Technology
press releases.

Technology5 Oct 2023

AAAS launches STPF Rapid Response Cohort in AI to support policy development in Congress

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has conceived of and launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) fellowship in just two months — record speed — to support leaders in Congress as they craft legislation, in particular policies related to emerging opportunities and challenges with AI. Capitol Hill’s surging interest in AI policy follows the public release of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools. The STPF Rapid Response Cohort in AI operates under the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships (STPF) program and is part of the 51st class of 276 scientists and engineers placed across ...

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Technology5 Oct 2023

New research into pangolin genomics may aid in conservation efforts

A new paper in Molecular Biology and Evolution, published by Oxford University Press, for the first time provides a comprehensive set of genomic resources for pangolins, sometimes known as scaly anteaters, that researchers believe will be integral for protecting these threatened mammals. Pangolins, which are found in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, are the only mammals covered in scales. They are trafficked at record numbers for their meat and supposed medicinal properties. The animals are also at risk due to widespread deforestation of their native habitats. Pangolins are made up of eight surviving species ...

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Technology5 Oct 2023

Software can detect hidden and complex emotions in parents

Researchers have conducted trials using a software capable of detecting intricate details of emotions that remain hidden to the human eye. The software, which uses an ‘artificial net’ to map key features of the face, can evaluate the intensities of multiple different facial expressions simultaneously. The University of Bristol and Manchester Metropolitan University team worked with Bristol’s Children of the 90s study participants to see how well computational methods could capture authentic human emotions amidst everyday ...

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Technology5 Oct 2023

Two-dimensional compounds can capture carbon from the air

Some of the thinnest materials known to mankind may provide solutions to scientists in their quest to curb the effects of global warming. Known as MXene and MBene compounds, these substances are only a few atoms thick, making them two-dimensional. Because of their large surface area, the materials have the potential to absorb carbon dioxide molecules from the atmosphere, which could help reduce the harmful effects of climate change by safely sequestering carbon dioxide. In a paper published Oct. 4 in the journal Chem, UC Riverside professor Mihri Ozkan and her co-authors explain the potential of MXenes and MBenes in carbon capture technologies. “In this review, ...

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Technology4 Oct 2023

New UCF technology could reduce lag, improve reliability of online gaming, meetings

Whether you’re battling foes in a virtual arena or collaborating with colleagues across the globe, lag-induced disruptions can be a major hindrance to seamless communication and immersive experiences. That’s why researchers with the University of Central Florida’s College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL) and the University of California, Los Angeles, have developed new technology to make data transfer over optical fiber communication faster and more efficient. Their new development, a novel class of optical modulators, is detailed in a new study published recently in the journal Nature Communications. Modulators can be thought of as like a light switch that controls certain ...

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Technology4 Oct 2023

Machine learning used to probe the building blocks of shapes

Applying machine learning to find the properties of atomic pieces of geometry shows how AI has the power to accelerate discoveries in maths. Mathematicians from Imperial College London and the University of Nottingham have, for the first time, used machine learning to expand and accelerate work identifying ‘atomic shapes’ that form the basic pieces of geometry in higher dimensions. Their findings have been published in Nature Communications. The way they used artificial intelligence, in the form of machine learning, could transform how maths is done, say the authors. Dr Alexander Kasprzyk from ...

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Technology4 Oct 2023

These robots helped understand how insects evolved two distinct strategies of flight

Robots built by engineers at the University of California San Diego helped achieve a major breakthrough in understanding how insect flight evolved, described in the Oct. 4, 2023 issue of the journal Nature. The study is a result of a six-year long collaboration between roboticists at UC San Diego and biophysicists at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The findings focus on how the two different modes of flight evolved in insects. Most insects use their brains to activate their flight muscles each wingstroke, just like we activate the muscles in our legs ...

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Technology4 Oct 2023

AI drones to help farmers optimize vegetable yields

For reasons of food security and economic incentive, farmers continuously seek to maximize their marketable crop yields. As plants grow inconsistently, at the time of harvesting, there will inevitably be variations in quality and size of individual crops. Finding the optimal time to harvest is therefore a priority for farmers. A new approach making heavy use of drones and artificial intelligence demonstrably improves this estimation by carefully and accurately analyzing individual crops to assess their likely growth characteristics. Some optimistic science fiction stories talk about a post-scarcity future, where human needs are catered for and hard labor ...

