Technology
press releases.

Technology14 Jan 2026

Hydrogel cilia set new standard in microrobotics

Embargo details: “3D-printed low-voltage-driven ciliary hydrogel microactuators” has been scheduled for publication in Nature on 14 January 2026 at 16:00 (London time), 14 January 2026 at 11:00 (US Eastern Time). The embargo will lift at this time. Stuttgart – Cilia are micrometer-sized biological structures that occur frequently in nature. Their characteristic high-frequency, three-dimensional beating motions (5 – 40 Hz) play indispensable roles inside the body. In the human brain, ciliary motion is crucial for neuronal ...

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Technology14 Jan 2026

Physics of foam strangely resembles AI training

Foams are everywhere: soap suds, shaving cream, whipped toppings and food emulsions like mayonnaise. For decades, scientists believed that foams behave like glass, their microscopic components trapped in static, disordered configurations. Now, engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have found that foams actually flow ceaselessly inside while holding their external shape. More strangely, from a mathematical perspective, this internal motion resembles the process of deep learning, the method typically used to train modern AI systems. The discovery could hint that learning, in a broad mathematical sense, may be a common organizing ...

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Technology14 Jan 2026

Measuring movement creates new way to map indoor air pollution

University of Birmingham scientists have developed a new way of measuring and analysing indoor air pollution that - in initial trials - has established a clear link between office occupancy, physical activity, and air quality. Using radar-powered movement detectors and low-cost pollution sensors, researchers equipped office space in central Birmingham to monitor the number of people present and measure the kinetic energy they generated as they went about their work. Researchers say that using the Birmingham approach, ...

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Technology14 Jan 2026

A new AI-based attack framework advances multi-agent reinforcement learning by amplifying vulnerability and bypassing defenses

Researchers have developed a novel framework, termed PDJA (Perception–Decision Joint Attack), that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to address a long-standing challenge in the security of multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) systems: how to effectively disrupt coordinated agents under realistic threat models. The new method improves both attack effectiveness and cross-layer vulnerability exploitation, opening new opportunities for evaluating the robustness of AI-driven autonomous systems such as robotics, traffic control, and distributed decision-making platforms. What’s New? In recent years, adversarial ...

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Technology14 Jan 2026

Young people risk drifting into serious online offenses through a slippery slope of high-risk digital behavior

New findings from the University of East London show that online risk-taking is widespread among young people, with behaviours such as digital piracy, accessing risky online spaces or engaging with harmful content having a high potential to lead to more serious offenses. Interviews with convicted cybercriminals in the UK and Switzerland revealed a diverse cohort spanning a wide age range and offence types, from hacking and digital fraud to sexual offences carried out online. Nearly half (47%) reported engaging ...

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Technology13 Jan 2026

Biochar-based enzyme technology offers new path for cleaner water and soil

A growing body of research suggests that combining enzymes with biochar, a carbon-rich material made from agricultural and organic waste, could transform how scientists clean polluted water and soil. A new review published in Biochar provides the most comprehensive overview to date of how biochar-immobilized enzymes work, why they are effective, and what challenges remain before the technology can be widely applied. Environmental pollution from industrial chemicals, dyes, pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, and heavy metals continues to threaten ecosystems and human health worldwide. Traditional treatment methods often rely on energy-intensive processes or chemical reagents that can ...

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Technology12 Jan 2026

Discovery of a new superfluid phase in non-Hermitian quantum systems

A stable "exceptional fermionic superfluid," a new quantum phase that intrinsically hosts singularities known as exceptional points, has been discovered by researchers at Institute of Science Tokyo. Their analysis of a non-Hermitian quantum model with spin depairing shows that dissipation can actively stabilize a superfluid with these singularities embedded within it. The work reveals how lattice geometry dictates the phase's stability and provides a path to realizing it in experiments with ultracold atoms. In the quantum world, open quantum systems are those ...

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Technology12 Jan 2026

Chonnam National University researchers develop novel virtual sensor grid method for low-cost, yet robust, infrastructure monitoring

Structural health monitoring (SHM) and condition monitoring are crucial processes that ensure reliability and safety of engineering systems in a variety of fields, including aerospace, civil engineering, and industry. These systems are often assessed using vibration-based methods, where damage is detected by analyzing changes in a structure’s vibration characteristics. Traditional methods typically employ contact-type sensors for this purpose. While effective, these methods face several limitations, including low spatial resolution, high costs, difficulties in sensor placement, and measurements that are restricted to small regions around each sensor. Vision-based methods, where non-contact, ...

