Not only would this solution reduce the possibilities of a mishap but would also increase the energy of the lithium ion battery.

While many industries and researchers concentrate on the amazing storage capacity of lithium ion batteries, researchers at Michigan Tech are looking at lithium battery’s fundamental properties. They believe that by researching these properties, they will unravel the key to the mystery of lithium ion batteries.

Understanding the properties of Lithium Ion batteries:

The two main requirements in manufacturing batteries is that it should make the device in question charge faster as well as stay reliable even after multiple charges. Taking lithium ion batteries into the equation is a difficult task as these batteries are highly reactive and using them makes one very susceptible to mishaps.

Lithium is a very soft metal. The process of charging and discharging a phone with lithium ion batteries means that mounting pressure which is common with charging and discharging these batteries causes fingers of lithium called dendrites to fill microscopic flaws in the lithium battery, at the point between the lithium anode and the solid electrolyte separator.

During multiple cycles of charging and discharging, these dendrites often force their way into the solid electrolyte layer which separates the cathode form the anode. When the dendrites reach the cathode, the device often short circuits and this causes the device to catch fire.

The research into lithium battery’ properties:

Researchers caused indentations into the lithium metal with a diamond tipped probe to see how the metal reacted to pressure. Their results showed that lithium metal has incredible strength at small length scales.

Researchers tried to explain this phenomenon by saying that lithium metal’s atoms rearrange themselves to alleviate the pressure imposed on the metal. Researchers used this experiment to observe the speed at which lithium metal deformed as well as the effects of the ions rearranging themselves.

Researchers have discovered that the elasticity of lithium as well as its atoms rearranging themselves under pressure when lithium is at a very small length scale of 500 nanometers. This fundamental study of lithium batteries could lead to a safer lithium battery in the future.

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Quantum Enhancement for Sensor Technology

In the technologies that is available to us today, we need accurate information quickly from the quantum states. This is very essential for quantum processors and sensitive detectors that are present in the existing technologies.

If we look at the technology that is currently available to us, there is not much accuracy. There are certain limitations to accurately measure things. Let us take for example an X-ray image which is blurry and we are not able to decipher it accurately. It takes an expert physician to read the X-ray and interpret it. The contrast between the tissues is fairly poor and hence it becomes difficult to interpret. Probably, the image could be improved by exposing it longer, taking many images and overlapping them or exposing humans to a higher intensity radiation. This however is a disadvantage, as it is not safe to expose humans to a very high radiation and imaging too takes lots of time and resources.

Researchers from Aalto University, ETH Zurich and MIPT and Landau Institute in Moscow combined quantum phenomena and machine-learning to get a magnetometer with accuracy that was far beyond the usual quantum limit. They have come up with a novel way whereby a quantum system is used to measure magnetic fields.

Their findings were published in npj Quantum Information journal. They illustrated how the accuracy of magnetic field measurements could be enhanced by an artificial superconducting atom, a qubit. It is basically a device that is created by using strips of aluminium overlapping each other and evaporated on a silicon chip. We can see this same technology that is in use to make processors of computers and mobile phones.

On cooling the device to a considerably low temperature there is an electric current that flows in it without any resistance. In addition, it shows the same quantum mechanical properties as that of real atoms. When the atom is irradiated with a microwave pulse, the state of the artificial atom also changes. The change that occurs is mainly dependent on the external magnetic field that is applied. On measuring, you can figure out the magnetic field.

In order to go beyond the usual quantum limit you need to use a technique that is similar to pattern recognition which is a branch of machine learning. One of the authors from ETH Zurich team says that they had used a technique whereby they take the measurement and based on the outcome the pattern recognition algorithm decides how to change a control parameter in the next stage. This is done in order to obtain the fastest estimation of the magnetic field.

We can see quantum technology at work when quantum phenomena is combined with a measurement technique based on supervised machine learning. The sensitivity of the magnetic field detectors is enhanced going beyond the standard quantum limit.

They wanted to devise a highly efficient but at the same time minimally invasive technique by using low intensities or taking measurements within a certain time frame.

From the geological point of view to imaging brain activity, detection of magnetic fields plays a very important role. The researchers are of the opinion that their work is a step forward whereby sensor technology uses quantum-enhanced methods.

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