Technology
press releases.

Technology19 Feb 2025

AI in retail: how to spark creativity and improve job satisfaction

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping workplaces by streamlining routine tasks and boosting efficiency, particularly in retail, where innovation is essential for maintaining a competitive edge. Beyond automation, AI supports employee creativity by offering valuable insights and allowing them to focus on innovative tasks. However, research is limited on how AI service quality impacts employees in retail industries, making this an important area to explore. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University and Hanyang University in Seoul, South Korea, examined how perceived AI service quality influences retail employees’ ...

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Technology19 Feb 2025

Magnetic semiconductor preserves 2D quantum properties in 3D material

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — There is a big problem with quantum technology — it’s tiny. The distinctive properties that exist at the subatomic scale usually disappear at macroscopic scales, making it difficult to harness their superior sensing and communication capabilities for real-world applications, like optical systems and advanced computing. Now, however, an international team led by physicists at Penn State and Columbia University has developed a novel approach to maintain special quantum characteristics, even in three-dimensional (3D) materials. The researchers published ...

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Technology19 Feb 2025

Magnetic switch traps quantum information carriers in one dimension

Illustration A quantum "miracle material" could support magnetic switching, a team of researchers at the University of Regensburg and University of Michigan has shown. This recently discovered capability could help enable applications in quantum computing, sensing and more. While earlier studies identified that quantum entities called excitons are sometimes effectively confined to a single line within the material chromium sulfide bromide, the new research provides a ...

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Technology18 Feb 2025

New nanoscale technique unlocks quantum material secrets

Scientists are racing to develop new materials for quantum technologies in computing and sensing for ultraprecise measurements. For these future technologies to transition from the laboratory to real-world applications, a much deeper understanding is needed of the behavior near surfaces, especially those at interfaces between materials. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have unveiled a new technique that could help advance the development of quantum technology. Their innovation, surface-sensitive spintronic terahertz spectroscopy (SSTS), provides an unprecedented look at how quantum ...

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Technology18 Feb 2025

Researchers develop AI model to automatically segment MRI images

OAK BROOK, Ill. – Research scientists in Switzerland have developed and tested a robust AI model that automatically segments major anatomic structures in MRI images, independent of sequence, according to a new study published today in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). In the study, the model outperformed other publicly available tools. MRI provides detailed images of the human body and is essential for diagnosing various medical conditions, from neurological disorders to musculoskeletal injuries. For in-depth interpretation of MRI images, the organs, muscles and bones in the images are outlined ...

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Technology14 Feb 2025

New technology enhances gravitational-wave detection

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- In a paper published earlier this month in Physical Review Letters, a team of physicists led by Jonathan Richardson of the University of California, Riverside, showcases how new optical technology can extend the detection range of gravitational-wave observatories such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, and pave the way for future observatories. Since 2015, observatories like LIGO have opened a new window on the universe. Plans for future upgrades to the 4-kilometer LIGO detectors and the construction of a next-generation 40-kilometer observatory, Cosmic Explorer, aim to push the gravitational-wave ...

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Technology14 Feb 2025

Scientists use distant sensor to monitor American Samoa earthquake swarm

In late July to October 2022, residents of the Manu’a Islands in American Samoa felt the earth shake several times a day, raising concerns of an imminent volcanic eruption or tsunami. An earthquake catalog for the area turned up nothing, because the islands lacked a seismic monitoring network that could measure the shaking and aid seismologists in their search for the source of the earthquake swarm. But the residents of the Taʻū, Ofu, and Olosega islands needed answers, so Clara Yoon of the ...

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Technology14 Feb 2025

INSEAD webinar on the dual race to AI & global leadership

Digital@INSEAD is hosting a free TECH TALK X webinar “The Dual Race to AI & Global Leadership” on Wednesday, 19 February 2025 7.00 am ET / 1.00 pm CET (Duration: 60 min). The TECH TALK will be featuring a discussion between Tim Gordon (MBA’00D), Partner, Best Practice AI and Theos Evgeniou, INSEAD Professor of Technology & Business and Director of Executive Programs in AI. Tim, an INSEAD alumnus with over 20 years of international experience in digital transformation, global strategy and innovation, will join Theos to explore the two critical AI races reshaping our world: ...