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Technology11 Jan 2026

KAIST proposes AI-driven strategy to solve long-standing mystery of gene function

“We know the genes, but not their functions.” To resolve this long-standing bottleneck in microbial research, a joint research team has proposed a cutting-edge research strategy that leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) to drastically accelerate the discovery of microbial gene functions. KAIST announced on January 12th that a research team led by Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, in collaboration with Professor Bernhard Palsson from the Department of Bioengineering at UCSD, has published a comprehensive review paper. The study systematically analyzes and organizes the latest AI-based ...

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Technology10 Jan 2026

Eye for trouble: Automated counting for chromosome issues under the microscope

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed a suite of algorithms to automate the counting of sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) in chromosomes under the microscope. Conventional analysis requires trained personnel and time, with variability between different people. The team’s machine-learning-based algorithm boasts an accuracy of 84% and gives a more objective measurement. This could be a game changer for diagnosing disorders tied to abnormal numbers of SCEs, like Bloom syndrome. DNA, the blueprint of life for all living organisms, is found packaged inside complex ...

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Technology9 Jan 2026

AI turns water into an early warning network for hidden biological pollutants

Artificial intelligence is quietly transforming how scientists monitor and manage invisible biological pollutants in rivers, lakes, and coastal waters, and a new review explains how this technological shift could better protect ecosystems and public health.​ In a paper published in the open access journal Biocontaminant, researchers from Nanjing University outline how AI can turn water quality management from a reactive, after the fact process into a proactive early warning and control system for harmful microbes, algal toxins, parasites, and antibiotic resistance genes in aquatic environments. These living “biocontaminants” are highly ...

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Technology7 Jan 2026

Digital modeling reveals where construction carbon emissions really come from

A new study shows how digital building models can be used to pinpoint where carbon emissions occur across a building’s entire life cycle, offering designers and policymakers a powerful tool to reduce the climate footprint of the construction industry. Researchers developed an integrated method that combines Building Information Modeling and Life Cycle Assessment to calculate carbon emissions from the earliest design stage through construction, operation, and eventual demolition. Using a real office building in China as a case study, the team demonstrated how emissions can be quantified in detail and how targeted reduction ...

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Technology7 Jan 2026

An AI–DFT integrated framework accelerates materials discovery and design

Researchers from China University of Petroleum (East China), in collaboration with international partners, have reported a comprehensive review of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques integrated with density functional theory (DFT) to accelerate materials discovery, property prediction, and rational design. The work outlines how AI–DFT coupling improves computational efficiency and enables a shift from traditional trial-and-error approaches toward intelligent, data-driven materials innovation. Materials ...

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Technology7 Jan 2026

CUNY Graduate Center and its academic partners awarded more than $1M by Google.org to advance statewide AI education through the Empire AI consortium

NEW YORK, January 7, 2026 — The City University of New York Graduate Center (CUNY Graduate Center) has received a grant totaling more than $1 million from Google.org to support the work of Empire AI, a statewide consortium of 11 public and private academic institutions focused on advancing the effective integration of artificial intelligence into higher education. The award—which is the second such source of funding that the CUNY Graduate Center has received from Google.org to support AI literacy in higher education—will further the reach of a comprehensive, multi-institution assessment of how best to prepare ...

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Technology7 Jan 2026

Inflatable fabric robotic arm picks apples

PULLMAN, Wash — A low-cost, simple robotic apple picker arm developed by Washington State University researchers may someday help with fruit picking and other farm chores. The inflatable arm can see an apple, then extend and retract to pick a piece of fruit in about 25 seconds. Weighing less than 50 pounds with its metal base, the two-foot-long arm is made of a soft fabric filled with air that is similar to, but stronger than, the wacky inflatable arm-flailing tube men that are used in outdoor advertising. The researchers in WSU’s School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering recently published their work on the robotic arm in the journal, Smart Agricultural ...

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Technology7 Jan 2026

Fewer layovers, better-connected airports, more firm growth

Waiting in an airport for a connecting flight is often tedious. A new study by MIT researchers shows it’s bad for business, too. Looking at air travel and multinational firm formation over a 30-year period, the researchers measured how much a strong network of airline connections matters for economic growth. They found that multinational firms are more likely to locate their subsidiaries in cities they can reach with direct flights, and that this trend is particularly pronounced in knowledge industries. The degree ...

