Technology
press releases.

Technology16 Nov 2023

UofL law professor developing generative AI toolkit to aid legal writing instruction

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – While many are wary of artificial intelligence and its feared effect of supplanting the human creation of content, one University of Louisville professor is leading an effort to help her colleagues use it in the classroom. Susan Tanner, assistant professor of law at UofL’s Brandeis Law School, has won a teaching grant from the Association of Legal Writing Directors to develop a toolkit that law professors anywhere can use to incorporate generative artificial intelligence (genAI) into their legal writing curricula. GenAI is technology that can create text, images, videos and other media in response to prompts inputted by a user – otherwise known ...

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Technology16 Nov 2023

Introducing EUGENe: an easy-to-use deep learning genomics software

Deep learning — a form of artificial intelligence capable of improving itself with limited user input — has radically reshaped the landscape of biomedical research since its emergence in the early 2010s. It’s been particularly impactful in genomics, a field of biology that examines how our DNA is organized into genes and how these genes are activated or deactivated in individual cells. Despite this synergy, genomics researchers wanting to employ this technology are often challenged by the actual coding necessary to analyze vast pools of dense data. Now, ...

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Technology16 Nov 2023

Plants that survived dinosaur extinction pulled nitrogen from air

DURHAM, N.C. -- Once a favored food of grazing dinosaurs, an ancient lineage of plants called cycads helped sustain these and other prehistoric animals during the Mesozoic Era, starting 252 million years ago, by being plentiful in the forest understory. Today, just a few species of the palm-like plants survive in tropical and subtropical habitats. Like their lumbering grazers, most cycads have gone extinct. Their disappearance from their prior habitats began during the late Mesozoic and continued into the early Cenozoic Era, punctuated by the cataclysmic asteroid impact and volcanic activity that mark the K-Pg boundary 66 million years ago. However, unlike the dinosaurs, somehow a few groups ...

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Technology16 Nov 2023

The mind’s eye of a neural network system

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – In the background of image recognition software that can ID our friends on social media and wildflowers in our yard are neural networks, a type of artificial intelligence inspired by how own our brains process data. While neural networks sprint through data, their architecture makes it difficult to trace the origin of errors that are obvious to humans — like confusing a Converse high-top with an ankle boot — limiting their use in more vital work like health care image analysis or research. A new tool developed at Purdue University makes finding those errors as simple as spotting mountaintops from an airplane. “In a sense, if a neural ...

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Technology16 Nov 2023

Wearable devices detect circadian disturbances that predict frailty risk in older adults

Brigham researchers found an association between alterations in circadian rest-activity rhythms and risk of frailty incidence in older adults Wearable devices can be used to measure a variety of signs and signals related to our health. A new study by researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, suggests that such devices may also be able to help predict older adults at risk of health complications related to frailty. The team found an association between disturbances in daily patterns of rest and activity, or circadian ...

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Technology16 Nov 2023

A bi-directional iterative approach to Android automated testing

With the benefits of reducing time-cost and human efforts, automated testing has been widely used for quality assurance of mobile applications (apps). However, in complex interactive activities, manual testing can achieve higher coverage. However, the effectiveness of manual testing is highly dependent on the vital User Operation Process (UOP) of experienced testers. To solve the problems, a research team led by Zhenyu CHEN and Chunrong FANG published their new research on 15 Oct 2023 in Frontiers of Computer Science co-published ...

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Technology15 Nov 2023

Use it or lose it: New robotic system assesses mobility after stroke

Embargoed: Not for Release Until 2:00 pm U.S. Eastern Time Wednesday, 15 November 2023 Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability worldwide. Each year more than 15 million people worldwide have strokes, and three-quarters of stroke survivors will experience impairment, weakness and paralysis in their arms and hands. Many stroke survivors rely on their stronger arm to complete daily tasks, from carrying groceries to combing their hair, even when the weaker arm has the potential to improve. Breaking this habit, known as “arm nonuse” or “learned nonuse,” can improve strength and prevent injury. But, determining how much ...

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Technology15 Nov 2023

Exposure to air pollution in utero may affect reproductive system development

From invisible wafts of diesel exhaust to sun-choking plumes of orange smoke, air pollution is known to damage respiratory well-being. Now, research from Rutgers suggests another reason to hold our breath: Polluted air also may hurt reproductive health. In a study of air pollution data in relation to markers of reproductive development in infancy, Rutgers researchers found certain pollutants may negatively alter anogenital distance, a measure of prenatal exposure to hormones. “These findings suggest air ...