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Technology14 Feb 2025

INSEAD Webinar to explore the future of agentic AI & autonomous organizations

Digital@INSEAD is hosting a free TECH TALK X webinar, “The Future of Agentic AI & Autonomous Organizations” on Thursday, 27 February 2025 at 9.00 am ET / 3.00 pm CET (60 min). AI is evolving beyond tools and assistants – it is becoming autonomous. But what is holding enterprises back from fully leveraging Agentic AI? Join in the free webinar for a deep dive with Rotem Alaluf, CEO of Wand – a pioneering platform for enterprise-grade AI systems – and Peter Zemsky, ...

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Technology13 Feb 2025

NTT Research and Harvard scientists optimize biohybrid ray development with machine learning

The Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and NTT Research, Inc., a division of NTT, announced the publication of research showing an application of machine-learning directed optimization (ML-DO) that efficiently searches for high-performance design configurations in the context of biohybrid robots. Applying a machine learning approach, the researchers created mini biohybrid rays made of cardiomyocytes (heart muscle cells) and rubber with a wingspan of about 10 mm that are approximately two times more efficient at swimming than those recently ...

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Technology13 Feb 2025

Study: Air pollution exposure late in pregnancy increases NICU admission risk

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Air pollution caused by auto emissions, wildfires and other sources is problematic for many people. It’s of particular concern for pregnant people due to the impact pollutants can have on the fetus, especially in the final month before birth. A new study from the University at Buffalo offers insight into air pollution’s effects during this vulnerable time by measuring neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admissions and satellite-based air pollution data. The researchers focused on common pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which is caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels in vehicles, industrial processes and power plants, and PM2.5, which ...

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Technology13 Feb 2025

Solar-powered device captures carbon dioxide from air to make sustainable fuel

Researchers have developed a reactor that pulls carbon dioxide directly from the air and converts it into sustainable fuel, using sunlight as the power source. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, say their solar-powered reactor could be used to make fuel to power cars and planes, or the many chemicals and pharmaceuticals products we rely on. It could also be used to generate fuel in remote or off-grid locations. Unlike most carbon capture technologies, the reactor developed by the Cambridge researchers does not require fossil-fuel-based power, or the transport and storage of carbon dioxide, but instead converts atmospheric CO2 into something useful using sunlight. ...

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Technology13 Feb 2025

Machine learning boosts accuracy of solar power forecasts

As solar energy plays an increasing role in the global power supply, ensuring accurate forecasts of photovoltaic (PV) power generation is critical for balancing energy demand and supply. A new study published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences explores how machine learning and statistical techniques can refine these forecasts by correcting errors in weather models. Weather forecasts are a key input for PV power prediction models, yet they often contain systematic errors that impact accuracy. Researchers from the Institute of Statistics at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology ...

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Technology13 Feb 2025

Can artificial intelligence save the Great Barrier Reef?

Australian researchers are designing a global real-time monitoring system to help save the world’s coral reefs from further decline, primarily due to bleaching caused by global warming. Coral reefs worldwide are dying at an alarming rate, with 75% of reefs experiencing bleaching-level heat stress in the past two years. The World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef (GBR), considered the jewel in the crown of coral reefs worldwide and one of Australia’s most significant ecological and tourism assets, has been decimated ...

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Technology11 Feb 2025

New technology could quash QR code phishing attacks

The ubiquitous QR (“quick response”) codes that appear on everything from parking pay stations to soda cans and promotional flyers have become an increasingly popular target for cybercriminals to exploit through QR code–based phishing attacks, also known as “quishing.” Bad actors will place phony QR codes that direct smartphone users to enter their sensitive private information in fake websites masquerading as bank websites, parking enforcement offices, or other seemingly ...

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Technology11 Feb 2025

SNU researchers develop soft robot that crawls, climbs, and shape-shifts to move in new directions

A new type of soft robot can crawl like a worm, climb cables, and suddenly snap into a completely different shape to move in a new direction—all controlled by a single air input. This breakthrough, developed by researchers at Seoul National University, introduces a fundamentally new way for soft robots to move and adapt to their surroundings. A Leap Forward in Soft Robotics Soft robots, made from flexible materials, are known for their ability to bend and stretch. However, until now, they struggled to precisely control motion and required complex ...

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Technology11 Feb 2025

New joint project to investigate quantum repeaters designed to provide for secure quantum communication networks of the future

There are reports of IT sabotage, cyber espionage, and other acts of hybrid warfare almost every day. Communication networks based on quantum physics could help eliminate threats of this kind. Researchers throughout Germany have already been working on developing those networks based on quantum repeaters for several years. In January 2025, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) started funding a new research project, entitled Quantenrepeater.Net (QR.N), which aims to demonstrate the viability of quantum repeaters over test networks outside the protected lab environment. The BMBF will be providing a total of EUR 20 million over three years. ...

