Technology
press releases.

Technology26 Jun 2023

Breakthrough boosts quantum AI

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., June 26, 2023 — A groundbreaking theoretical proof shows that a technique called overparametrization enhances performance in quantum machine learning for applications that stymie classical computers. “We believe our results will be useful in using machine learning to learn the properties of quantum data, such as classifying different phases of matter in quantum materials research, which is very difficult on classical computers,” said Diego Garcia-Martin, a postdoctoral researcher ...

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Technology26 Jun 2023

Act now to prevent uncontrolled rise in carbon footprint of computational science, say Cambridge scientists

Cambridge scientists have set out principles for how computational science – which powers discoveries from unveiling the mysteries of the universe to developing treatments to fight cancer to improving our understanding of the human genome, but can have a substantial carbon footprint – can be made more environmentally sustainable. Writing in Nature Computational Science, researchers from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Cambridge argue that the scientific community needs to act now if it is to ...

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Technology26 Jun 2023

Overview of CO2 capture and electrolysis technology in molten salts: operational parameters and their effects

Carbon dioxide capture, storage, and utilization have been widely researched to achieve CO2 zero emission and resolve climate change issues. Molten salt electrolysis is one promising method to simultaneously capture and convert CO2 into valuable carbon materials and oxygen with high current efficiencies, to provide a promisingly positive cash flow. However, this method still requires investigation for future scale-up applications. A team of scientists reviews the molten salt CO2 electrolysis’s ...

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Technology26 Jun 2023

Researchers urge caution in gene editing early human embryos following findings that it could have unexpected and dangerous consequences Further research to refine gene editing technology is needed

Copenhagen, Denmark: Scientists have discovered that the cells of early human embryos are often unable to repair damage to their DNA. The researchers say that this has important implications for the proposed use of gene editing techniques to remove serious inherited diseases from embryos, as well as for IVF in general. Presenting the research to the 39th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) [1], Dr Nada Kubikova from the University of Oxford (UK), said: “Gene editing has the potential to correct defective genes, a process that usually involves first breaking and then ...

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Technology24 Jun 2023

Study explores the use of deep learning algorithm to detect occlusal caries

Alexandria, VA, USA – A diagnostic study on the detection of occlusal caries from a clinical photograph using a deep learning algorithm will be presented at the 101st General Session of the IADR, which will be held in conjunction with the 9th Meeting of the Latin American Region and the 12th World Congress on Preventive Dentistry on June 21-24, 2023, in Bogotá, Colombia. The Interactive Talk presentation, “Automated Detection of Occlusal Caries Using Deep Learning Algorithm,” will take place on Saturday, June 24 at 4:25 p.m. Colombia Time (UTC-05:00) during the “Prevalence ...

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Technology23 Jun 2023

New type of computer memory could greatly reduce energy use and improve performance

Researchers have developed a new design for computer memory that could both greatly improve performance and reduce the energy demands of internet and communications technologies, which are predicted to consume nearly a third of global electricity within the next ten years. The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, developed a device that processes data in a similar way as the synapses in the human brain. The devices are based on hafnium oxide, a material already used in the semiconductor industry, and tiny self-assembled barriers, which can be raised or lowered ...

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Technology23 Jun 2023

City buildings could blow air taxi future off course

The air taxi market is almost ready for take off, with companies such as Boeing, Hyundai, Airbus and Toyota building fleets to have commuters flitting through the sky. Europe and the US have both drafted new rules to pave the way for air taxis to begin operations within the decade, with Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to follow suit. Increasingly sophisticated studies over recent years, including a recent paper by RMIT University’s Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) Research Team, have measured how sudden wind gusts form around city buildings and destabilise aircraft. Lead researcher and aerospace engineer, Dr Abdulghani Mohamed, who’s ...

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Technology23 Jun 2023

Building the semiconductor workforce of the future

The University of Utah is one of thirteen founding partner members of the Northwest University Semiconductor Network, a partnership with and created by Micron Technology, Inc. whose goal is to help develop the next generation of the United States’ semiconductor industry’s workforce. Micron, one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies, made the announcement on Monday. In a press release the company stated the Northwest University Semiconductor Network will “drive foundational and emerging research to increase students’ ...