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Technology6 Jan 2026

When is it time to jump? The boiling frog problem of AI use in physics education

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 2026 — Generative AI is becoming ubiquitous in everyday life. Large language models like ChatGPT can help answer questions, write emails, and solve problems at seemingly lightning speed, pulling from enormous datasets to engage in conversations with their users. Generative AI tools are increasingly used in classrooms, too, sometimes to supplement learning and sometimes to cut corners. Because of this, many teachers have expressed concerns about this powerful tool’s impact on student learning and development. In The Physics Teacher, a journal co-published by AIP Publishing and the American Association of Physics Teachers, a physics professor-turned-AI-researcher ...

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Technology6 Jan 2026

AI is quick but risky for updating old software

At first glance, artificial intelligence looks like a software developer’s dream. A recent McKinsey & Company report found that programmers generated code up to 45% faster with the help of generative AI. But if it’s not used strategically, AI can become a developer’s nightmare. So says Edward Anderson Jr., professor of information, risk, and operations management and Betty and Glenn Mortimer Centennial Professor in Business at Texas McCombs. The problem arises when AI ...

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Technology6 Jan 2026

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio may aid risk stratification in depressive disorder

January 6, 2026 — An elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is significantly associated with increased risk of depressive disorder (DD) and may also correlate with suicide risk among individuals with DD, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published in the November issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry, part of the Lippincott portfolio from Wolters Kluwer. “Studies demonstrate altered immune responses in DD, including diminished lymphocyte reactivity and dysregulated neutrophil activity,” explain Yongjun Chen, MD, of Shandong University of Traditional ...

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Technology6 Jan 2026

Researchers develop new tools to turn grain crops into biosensors

ST. LOUIS, MO, January 6, 2026 — A collaborative team of researchers from the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, the University of Florida, Gainesville and University of Iowa have developed groundbreaking tools that allow grasses—including major grain crops like corn—to act as living biosensors capable of detecting minute amounts of chemicals in the field. Principal Investigators Dmitri Nusinow, PhD, and Malia Gehan, PhD, led the effort to engineer grasses that produce a visible purple pigment, anthocyanin, ...

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Technology6 Jan 2026

Scientists discover first method to safely back up quantum information

A team of researchers at the University of Waterloo have made a breakthrough in quantum computing that elegantly bypasses the fundamental “no cloning” problem. Quantum computing is an exciting technological frontier, where information is stored and processed in tiny units — called qubits. Qubits can be stored, for example, in individual electrons, photons (particles of light), atoms, ions or tiny currents. Universities, industry, and governments around the world are spending billions of dollars to perfect the technology for controlling these qubits ...

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Technology6 Jan 2026

Light storage in light cages: A revolutionary approach to on-chip quantum memories

Quantum information storage is a cornerstone technology for the emerging quantum internet and quantum computation. While current quantum communication networks face fundamental limitations due to signal loss over long distances, quantum memories offer a promising solution by enabling quantum repeaters that can extend the range of quantum networks through entanglement swapping operations. In a breakthrough published in Light: Science & Applications, a research team led by scientists from the Humboldt-Universität ...

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Technology6 Jan 2026

Point spread function decoupling in computational fluorescence microscopy

Fluorescence microscopy is a cornerstone of modern biological research, widely used to reveal cellular structures, molecular interactions, and dynamic life processes. Computational fluorescence microscopy(CFM) has further revolutionized this field by integrating molecular specificity with optical modulation and algorithmic demodulation, enabling high resolution and multidimensional imaging far beyond the limits of conventional wide field microscopy. However, its full potential is still hindered by a long standing challenge: accurate characterization of the imaging system. Traditional approaches either rely on ...

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Technology5 Jan 2026

Securing AI systems against growing cybersecurity threats

The new EU-funded SHASAI project (Secure Hardware and Software for AI systems) will tackle this challenge. Funded under the Horizon Europe programme, SHASAI aims to strengthen the security, resilience and trustworthiness of AI-based systems. The project will address cybersecurity risks from the initial design and development stages through to deployment and real-world operation. “With SHASAI, we aim to move beyond fragmented security solutions and address AI cybersecurity as a lifecycle challenge. By combining secure hardware and software, risk-driven ...

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Technology2 Jan 2026

UVA’s Jundong Li wins ICDM’S 2025 Tao Li Award for data mining, machine learning

This year’s coveted Tao Li Award has gone to Jundong Li, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and computer science at the University of Virginia. Li, feeling “genuinely grateful and a bit overwhelmed,” accepted the award on Nov. 14 at the IEEE International Conference on Data Mining in Washington, D.C. “The ICDM Tao Li Award is deeply meaningful to me, and I have long admired the scholars who received it in prior years, all of whom are leaders in the data mining and machine learning community,” Li ...

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