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Technology15 Nov 2023

NYU Tandon takes a quantum leap with new minor

NYU Tandon School of Engineering is poised to become one of an extremely select group of American universities offering an undergraduate program in quantum technology, situating it at the forefront of a fast-growing field in which high employer demand significantly outpaces available talent. Beginning in the spring 2024 semester, NYU Tandon students can start earning credits towards the new quantum tech minor, offered through the Department of Applied Physics. In the past decade, quantum technology – the use of ...

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Technology15 Nov 2023

New deep learning AI tool helps ecologists monitor rare birds through their songs

Researchers have developed a new deep learning AI tool that generates life-like birdsongs to train bird identification tools, helping ecologists to monitor rare species in the wild. The findings are presented in the British Ecological Society journal, Methods in Ecology and Evolution. Identifying common bird species through their song has never been easier, with numerous phone apps and software available to both ecologists and the public. But what if the identification software has never heard a particular bird before, or only has a small sample of recordings to reference? This is a problem facing ...

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Technology14 Nov 2023

Special Issue of Criminology & Public Policy examines cybercrime and cybersecurity

Cybercrime—computer hacking, social engineering, intellectual property theft, electronic fraud, online interpersonal violence, identity theft, and Internet-facilitated sexual victimization—is a leading threat to national security, with millions of victims in both the United States and around the world, and billions of dollars being spent to combat it. Criminology and related disciplines are just beginning to understand cybercrime and how best to deter and prevent it—or at least reduce its harms. ...

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Technology14 Nov 2023

Using machine learning, existing fiber optic cables to track Pittsburgh hazards

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Existing fiber optic cables used for high-speed internet and telecommunications, in combination with machine learning, may be able to help scientists track ground hazards in Pittsburgh. The National Science Foundation awarded a $937,000 grant to a team of Penn State and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) researchers to further develop the low-cost monitoring approach. The effort, which is led by Tieyuan Zhu, associate professor of geosciences at Penn State, relies on prior research that shows hazards such as flooding, landslides, sinkholes and leaking pipes can be monitored at a fraction of the cost of existing methods. The distributed acoustic sensing ...

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Technology14 Nov 2023

Super speeds for super AI: Frontier sets new pace for artificial intelligence

The team that built Frontier set out to break the exascale barrier, but the supercomputer’s record-breaking didn’t stop there. “The exascale number marks a major milestone itself, but it also marks the beginning of a new chapter in high-speed computing,” said Feiyi Wang, an Oak Ridge National Laboratory computer scientist who leads research into artificial intelligence and analytics. “We don’t have to wait for the next generation of computing anymore. We can have it here today.” Frontier claimed the title of fastest computer in the world by running at ...

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Technology14 Nov 2023

Researchers identify unexpected twist while developing new polymer-based semiconductors

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new study led by chemists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign brings fresh insight into the development of semiconductor materials that can do things their traditional silicon counterparts cannot – harness the power of chirality, a non-superimposable mirror image. Chirality is one of nature’s strategies used to build complexity into structures, with the DNA double helix perhaps being the most recognized example – two molecule chains connected by a molecular “backbone” ...

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Technology14 Nov 2023

Keep it secret: Cloud data storage security approach taps quantum physics

Distributed cloud storage is a hot topic for security researchers around the globe pursuing secure data storage, and a team in China is now merging quantum physics with mature cryptography and storage techniques to achieve a cost-effective cloud storage solution. Shamir’s secret sharing, a known method, is a key distribution algorithm. It involves distributing private information to a group so that “the secret” can be revealed only when a majority pools their knowledge. It’s common to combine quantum key distribution (QKD) and Shamir’s secret sharing algorithm for secure ...

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Technology14 Nov 2023

Introducing: AI-powered medium-range weather forecasting from Google DeepMind

A machine learning-based weather forecasting model from Google DeepMind leads to better, faster, and more accessible 10-day weather predictions than existing approaches, according to a new study. The model, dubbed "GraphCast," outperformed traditional systems in 90% of tested cases. It also performed well in predictions related to extreme events, for which it was not directly trained. "We believe this marks a turning point in weather forecasting," write the authors. The gold-standard approach for weather ...

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Technology14 Nov 2023

A “gold standard” for computational materials science codes

For the past few decades, physicists and materials scientists around the world have been busy developing computer codes that simulate the key properties of materials, and they can now choose from a whole family of such tools, using them to publish tens of thousands of scientific articles per year. These codes are typically based on density-functional theory (DFT), a modelling method that uses several approximations to reduce the otherwise mind-boggling complexity of calculating the behavior of each individual electron according to the laws of quantum mechanics. The ...

