Technology
press releases.

Technology13 Sep 2023

UNIST, DGIST, and POSTECH consortium selected for 2023 ITRC Project in ‘Quantum ICT’ sector!

The consortium, comprising of UNIST, DGIST, and POSTECH has been chosen for the esteemed 2023 University ICT Research Center Project (ITRC) by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT). This prestigious selection recognizes their expertise in the ‘Quantum Information and Communication Technologies‘ sector. The consortium aims to develop advanced quantum technologies while nurturing exceptional master’s and doctorate-level talents. With a total funding amounting to 8.25 billion won—7.5 billion won from government subsidies—the project spans eight years. The kick-off meeting held at UNIST on August ...

Read the release

Technology13 Sep 2023

WVU engineers study how to pull carbon out of building air to make methanol

Researchers at West Virginia University have taken the first steps toward developing technology that can capture carbon dioxide in the air and use it for eco-friendly manufacturing of methanol. The process they have begun modeling — which involves pulling air from buildings — could increase the sustainable supply of methanol, one of the world’s most extensively used raw materials, while removing a planet-warming greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. Project lead Xingbo Liu, who serves as professor, associate dean for research and chair of engineering ...

Read the release

Technology13 Sep 2023

Statement from the European Respiratory Society on results of the European Parliament vote on revision of the Ambient Air Quality Directive

Professor Zorana Jovanovic Andersen, Chair of the European Respiratory Society’s Environment and Health Committee and based at the University of Copenhagen, said: “Today’s vote by the European Parliament to strengthen the legally binding limit values for air quality is an important step in the right direction toward clean air for all, even though the full alignment with World Health Organization was moved from 2030 to 2035. As we prepare for the negotiations with the Council, this is great news for all European citizens, especially the millions who live ...

Read the release

Technology13 Sep 2023

World-first AI foundation model for eye care to supercharge global efforts to prevent blindness

Researchers at Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system that has the potential to not only identify sight-threatening eye diseases but also predict general health, including heart attacks, stroke, and Parkinson’s disease. RETFound, one of the first AI foundation models in healthcare, and the first in ophthalmology, was developed using millions of eye scans from the NHS. The research team are making the system open-source: freely available to use by any institution worldwide, to act as a cornerstone for global efforts to detect and treat blindness using AI. ...

Read the release

Technology13 Sep 2023

Building the first-ever digital twin of the bladder

Men ages 50 to 60 have an 80 percent chance of having some degree of bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) due to an enlarged prostate – which causes multiple symptoms that can impact their lives physically and psychologically. The bladder, an incredibly complex organ, has its own electrical system and can change its constituents and geometry through a growth and remodeling process. However, in bladders with BOO, the urethral resistance increases and forces the muscle cells within the bladder to generate larger pressures to void. Over time, the bladder adapts with a growth and remodeling response that causes changes in bladder size, tissue composition, ...

Read the release

Technology12 Sep 2023

University of Alberta to offer pioneering AI education to all undergraduate students

The University of Alberta (U of A), a globally recognized leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning, along with Amii (Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute), are breaking new ground with the launch of "Artificial Intelligence Everywhere," a new online introductory course accessible to all U of A undergraduates. The course is the cornerstone for an in-development AI certification, which will be one of the first in Canada. The course equips students across all disciplines with essential AI literacy skills. With AI permeating sectors from health care to finance, this initiative bridges the AI skills ...

Read the release

Technology12 Sep 2023

FAIRer knowledge about biodiversity with AI-friendly nanopublications

Earlier this year, in a pilot project, the teams of high-tech startup Knowledge Pixels and open-access scholarly publisher and technology provider Pensoft released a novel workflow to publicly share and future-proof scientific findings by means of nanopublications. Nanopublications complement human-created narratives of scientific knowledge with elementary, machine-actionable, simple and straightforward scientific statements that prompt sharing, finding, accessibility, citability and interoperability. By making it easier to trace individual findings back to their origin and/or follow-up updates, it also helps to better understand the provenance of biodiversity ...

Read the release

Technology12 Sep 2023

Integrated design fabrication and control of a bioinspired multimaterial soft robotic hand

A research paper by scientists at the University of Coimbra proposed a soft robotic hand that composed of soft actuator cores and an exoskeleton, featuring a multimaterial design aided by finite element analysis to define the hand geometry and promote finger’s bendability. The new research paper, published on Aug. 8 in the journal Cyborg and Bionic Systems, presented the development, fabrication, and control of a bioinspired soft robotic hand and demonstrated finite element analysis can serve as a valuable tool to support the design and control of the hand’s fingers. “Recent research led to impactful achievements in functional designs, modeling, ...