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Technology22 Jun 2023

The nose knows: Career Awardee developing bioinspired optical sniffer sensor

The human nose, which has around 6 million olfactory receptors, can distinguish between at least 1 trillion different odors. Dogs have about 300 million of these receptors, with some scientists estimating their sense of smell is up to 100,000 times more powerful than humans’. This allows dogs to detect the scent of dangerous materials like bombs and illicit substances, as well as medical conditions such as COVID-19 and Parkinson’s disease. University of Arizona assistant professor Judith Su is developing an optical nose “as sensitive as ...

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Technology22 Jun 2023

Bias in AI algorithms could be mitigated by implementing new checklist

In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS Digital Health: https://journals.plos.org/digitalhealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pdig.0000278 Article Title: Bias in artificial intelligence algorithms and recommendations for mitigation Author Countries: Jordan, United States, Canada Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work. END ...

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Technology22 Jun 2023

How might generative AI models distort human beliefs?

Generative AI models such as ChatGPT, DALL-E, and Midjourney all have features that may distort human beliefs through their transmission of false information and stereotyped biases, according to Celeste Kidd and Abeba Birhane. In this Perspective, they discuss how research on human psychology can explain why generative AI could be particularly powerful in distorting beliefs. The capabilities of generative AI have been exaggerated at this point, they suggest, leading to a belief that these models exceed human capabilities. People are predisposed to adopt the information of knowledgeable, confident agents like generative AI ...

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Technology22 Jun 2023

Generative AI models are encoding biases and negative stereotypes in their users

The likes of ChatGPT, Google’s Bard and Midjourney can also help spread incorrect, nonsensical information Marginalised groups are disproportionately affected Children are at particular risk In the space of a few months generative AI models, such as ChatGPT, Google’s Bard and Midjourney, have been adopted by more and more people in a variety of professional and personal ways. But growing research is underlining that they are encoding biases and negative stereotypes in their users, as well as mass generating and spreading seemingly accurate but nonsensical information. Worryingly, marginalised groups are disproportionately affected by the fabrication of this nonsensical information. In ...

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Technology22 Jun 2023

Argonne installs final components of Aurora supercomputer

The installation of Aurora’s 10,624th and final ​“blade” marked a major milestone for the highly anticipated exascale supercomputer at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory. After years of diligent work and planning, the system now contains all the hardware that will make it one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world when it is opened up for scientific research. Built by Intel and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Aurora will be theoretically capable ...

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Technology22 Jun 2023

AI could transform the way we understand emotion

An emotion recognition tool - developed by University of the West of Scotland (UWS) academics - could help people with neurodiverse conditions including autism. Traditionally, emotion recognition has been a challenging and complex area of study. However, with recent advancements in vision processing, and low-cost devices, such as wearable electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors, UWS academics have collaborated to harness the power of these technologies to create artificial intelligence (AI) which can accurately read emotion-related signals from brain and facial analysis. Professor Naeem Ramzan, ...

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Technology22 Jun 2023

Space tech to shrink as the limits of quantum physics are tested on Earth and beyond

A UK-wide consortium is developing technologies to use nanoparticles as state-of-the-art sensors on small, shoebox-sized satellites known as CubeSats. The Universities of Warwick, Swansea and Strathclyde have been awarded £250k to further research into nanoparticles and quantum physics in the application of space technology. Recent advances in the field of levitated optomechanics (the motion of tiny particles held and measured in free space by laser light), have shown that nanoparticles can exhibit behaviours that are governed by the laws of quantum mechanics (a fundamental theory which describes how atoms and subatomic particles interact). This has led to nanoparticles, which are ...

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Technology21 Jun 2023

Inside-out heating and ambient wind could make direct air capture cheaper and more efficient

What started as a simple errand to deposit a check at a bank drive-through became the kind of “aha” moment found mostly in books and movies. Georgia Tech researchers had been working on an idea to simplify traditional direct air capture (DAC) systems. Their approach used ambient wind flow to draw air across a new kind of coated carbon fiber to grab CO2. That would eliminate the loud fans used in many systems. And the carbon fiber strands could be quickly heated to release the captured carbon dioxide with ...

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Technology21 Jun 2023

Hastings Center partners on AI project led by national academies

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) is partnering with a group of leading health, bioethics, equity, tech, patient advocacy, and research organizations, including The Hastings Center, to develop an Artificial Intelligence Code of Conduct (AICC). Dr. Vardit Ravitsky, incoming president of The Hastings Center, who will serve on the steering committee, said, “we must urgently develop guidance for the ethical use of AI – perhaps the most transformative technology of our generation.” ...