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Technology14 Nov 2023

New twist on AI makes the most of sparse sensor data

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Nov. 14, 2023 — An innovative approach to artificial intelligence (AI) enables reconstructing a broad field of data, such as overall ocean temperature, from a small number of field-deployable sensors using low-powered “edge” computing, with broad applications across industry, science and medicine. “We developed a neural network that allows us to represent a large system in a very compact way,” said Javier Santos, a Los Alamos National Laboratory researcher who applies ...

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Technology14 Nov 2023

Boosting profits for technology holders and licensees through game theory

Patents and licenses safeguard the intellectual property of the rights holder from being copied or sold without their permission. Companies and individuals who want to make use of the patented or licensed invention must make a formal request to do so. In industries where oligopolies operate—a small number of producers who control the supply of a good or commodity and can determine prices—the profitability of licensing a patent depends on two critical factors: the chosen method of payment for license access and the relative number of firms granted the license as opposed to those left ...

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Technology13 Nov 2023

Using deep learning to process raw photoacoustic channel data and guide cardiac interventions

Cardiovascular diseases rank among the top causes of death across the world, and cardiac interventions are similarly very common. For example, cardiac catheter ablation procedures, which are used to treat arrythmias, number in several tens of thousands per year in the US alone. In these procedures, surgeons insert a thin, flexible tube called a catheter into the femoral vein in the leg and navigate their way up to the heart, where the problematic tissue is destroyed using cold or focused radiation. Even though cardiac catheter-based procedures are considered minimally invasive, the position ...

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Technology13 Nov 2023

The Long Jump: Athletic, insect-scale long jumping robots reach where others can't.

A team of engineers from the University of Illinois has published the first known study documenting the long-jumping motion of 3D-printed insect-scale robots. The new study, published in the journal Smart Materials and Structures, follows a previous publication that documented the same lab’s investigation of vertical jumping in insect-scale robots. The study is led by Professor Sameh Tawfick, an associate professor and Ralph A. Andersen Faculty Scholar in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering. His lab, the Kinetic Materials Research Group, studies the ...

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Technology13 Nov 2023

University of Toronto Engineering study finds bigger datasets might not always be better for AI models

From ChatGPT to DALL-E, deep learning artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms are being applied to an ever-growing range of fields. A new study from University of Toronto Engineering researchers, published in Nature Communications, suggests that one of the fundamental assumptions of deep learning models — that they require enormous amounts of training data — may not be as solid as once thought. Professor Jason Hattrick-Simpers and his team are focused on the design of next-generation materials, from catalysts that convert captured carbon into fuels to non-stick surfaces that keep airplane wings ice-free. One ...

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Technology13 Nov 2023

Artificial intelligence: Unexpected results

Artificial intelligence (AI) is on the rise. Until now, AI applications generally have “black box” character: How AI arrives at its results remains hidden. Prof. Dr. Jürgen Bajorath, a cheminformatics scientist at the University of Bonn, and his team have developed a method that reveals how certain AI applications work in pharmaceutical research. The results are unexpected: the AI programs largely remembered known data and hardly learned specific chemical interactions when predicting drug potency. The results have now been published in Nature Machine Intelligence. Which drug molecule is most effective? Researchers are feverishly ...

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Technology13 Nov 2023

Worcester Polytechnic Institute researcher leads project to develop oxygen sensor for premature infants of color

– The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $1.1 million to a team led by Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) researcher Ulkuhan Guler to develop a first-of-its-kind wearable sensor for premature infants that will address racial bias in healthcare by monitoring oxygen levels two different ways and correcting the measurements to account for variations in skin color. The four-year project will create a convenient, affordable, noninvasive sensor about the size of a bandage that will enable infants at risk of lung disease to leave hospitals sooner and be accurately monitored at home, said Guler, an associate professor in the Department ...

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Technology13 Nov 2023

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Nanotechnology expert Nikhil Koratkar named American Physical Society Fellow

Nikhil Koratkar, Ph.D., John A. Clark and Edward T. Crossan Professor of Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been named a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). Koratkar was recognized for his pioneering contributions to the field of nanoscale science and technology and the use of nanoscale materials in composites and energy storage devices. Each year, no more than 0.05% of the society membership is recognized by their peers for election to the status of fellow of the American Physical Society. The APS Fellowship Program recognizes members ...

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