Read the release

Technology12 Sep 2023

New photonic neural networks promise ultrafast computing for complex tasks

Photonic neural network systems, which are fast and energy efficient, are especially helpful for dealing with large amounts of data. To advance photonic brain-like computing technologies, a group of researchers at the University of Strathclyde combined a spike-based neural network with a semiconductor laser that exhibits spiking neuronal behaviors. Recently, they presented high-performance photonic spiking neural network operation with lower training requirements and introduced a novel training scheme for getting better results. This research was published Aug. 29 in Intelligent Computing, a Science Partner Journal. Neural ...

Read the release

Technology12 Sep 2023

Mount Sinai researchers develop novel, automated measure of sleep studies to determine severity of obstructive sleep apnea

Mount Sinai researchers have developed a novel, automated measure of analyzing sleep studies to determine the severity and risk of mortality in patients with obstructive sleep apnea, a chronic sleep disorder that affects about 30 million people in the United States. The study findings, which provide a validated tool to better manage sleep apnea and promote preventive care, were published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine on September 12. The Mount Sinai Sleep and Circadian Analysis (SCAN) Group developed an automated breath-by-breath measure called ventilatory burden that assesses the proportion of small breaths during a routine sleep study. This ...

Read the release

Technology12 Sep 2023

New MRI technology: a non-invasive look at iron balance

Research team led by Shir Filo and Prof. Aviv Mezer of the Safra Center for Brain Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (ELSC) and Dr. Tal Shahar currently, Director of the Neurosurgical Oncology Unit at the Neurosurgery Department, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, have unveiled a groundbreaking magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology that promises to revolutionize our understanding of iron homeostasis in the human brain. Their research, demonstrates the ability to non-invasively assess different molecular iron environments within the brain, shedding light on its vital role in normal brain function, aging, neurodegenerative ...

Read the release

Technology12 Sep 2023

Hot summer air turns into drinking water with new gel device

For significant portions of the globe faced with water shortage problems, a beacon of hope may be on the way: the ability to easily turn hot air into drinking water. For the past few years, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have focused on the moisture present in the air as a potential source of drinking water for drought-stressed populations. In new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they reached a significant breakthrough in their efforts to ...

Read the release

Technology11 Sep 2023

Not too big: Machine learning tames huge data sets

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Sept. 11, 2023 — A machine-learning algorithm demonstrated the capability to process data that exceeds a computer’s available memory by identifying a massive data set’s key features and dividing them into manageable batches that don’t choke computer hardware. Developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the algorithm set a world record for factorizing huge data sets during a test run on Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Summit, the world’s fifth-fastest supercomputer. Equally efficient on laptops and supercomputers, ...

Read the release

Technology11 Sep 2023

Atmospheric scientists reveal much of Houston’s ozone exceedance due to air flows from the north

University of Houston atmospheric science researchers have found that while local emissions play a role in the rise of ozone levels in Houston, most of the pollutants can be carried in from other regions across the country, leading to excess ozone pollution. Their findings offer insights into strategies to mitigate future ozone pollution for the region. The research team focused on two ozone episodes in September 2021 (Sept. 6 – 11 and Sept. 23 – 26). The month of September is the typical annual ozone peak due to high temperatures, lack of rain and air circulation patterns that transport polluted air from the north. Their analysis revealed that roughly 63% of the excess ...

Read the release

Technology11 Sep 2023

Paper: Air pollution via wildfire smoke increases suicide risk in rural counties

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Air pollution poses well-established risks to physical health, but an emerging body of research says that it may also have adverse effects on mental health. New research co-written by a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign economist examining the relationship between air pollution via drifting wildfire smoke exposure and suicide risk found large-scale evidence that air pollution disproportionately elevates the risk of suicide among rural populations in the U.S. Each 10% increase in airborne particulate matter in rural counties causes monthly suicide rates ...

Read the release

Technology11 Sep 2023

Ecology and artificial intelligence: stronger together

Many of today’s artificial intelligence systems loosely mimic the human brain. In a new paper, researchers suggest that another branch of biology — ecology — could inspire a whole new generation of AI to be more powerful, resilient, and socially responsible. Published September 11 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the paper argues for a synergy between AI and ecology that could both strengthen AI and help to solve complex global challenges, such as disease outbreaks, loss of biodiversity, and climate change ...

