Technology
press releases.

Technology23 Sep 2025

Study warns pest resistance threatens corn industry's newest biotech defense

Corn rootworms, pests responsible for billions of dollars in yearly crop losses, are evolving resistance that weakens even the latest biotechnology controls, according to a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Drawing on decades of data across multiple states, University of Arizona entomologists found that field-evolved resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, is undermining the effectiveness of corn that targets rootworms with the combination of Bt and RNA interference, or RNAi, a new biotech control that turns the rootworms' own genetic instructions against them. The research ...

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Technology23 Sep 2025

Ethical robots and AI take center stage with support from National Science Foundation grant

Ethical robots and AI take center stage with support from National Science Foundation grant September 15, 2025 — Virginia Tech researchers received a grant worth more than $500,000 from the National Science Foundation to expand robot theater, an after-school program that helps children explore robotics through performance-based learning. In a world where human-robot interaction is constantly evolving, grade school children gain firsthand experience collaborating with robots using art as a medium. They spend ...

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Technology23 Sep 2025

Yiechang Lin and Kai Sheng to receive 2026 Outstanding Doctoral Research in Biophysics Award

BETHESDA, MD – The Biophysical Society is pleased to announce that Yiechang Lin, of Australian National University, Australia and Kai Sheng, of Scripps Research, USA, have been named recipients of the 2026 Outstanding Doctoral Research in Biophysics Award. Lin and Sheng will be honored at the Society’s 70th Annual Meeting, being held in San Francisco, California from February 21-25, 2026. Lin will be recognized for advancing our understanding of how lipid-protein interactions affect function and Sheng will be recognized for pioneering new approaches to elucidate the mechanism of bacterial ribosome ...

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Technology23 Sep 2025

Wijesekera receives funding for operational technology digital twin & scanning support

Duminda Wijesekera, Professor, Cyber Security Engineering, College of Engineering and Computing (CEC), received funding for: “Operational Technology Digital Twin and Scanning Support.” He will develop two simultaneous strands of work, that will be merged at the end: Conduct LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) mapping of a Steel Plant and specifically high-temperate Infrared ovens used for powder-coating on steel sheets that pass through the mill at high speed; and Develop a digital twin of the factory. Additionally, he will coordinate with Datalytica’s modeling team to optimize camera placement ...

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Technology23 Sep 2025

FAU engineers develop smarter AI to redefine control in complex systems

A new artificial intelligence breakthrough developed by researchers in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Florida Atlantic University offers a smarter, more efficient way to manage complex systems that rely on multiple decision-makers operating at different levels of authority. This novel framework, recently published in IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics: Systems, could significantly impact the future of smart energy grids, traffic networks and autonomous vehicle systems – technologies that are becoming increasingly central to daily life. In many real-world systems, decisions ...

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Technology22 Sep 2025

EPB Quantum℠ adds hybrid computing to comprehensive quantum development platform

Key Points This effort leverages historical industrial partnerships between ORNL and NVIDIA, EPB and IonQ, which represent a combined 30-plus years of cutting-edge R&D in both the quantum and classical computing spaces. ORNL’s computing strategy emphasizes hybrid high-performance computing and includes a future of CPUs, GPUs, QPUs and other technologies to solve different aspects of challenging computer problems. Hybrid computing has the potential to solve some of the most pressing challenges facing American industries, and ORNL is excited to bring its ...

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Technology22 Sep 2025

Heatwaves in US rivers increasing up to four times faster than air heatwaves

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As the frequency and intensity of heatwaves increase across the U.S., a similar but more striking phenomenon is occurring in American rivers. Analysis of data from nearly 1,500 sites in the contiguous United States between 1980 and 2022 revealed that heatwaves in rivers are accelerating faster than and lasting nearly twice as long air heatwaves, according to a new study by researchers at Penn State. “Rivers are often thought of as safe and cool havens protected from extreme temperatures,” said Li ...

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Technology22 Sep 2025

New tool makes generative AI models more likely to create breakthrough materials

The artificial intelligence models that turn text into images are also useful for generating new materials. Over the last few years, generative materials models from companies like Google, Microsoft, and Meta have drawn on their training data to help researchers design tens of millions of new materials. But when it comes to designing materials with exotic quantum properties like superconductivity or unique magnetic states, those models struggle. That’s too bad, because humans could use the help. For example, after a decade of research into a class of materials that could revolutionize quantum computing, called quantum spin liquids, only a dozen material candidates have ...