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Technology4 Oct 2023

A prehistoric cosmic airburst preceded the advent of agriculture in the Levant

Agriculture in Syria started with a bang 12,800 years ago as a fragmented comet slammed into the Earth’s atmosphere. The explosion and subsequent environmental changes forced hunter-gatherers in the prehistoric settlement of Abu Hureyra to adopt agricultural practices to boost their chances for survival. That’s the assertion made by an international group of scientists in one of four related research papers, all appearing in the journal Science Open: Airbursts and Cratering Impacts. The papers ...

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Technology3 Oct 2023

Project aims to develop all-in-one semiconductor that stores, processes data

A multi-institutional project led by a Penn State researcher is focused on developing an all-in-one semiconductor device that can both store data and perform computations. The project recently received $2 million in funding over three years as part of the new National Science Foundation Future of Semiconductors (FuSe) program, a $45.6 million investment to advance semiconductor technologies and manufacturing through 24 research and education projects across the United States. “The goal of ...

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Technology3 Oct 2023

Instant evolution: AI designs new robot from scratch in seconds

Inventor of xenobots unveils new advance toward artificial life New AI algorithm compresses billions of years of evolution into seconds The evolved robot has three legs and rear fins, something a human engineer would never devise Researcher: ‘Now anyone can watch evolution in action as AI generates better and better robot bodies in real time.’ A team led by Northwestern University researchers has developed the first artificial intelligence (AI) to date that can intelligently design robots from ...

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Technology3 Oct 2023

Carbon capture method plucks CO2 straight from the air

Even as the world slowly begins to decarbonize industrial processes, achieving lower concentrations of atmospheric carbon requires technologies that remove existing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere — rather than just prevent the creation of it. Typical carbon capture catches CO2 directly from the source of a carbon-intensive process. Ambient carbon capture, or “direct air capture” (DAC) on the other hand, can take carbon out of typical environmental conditions and serves as one weapon in the battle against climate change, particularly as reliance ...

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Technology3 Oct 2023

Aston University engineering graduate launches first AI powered grill

Graduate Suraj Sudera created an AI powered grill to cook the perfect steak. His love of engineering led him to create the device called Perfecta™ He founded Birmingham based start-up SEERGRILLS which applies AI and advanced technologies to improve cooking. An Aston University engineering graduate has created the world’s first AI powered grill. Suraj Sudera has created a cooking device called Perfecta™ which cooks the perfect steak in 90 seconds. Suraj graduated from Aston University in 2015 with a BEng in Mechanical Engineering and ...

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Technology3 Oct 2023

New study in JAMA: unnecessary ovary removal in girls decreased significantly with use of a risk-stratification algorithm

WILMINGTON, Del. (October 3, 2023) – Many children and adolescent girls diagnosed with an ovarian mass may be able to avoid ovary removal and its lifelong consequences with the use of a consensus-based risk stratification algorithm. Algorithm use helps doctors gauge the patient’s risk of a malignancy and guides preoperative decision making, according to a new multi-institutional study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Researchers at 11 U.S. children’s hospitals ...

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Technology3 Oct 2023

Optimizing continuous-variable functions with quantum annealing

Quantum annealing (QA) is a cutting-edge algorithm that leverages the unique properties of quantum computing to tackle complex combinatorial optimization problems (a class of mathematical problems dealing with discrete-variable functions). Quantum computers use the rules of quantum physics to solve such problems potentially faster than classical computers. In essence, they can explore multiple solutions to a problem simultaneously, giving them a significant speed advantage for certain tasks over classical computers. In particular, QA harnesses the phenomenon of “quantum ...

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Technology3 Oct 2023

Humans inherit artificial intelligence biases

New research by the psychologists Lucía Vicente and Helena Matute from Deusto University in Bilbao, Spain, provides evidence that people can inherit artificial intelligence biases (systematic errors in AI outputs) in their decisions. The astonishing results achieved by artificial intelligence systems, which can, for example, hold a conversation as a human does, have given this technology an image of high reliability. More and more professional fields are implementing AI-based tools to support the decision-making of specialists to minimise errors in their decisions. However, this technology is not without risks due to biases in AI results. ...

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Technology3 Oct 2023

Electronic sensor the size of a single molecule a potential game-changer

Australian researchers have developed a molecular-sized, more efficient version of a widely used electronic sensor, in a breakthrough that could bring widespread benefits. Piezoresistors are commonly used to detect vibrations in electronics and automobiles, such as in smart phones for counting steps, and for airbag deployment in cars. They are also used in medical devices such as implantable pressure sensors, as well as in aviation and space travel. In a nationwide initiative, researchers led by Dr Nadim Darwish from Curtin University, Professor Jeffrey ...