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Technology21 Jun 2023

Combining twistronics with spintronics could be the next giant leap in quantum electronics

Twistronics isn’t a new dance move, exercise equipment, or new music fad. No, it’s much cooler than any of that. It is an exciting new development in quantum physics and material science where van der Waals materials are stacked on top of each other in layers, like sheets of paper in a ream that can easily twist and rotate while remaining flat, and quantum physicists have used these stacks to discover intriguing quantum phenomena. Adding the concept of quantum spin with twisted double bilayers of an antiferromagnet, it is possible to have tunable moiré magnetism. This suggests a new class of material platform for the next step in twistronics: ...

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Technology21 Jun 2023

Wearable monitor detects stress hormone levels across a full 24-hour day

Early warning signs of diseases caused by dysfunctional levels of stress hormones could be spotted more easily thanks to a new wearable device developed by endocrine researchers. This is the first time it has been possible to measure changes to people’s stress hormones as they go about normal daily activities, across both day and night. The new collaborative research led by the University of Bristol, University of Birmingham and University of Bergen has the potential to revolutionise how diseases of the stress hormone system are diagnosed and treated. The technology, ...

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Technology21 Jun 2023

Monarchs’ white spots aid migration

If you’ve ever wondered how the monarch butterfly got its spots, University of Georgia researchers may have just found the answer. The new study suggests that the butterflies with more white spots are more successful at reaching their long-distance wintering destination. Although it’s not yet clear how the spots aid the species’ migration, it’s possible that the spots change airflow patterns around their wings. “We undertook this project to learn how such a small animal can make such a successful ...

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Technology21 Jun 2023

Quantum interference can protect and enhance photoexcitation

When a photon interacts with a material, an interaction occurs that causes its atoms to change their quantum state (a description of the physical properties of nature at the atomic level). The resulting state is called, aptly, photoexcitation. These photoexcitations are conventionally assumed to kill one another when they come near each other, radically limiting their density and mobility. This in turn limits how efficient tools that rely on photoexcitation such as solar cells and light-emitting devices can be. But in a study published June 19 in the journal Nature Chemistry, scientists at Northwestern University and Purdue University challenge this assumption ...

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Technology21 Jun 2023

New microcomb device advances photonic technology

A new tool for generating microwave signals could help propel advances in wireless communication, imaging, atomic clocks, and more. Frequency combs are photonic devices that produce many equally spaced laser lines, each locked to a specific frequency to produce a comb-like structure. They can be used to generate high-frequency, stable microwave signals and scientists have been attempting to miniaturize the approach so they can be used on microchips. Scientists have been limited in their abilities to tune these microcombs at a rate to make them effective. But a team of researchers ...

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Technology21 Jun 2023

Now, every biologist can use machine learning

By Lindsay Brownell (BOSTON) — The amount of data generated by scientists today is massive, thanks to the falling costs of sequencing technology and the increasing amount of available computing power. But parsing through all that data to uncover useful information is like searching for a molecular needle in a haystack. Machine learning (ML) and other artificial intelligence (AI) tools can dramatically speed up the process of data analysis, but most ML tools are difficult for non-ML experts to access and use. Recently, automated machine learning (AutoML) methods have been developed that can automate the design and deployment ...

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Technology21 Jun 2023

Equity in computer science impossible without review of curriculum, say researchers

England’s girls and other underrepresented groups are at risk of being failed by the current computing curriculum, which excludes their interests, according to new research published recently. A study by University of Reading, in partnership with Kings College London, published in the International Journal of Science Education, found the current school system creates a gender imbalance in computer science that is reflected in the workplace. The solution, they say, could ...

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Technology20 Jun 2023

Electing progressives with patriotism, family, and tradition

Economically progressive candidates may fare better in US elections when delivering their message in terms of “binding values” such as patriotism, family, and respect for tradition, according to a study. Although large majorities of Americans favor increasing economic equality in the United States, candidates who promote policies intended to reduce economic inequality, such as raising the minimum wage or increasing access to health care, often fare poorly at the ballot box. One reason for their under-performance may ...

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