Read the release

Technology11 Sep 2023

AI can help write a message to a friend – but don’t do it

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Using artificial intelligence applications to help craft a message to a friend is not a good idea – at least if your friend finds out about the use of AI, a new study suggests. Researchers found that people in the study perceived that a fictional friend who used AI assistance to write them a message didn’t put forth as much effort as a friend who wrote a message themselves. That perception may be understandable, but the effect goes beyond the message itself, said Bingjie Liu, lead author of the study and assistant professor of communication at The Ohio State University. “After ...

Read the release

Technology11 Sep 2023

Waterloo researchers make a significant step towards reliably processing quantum information

Using laser light, researchers have developed the most robust method currently known to control individual qubits made of the chemical element barium. The ability to reliably control a qubit is an important achievement for realizing future functional quantum computers. This new method, developed at the University of Waterloo’s Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC), uses a small glass waveguide to separate laser beams and focus them four microns apart, about four-hundredths of the width of a single human hair. The precision and extent to which each focused laser beam on its target qubit can be controlled in parallel ...

Read the release

Technology8 Sep 2023

Rice helps lead national quantum computing research efforts

HOUSTON – (Sept. 8, 2023) A team of Rice University researchers have won a 4-year, $1.2 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) to evaluate the strengths and limitations of different physical systems used to build quantum computers. Nai-Hui Chia, Kaden Hazzard and Kevin Slagle will use theory, numerical simulations and quantum hardware-run algorithms to provide a framework for comparing the viability and computational potential of different approaches to building quantum computers to help achieve near-term advances in quantum computing. Their project is one of six selected by the DOE “to improve our understanding of whether, when and how quantum ...

Read the release

Technology8 Sep 2023

New program to connect entrepreneurs with national laboratory-developed technologies

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has launched a new entrepreneurial start-up program, Safari, as an addition to the Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions Practices to Accelerate the Commercialization of Technologies, or PACT, program. Safari seeks to connect post-exit entrepreneurs with commercially relevant technologies developed by world-leading scientific experts, which could provide the basis for a new business. A post-exit or serial entrepreneur has established and sold at least one company. “An experienced entrepreneur is likely to succeed in subsequent business ventures,” said Jennifer ...

Read the release

Technology8 Sep 2023

Refining biome labeling for microbial community samples: AI approach unravels hidden

In a groundbreaking study published on July 26, 2023, in the journal Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, researchers from Huazhong University of Science and Technology have introduced "Meta-Sorter," an AI-based method that leverages neural networks and transfer learning to significantly improve biome labeling for thousands of microbiome samples in the MGnify database, especially those with incomplete information. The Meta-Sorter approach comprises two crucial steps. Firstly, a neural network model is meticulously constructed using 118,592 microbial samples from 134 biomes and their respective biome ontology, boasting an impressive average ...

Read the release

Technology8 Sep 2023

Artificial Intelligence: a step change in climate modelling predictions for climate adaptation

As of today, climate models face the challenge of providing the high-resolution predictions - with quantified uncertainties - needed by a growing number of adaptation planners, from local decision-makers to the private sector, who require detailed assessments of the climate risks they may face locally. This calls for a step change in the accuracy and usability of climate predictions that, according to the authors of the paper “Harnessing AI and computing to advance climate modelling and prediction”, can ...

Read the release

Technology8 Sep 2023

Bees struggle to find flowers because of air pollution

A new study has found that air pollution is preventing pollinators finding flowers because it degrades the scent. A research team comprising the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and the Universities of Birmingham, Reading, Surrey and Southern Queensland, found that ozone substantially changes the size and scent of floral odour plumes given off by flowers, and that it reduced honeybees' ability to recognise odours by up to 90% from just a few metres away. Ground-level ozone typically forms when nitrogen oxide emissions from vehicles and industrial processes react with volatile organic compounds emitted from vegetation ...

Read the release

Technology8 Sep 2023

Artificial intelligence could help build pollen jigsaw of present and ancient flora

An emerging system which combines rapid imaging with artificial intelligence could help scientists build a comprehensive picture of present and historic environmental change – by swiftly and accurately analysing pollen. Pollen grains from different plant species are unique and identifiable based on their shape. Analysing which pollen grains are captured in samples such as sediment cores from lakes helps scientists understand which plants were thriving at any given point in history, potentially dating back thousands to millions of years. Up to now, scientists have manually ...

Read the release

Technology8 Sep 2023

Mums exposed to air pollution give birth to smaller babies, but living in a greener area may mitigate the risks

Milan, Italy: Women exposed to air pollution give birth to smaller babies, according to research that will be presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Milan, Italy [1]. The research also shows that women living in greener areas give birth to bigger babies and this may help counteract the effects of pollution. There is a strong relationship between birthweight and lung health, with low birthweight children facing a higher risk of asthma and higher rates of chronic obstructive ...

Read the release