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Technology3 Oct 2023

Texas engineers land semiconductor grants through CHIPS Act-backed NSF program

A pair of Cockrell School research teams are part of a massive semiconductor grant program from the National Science Foundation that includes funds from industry leaders and the federal CHIPS Act. The projects are part of the NSF Future of Semiconductors (FuSe) program through a public-private partnership between NSF and four major tech companies: Ericsson, IBM, Intel and Samsung. FuSe aims to enable rapid progress in new semiconductor technologies and manufacturing as well as workforce development. Altogether, the program will support 24 research and ...

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Technology2 Oct 2023

DeepMB: a deep learning framework for high-quality optoacoustic imaging in real-time

Researchers at Helmholtz Munich and the Technical University of Munich have made significant progress in advancing high-resolution optoacoustic imaging for clinical use. Their innovative deep-learning framework, known as DeepMB, holds great promise for patients dealing with a range of illnesses, including breast cancer, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and inflammatory bowel disease. Their findings have been now published in Nature Machine Intelligence. In order to understand and detect diseases scientists and medical staff often rely on imaging methods such as ultrasound or X-ray. However, ...

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Technology2 Oct 2023

Tablet-based AI app measures multiple behavioral indicators to screen for autism

DURHAM, N.C. – Researchers at Duke University have demonstrated an app driven by AI that can run on a tablet to accurately screen for autism in children by measuring and weighing a variety of distinct behavioral indicators. Called SenseToKnow, the app delivers scores that evaluate the quality of the data analyzed, the confidence of its results and the probability that the child tested is on the autism spectrum. The results are fully interpretable, meaning that they spell out exactly which of the behavioral indicators led to its conclusions and why. This ability ...

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Technology2 Oct 2023

FAU Engineering study employs deep learning to explain extreme events

Identifying the underlying cause of extreme events such as floods, heavy downpours or tornados is immensely difficult and can take a concerted effort by scientists over several decades to arrive at feasible physical explanations. Extreme events cause significant deviation from expected behavior and can dictate the overall outcome for a number of scientific problems and practical situations. For example, practical scenarios where a fundamental understanding of extreme events can be of vital importance include rogue waves in the ocean that could endanger ships and offshore structures or increasingly ...

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Technology30 Sep 2023

Engineering researchers to study wireless communication and machine learning with NSF grant

A virtual reality (VR) game crashes. A robot rolls dangerously close to the edge of a cliff. An autonomous vehicle speeds toward a pedestrian. Without intelligent control happening every millisecond, accidents can occur. This control can mean applying the brake of an autonomous vehicle to save a life or creating a more user-friendly augmented reality experience. Two professors in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University are working to enhance and advance the future ...

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Technology29 Sep 2023

NPS team makes key breakthrough on path to electric aircraft propulsion

As an institution renowned for innovation efforts grounded in education and research, the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) has often been called upon to tackle some of the most difficult technological challenges facing the Navy and the nation. Such a challenge emerged in 2020, when NASA charged NPS and two other research teams with solving a critical barrier facing the development of electric aircraft propulsion (EAP): the creation of a circuit breaker that could support large electric platforms running on direct current (DC) electricity. Thanks to the efforts of a diverse team of faculty and students, as well as several Navy and academic research partners, NPS delivered ...

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Technology29 Sep 2023

Ghent University’s research team envisions a bright future with active machine learning in chemical engineering

Chemical engineering researchers have a powerful new tool at their disposal: active machine learning. In a recent perspective article published in Engineering, Kevin M. Van Geem’s research team at Ghent University explores the potential of active machine learning in revolutionizing the field of chemical engineering. By combining machine learning with the design of experiments, active machine learning promises to enhance the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of research, spanning all length scales of chemical engineering. Active machine learning algorithms ...

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Technology28 Sep 2023

Roundtable on ensuring ethical and equitable artificial intelligence and machine learning practices

The National Alliance against Disparities in Patient Health (NADPH) presents a Roundtable Discussion on the topic of embedding ethics and equity into artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) infrastructure. The expert panel discussion is published in the peer-reviewed journal Big Data. Click here to read the article now. Moderating the Roundtable Discussion is Malaika Simmons, MSHE, Chief Operating Officer of NADPH. The expert panelists include Rachele Hendricks-Sturrup, DHSc, Chief Data Governance Officer and Project Director, NADPH, Gabriella Waters, Director of Research and Operations, Center for Equitable AI and Machine Learning Systems, Director of the ...

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