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Technology11 Feb 2025

AI predicts the precursor materials needed for material synthesis

Researchers in Korea have developed a technology that automatically identifies the necessary precursor materials to synthesize specific target materials. A joint research team led by Senior Researcher Gyoung S. Na from the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) and Professor Chanyoung Park from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has developed an AI-based retrosynthesis methodology that predicts the required precursor materials solely based on the chemical formula of the target material without expensive material descriptors ...

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Technology11 Feb 2025

A gender gap in using AI for research

After the launch of ChatGPT male researchers’ productivity rate increased, pointing to a gender difference in how scientists use AI. Previous work has shown that men are more likely to use generative AI in their work than women. Shaobo Li and colleagues analyzed preprints uploaded to the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), one of the largest open-access repositories in the world, from May 2022 to June 2023. ChatGPT was released in late November 2022. After the release of ChatGPT, the productivity of male researchers significantly increased relative to that of female researchers, with the probability ...

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Technology11 Feb 2025

Digital Science announces Catalyst Grant winners, rewarding innovations to safeguard research integrity

Digital Science has awarded its latest Catalyst Grants to two innovative teams, supporting their technology ideas aimed at safeguarding research integrity and strengthening trust in science. The winners will use the funding and mentorship from Digital Science to develop their ideas, both of which include enhanced dashboards – visualizations based on available data – to flag retracted or questionable research papers. The winning applications from Digital Science’s 2024 Catalyst Grant round announced today are: PostPub ...

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Technology11 Feb 2025

Truly autonomous AI is on the horizon

Researchers have developed a new AI algorithm, called Torque Clustering, that is much closer to natural intelligence than current methods. It significantly improves how AI systems learn and uncover patterns in data independently, without human guidance. Torque Clustering can efficiently and autonomously analyse vast amounts of data in fields such as biology, chemistry, astronomy, psychology, finance and medicine, revealing new insights such as detecting disease patterns, uncovering fraud, or understanding behaviour. “In nature, animals learn by observing, exploring, and interacting with their ...

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Technology11 Feb 2025

Chicken ‘woody breast’ detection improved with advanced machine learning model

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It’s called “woody breast” and for consumers it can mean a chewier chicken sandwich, but for the industry it can mean up to $200 million annual yield loss. Work done by the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station is not only making woody breast easier to detect in chicken meat but is accurate up to 95 percent of the time. The development could help improve quality assurance and customer confidence in one of the state’s most economically important agricultural products. What allows ...

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Technology10 Feb 2025

Biotech in Germany has significant potential, but lack of collaboration hampers growth

The report “Assessing Deep-Tech Innovation Hubs in Germany: The Case of Biotechnology” evaluates Germany’s performance in deep-tech innovation within biotech using a comprehensive index and examines five key hubs: Berlin, Heidelberg, Munich, Nuremberg-Erlangen, and Stuttgart. These hubs were analyzed in terms of fundamental research, research and development in biotech, startup activity, public infrastructure, and business environment. Berlin, Munich, and Heidelberg are the leading biotech hubs Berlin leads the index due to its strong public infrastructure ...

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Technology7 Feb 2025

High-frequency enhanced ultrafast compressed photography technology (H-CAP) allows microscopic ultrafast movie to appear at a glance

A new publication from Opto-Electronic Advances; DOI 10.29026/oea.2025.240180 , discusses high-frequency enhanced ultrafast compressed photography technology. Single-shot ultrafast imaging technology can characterize transient events under a wide range of conditions. It opens the door to explore the unrepeatable or difficult to reproduce ultrafast phenomena such as photosynthesis at the molecular or atomic scale in nature and the precision manufacturing of semiconductor ...

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Technology7 Feb 2025

A highly sensitive laser gas sensor based on a four-prong quartz tuning fork

A new publication from Opto-Electronic Advances; DOI 10.29026/oea.2025.240275, discusses A highly sensitive laser gas sensor based on a four-prong quartz tuning fork. Trace gases, though have a volume fraction much less than 1% of the atmosphere, significantly impact various sectors. Despite their low concentration, typically between 10-12 to 10-6, gases like nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and greenhouse gases contribute to atmospheric pollution, a pressing global issue exacerbated by industrialization and urbanization. Moreover, detecting trace gases is crucial for industrial ...

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