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Technology22 Sep 2025

Study shows UV light can disable airborne allergens within 30 minutes

Cats. Dust mites. Mold. Trees. For people with allergies, even a brief whiff of the airborne allergens these organisms produce can lead to swollen eyes, itchy skin and impaired breathing. Such allergens can persist indoors for months after the original source is gone, and repeated exposure can exacerbate, and even lead to, asthma. What if you could just flip a switch and disable them? You can, according to new University of Colorado Boulder research. “We have found that we can use a passive, generally safe ultraviolet light treatment to quickly inactivate airborne allergens,” said ...

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Technology19 Sep 2025

Quantum chemistry: Making key simulation approach more accurate

Graphic of electron properties around lithium hydride A new trick for modeling molecules with quantum accuracy takes a step toward revealing the equation at the center of a popular simulation approach, which is used in fundamental chemistry and materials science studies. The effort to understand materials and chemical reactions eats up roughly a third of national lab supercomputer time in the U.S. The gold standard for accuracy is the quantum many-body problem, which can tell you what's happening at the level of individual electrons. This is the key to chemical ...

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Technology19 Sep 2025

Hertz Foundation Entrepreneurship Award goes to Vivek Nair for AI cybersecurity startup

Hertz Fellow Vivek Nair thinks that traditional cybersecurity approaches don’t cut it when it comes to the world of rapidly advancing AI systems. His startup company, Multifactor, aims to provide new security solutions that are designed from the ground up to protect consumers and businesses from AI-related data breaches. Nair has now won funds from the Hertz Foundation via the Harold Newman and David Galas Entrepreneurial Initiative, which will be used to support the development of multiple new cybersecurity products aimed at both companies and individual ...

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Technology19 Sep 2025

The self-taught seismologist: Monitoring earthquakes from optic fibers with AI

Seismology is undergoing significant change with the rise of Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), a fast-growing technology that leverages existing fiber-optic cables—including those used for the Internet—into ultra-dense seismic networks with meter-scale sensor spacing. DAS provides a scalable and cost-effective way to monitor earthquakes from local to global scales, but it also poses a pressing challenge: the massive volume of data produced outpaces human capacity to analyze. For example, ...

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Technology19 Sep 2025

Quantum scars boost electron transport and drive the development of microchips

Quantum physics often reveals phenomena that defy common sense. A new theory of quantum scarring deepens our understanding of the connection between the quantum world and classical mechanics, sheds light on earlier findings and marks a step forward towards future technological applications. Quantum mechanics describes the behaviour of matter and energy at microscopic scales, where randomness seems to prevail. Yet even within seemingly chaotic systems, hidden order may lie beneath the surface. Quantum scars are one such example: they are regions where electrons prefer to travel along ...

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Technology19 Sep 2025

AI model offers accurate and explainable insights to support autism assessment

Scientists have developed and tested a deep-learning model that could support clinicians by providing accurate results and clear, explainable insights – including a model-estimated probability score for autism. The model, outlined in a study published in eClinicalMedicine (a journal from The Lancet), was used to analyse resting-state fMRI data – a non-invasive method that indirectly reflects brain activity via blood-oxygenation changes. In doing so, the model achieved up to 98% cross-validated accuracy for Autism Spectrum ...

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Technology18 Sep 2025

Chicago Quantum Exchange-led coalition advances to final round in NSF Engine competition

A Chicago Quantum Exchange–led coalition focused on leveraging cutting-edge quantum technology to protect the nation’s most sensitive information from cyber attacks has advanced to the final stage of the National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) program, the NSF announced Thursday afternoon. If funded, Quantum Connected, a Midwest-based coalition of academic, industry, nonprofit, and government partners, will build critically needed quantum-based cyber security. It is one of 15 teams who will pitch the NSF on different projects. Winners, anticipated to be announced in early 2026, could receive as much as $160 million ...

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Technology18 Sep 2025

“Quantum squeezing” a nanoscale particle for the first time

Researchers Mitsuyoshi Kamba, Naoki Hara, and Kiyotaka Aikawa of the University of Tokyo have successfully demonstrated quantum squeezing of the motion of a nanoscale particle, a motion whose uncertainty is smaller than that of quantum mechanical fluctuations. As enhancing the measurement precision of sensors is vital in many modern technologies, the achievement paves the way not only for basic research in fundamental physics but also for applications such as accurate autonomous driving and navigation without a GPS signal. The findings were published in the journal Science. The physical ...

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Technology18 Sep 2025

‘Like talking on the telephone’: Quantum computing engineers get atoms chatting long distance

UNSW engineers have made a significant advance in quantum computing: they created ‘quantum entangled states’ – where two separate particles become so deeply linked they no longer behave independently – using the spins of two atomic nuclei. Such states of entanglement are the key resource that gives quantum computers their edge over conventional ones. The research was published today in the journal Science, and is an important step towards building large-scale quantum computers – one of the most exciting scientific and technological ...

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Technology18 Sep 2025

Flexible optical touch sensor simultaneously pinpoints pressure strength and location

WASHINGTON — Researchers have developed a flexible optical touch sensor that can simultaneously detect the strength and location of pressure with high sensitivity and stability. The advance in tactile sensing paves the way for next-generation robotic touch interfaces, advanced medical diagnostics and highly responsive wearable electronics. “Unlike conventional optical tactile sensors, which tend to have a single input-output path, our sensor design achieves multiple optical channels by embedding polymer ...

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Technology18 Sep 2025

PolyU scholars pioneer smart and sustainable personal cooling technologies to address global extreme heat

Global warming poses a growing threat to human health and work performance. Currently, about 3.6 billion people worldwide live in areas highly susceptible to climate change. From 2000 to 2019, more than 480,000 heat-related deaths occurred globally each year. Extreme heat also impairs focus and productivity and worsens mood by elevating stress hormones and disrupting sleep. In response to the increasing frequency of heat waves, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) scholars are developing next-generation personal cooling solutions that push the limits of conventional clothing and promote ...

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Technology17 Sep 2025

Engineers uncover why tiny particles form clusters in turbulent air

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Tiny solid particles – like pollutants, cloud droplets and medicine powders – form highly concentrated clusters in turbulent environments like smokestacks, clouds and pharmaceutical mixers. What causes these extreme clusters – which make it more difficult to predict everything from the spread of wildfire smoke to finding the right combination of ingredients for more effective drugs – has puzzled scientists. A new University at Buffalo study, published Sept. 19 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, ...

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Technology17 Sep 2025

Delegation to Artificial Intelligence can increase dishonest behavior

When do people behave badly? Extensive research in behavioral science has shown that people are more likely to act dishonestly when they can distance themselves from the consequences. It's easier to bend or break the rules when no one is watching—or when someone else carries out the act. A new paper from an international team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, the University of Duisburg-Essen, and the Toulouse School of Economics shows that these moral brakes weaken even further when people delegate tasks to AI. Across 13 studies involving more than ...

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Technology17 Sep 2025

SwRI, UT San Antonio will test technology designed to support extended space missions to Moon, Mars

SAN ANTONIO —September 17, 2025 — Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio) will flight test novel electrolyzer technology to better understand chemical processes associated with bubble formation in low gravity. Designed to solve future space mission challenges, the project, led by SwRI’s Kevin Supak and UT San Antonio’s Dr. Shrihari Sankarasubramanian, is supported by a $125,000 grant from the Connecting through Research Partnerships (Connect) program, ...

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Technology17 Sep 2025

Hot flashes can be reliably predicted by an ai-driven algorithm developed by UMass Amherst and Embr Labs

AMHERST, Mass. — University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers and scientists at Embr Labs, a Boston-based start-up, have developed an AI-driven algorithm that can accurately predict nearly 70% of hot flashes before they’re perceived. The work, featured in the journal Psychophysiology, will be incorporated into the Embr Wave, a wearable wrist device clinically proven to manage hot flashes. In the U.S. alone, an estimated 1.3 million women transition into menopause annually, and 80% of women experience hot flashes — sudden feelings of intense heat, often radiating in the upper body. Most hot flashes occur during this transition, ...

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Technology17 Sep 2025

Room-temperature terahertz device opens door to 6G networks

In a world first, researchers at Nagoya University in Japan have successfully developed a resonant tunnel diode (RTD) that operates at room temperature made entirely from Group IV semiconductor materials. The development of an RTD that operates at room temperature means the device could be deployed at scale for next-generation wireless communication systems. The use of only non-toxic Group IV semiconductor materials also supports more sustainable manufacturing processes. This research marks a pivotal step toward terahertz wireless components that deliver unprecedented speed and data handling capacity with superior energy efficiency. “Compared ...

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Technology16 Sep 2025

Holocaust testimony is AI litmus test, and it fails

ITHACA, N.Y. — As academics increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence (AI) for research and analysis, its inability to capture the emotional and ethical depth of witness testimony risks reshaping how history is recorded and understood, a Cornell historian warns. When Jan Burzlaff, a postdoctoral associate in the Jewish Studies Program and an expert on Nazi Germany, asked ChatGPT to summarize the testimony of Luisa D., a seven-year-old Holocaust survivor, the large language model omitted a harrowing detail: her mother had cut her own finger to feed her dying child drops of blood — ...

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