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press releases.

Technology31 Oct 2024

A trick of light: UC Irvine researchers turn silicon into direct bandgap semiconductor

Irvine, Calif., Oct. 31, 2024 — By creating a new way for light and matter to interact, researchers at the University of California, Irvine have enabled the manufacturing of ultrathin silicon solar cells that could help spread the energy-converting technology to a vast range of applications, including thermoelectric clothing and onboard vehicle and device charging. The development, subject of a paper recently published as the cover story in the journal ACS Nano, hinges on the UC Irvine researchers’ conversion of pure silicon from an indirect to a direct bandgap semiconductor through the way it interacts ...

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Technology31 Oct 2024

A novel neural network for preserving cultural heritage via 3D image reconstruction

Relief carvings or relief sculptures are cultural heritage objects with figures that protrude from a background such as a wall or slab, creating a sense of depth. Commonly found at historical sites worldwide, these artworks are considered to be of immense historical and cultural value. Unfortunately, many such relief carvings at heritage sites across the world suffer from varying degrees of damage and deterioration over time. While modern 3D scanning and photogrammetry techniques can digitally preserve their current form, they cannot restore the original appearance of these carvings before damage. Additionally, traditional methods for restoring ...

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Technology31 Oct 2024

A newly developed algorithm shows how a gene is expressed at microscopic resolution

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. A new method, developed by University of Michigan researchers, creates images that are worth many gigabytes of data, which could revolutionize the way biologists study gene expression. Seq-Scope, developed by Jun Hee Lee, Ph.D., Hyun Min Kang, Ph.D., and their colleagues, was first described in Cell in 2021 as the first method to analyze gene expression at sub micrometer-scale spatial resolution. To compare, a single human hair ranges from 20 to 200 micrometers in width. The team has since improved Seq-Scope, making it more versatile, ...

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Technology30 Oct 2024

Personal info and privacy control may be key to better visits with AI doctors

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Artificial intelligence (AI) may one day play a larger role in medicine than the online symptom checkers available today. But these “AI doctors” may need to get more personal than human doctors to increase patient satisfaction, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State. They found that the more social information an AI doctor recalls about patients, the higher the patients’ satisfaction, but only if they were offered privacy control. The research team published their findings in the journal Communication Research. “We tend to think of AI doctors as machines ...

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Technology30 Oct 2024

Antarctic penguin colonies can be identified and tracked from tourists' photos, using a computer model to reconstruct the 3D scene

Antarctic penguin colonies can be identified and tracked from tourists' photos, using a computer model to reconstruct the 3D scene ### Article URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0311038 Article Title: Penguin colony georegistration using camera pose estimation and phototourism Author Countries: U.S.A. Funding: This work was supported in part by the NASA Biodiversity Program (Award 317 80NSSC21K1027), and NSF Grant IIS-2212046. The funders had no say in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. END ...

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Technology30 Oct 2024

A rudimentary quantum network link between Dutch cities

An international research team led by QuTech has demonstrated a network connection between quantum processors over metropolitan distances. Their result marks a key advance from early research networks in the lab towards a future quantum internet. The team developed fully independently operating nodes and integrated these with deployed optical internet fibre, enabling a 25 km quantum link. The researchers published their findings in Science Advances. The internet allows people to share information (bits) globally. A future quantum internet will enable sharing quantum information (qubits) over a new type of network. Such qubits ...

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Technology30 Oct 2024

Researchers aim to spark action to address rising homelessness among older people

Homelessness among people over the age of 50 is on the rise, a phenomenon formal housing strategies often overlook -- but researchers from the University of Toronto and McGill hope to prevent this oversight in the future. A new study published in The Gerontologist now provides a clear definition of late life homelessness informed by the lives and experiences of older adults. Drawing on interviews with older people who are unhoused and community workers in Montreal, Canada, the researchers aim to spark ...

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Technology30 Oct 2024

Spin current observations from organic semiconductor side

Electrons spin even without an electric charge and this motion in condensed matter constitutes spin current, which is attracting a great deal of attention for next-generation technology such as memory devices. An Osaka Metropolitan University-led research group has been able to gain further insight into this important topic in the field of spintronics. To investigate the characteristics of spin currents, OMU Graduate School of Science Professor Katsuichi Kanemoto’s group designed a multilayer device consisting of a ferromagnetic layer and an organic semiconductor ...

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Technology29 Oct 2024

The surprising reason a classical computer beat a quantum computer at its own game

Earlier this year, researchers at the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Quantum Physics (CCQ) announced that they had successfully used a classical computer and sophisticated mathematical models to thoroughly outperform a quantum computer at a task that some thought only quantum computers could solve. Now, those researchers have determined why they were able to trounce the quantum computer at its own game. Their answer, presented on October 29 in Physical Review Letters, reveals that the quantum problem they tackled — involving ...

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Technology29 Oct 2024

Researchers Aim To Get Leg Up on Bone Repair with 3D-Printed Femur

University of Texas at Dallas mechanical engineers have designed a 3D-printed femur that could help doctors prepare for surgeries to repair bones and develop treatments for bone tumors. The engineers, who worked in collaboration with UT Southwestern Medical Center orthopedic surgeons, published their first study on the 3D-printed thigh bone online Aug. 5 in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research. The study, which focused on the middle section of the bone, establishes 3D-printing parameters for a femur for use in biomechanical testing. Researchers said more studies will be needed before the technology could be available for widespread use. To study and validate innovative surgical implants ...

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Technology29 Oct 2024

Optimal standing positions and ventilation in airport smoking lounges

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29, 2024 – While many smoking rooms in U.S. airports have closed in recent years, they are still common in other airports around the world. These lounges can be ventilated, but how much does it actually help the dispersion of smoke? Research published in Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, shows that not all standing positions in airport smoking lounges are created equal. Researchers from the University of Hormozgan in Iran studied nicotine particles in a simulated airport smoking room and found that the thermal environment and positioning of smokers influenced how particles ...

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Technology29 Oct 2024

Can you feel sorry for a robot?

A pitiful sound from tinny speakers, sad virtual eyes, trembling robot arms: it doesn’t take much to feel sorry for a robot. This is the conclusion of a study by Marieke Wieringa, who will be defending her PhD thesis at Radboud University on 5 November. But she warns that our human compassion could also be exploited: just wait until companies find a revenue model for emotional manipulation by robots. Objectively, we know that a robot cannot experience pain. Still, under certain circumstances, ...

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Technology29 Oct 2024

Arctic whales research collaboration is signed by Heriot-Watt University and HX Expeditions (Hurtigruten Expeditions)

Pioneering research to protect and conserve Arctic whale populations is to begin under a new five-year collaboration between Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland and HX Expeditions (Hurtigruten Expeditions), a world leader in travel exploration. The partners have signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), beginning in 2024, to research challenges facing marine life in the high Arctic – the most northern part of the Arctic region and one of the world’s most fragile ecosystems. The agreement will see Heriot-Watt University and HX work together on the Whales & Arctic Vessels Project (WAVE), ...

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Technology28 Oct 2024

Global fleet of undersea robots reveal the phytoplankton hidden beneath the ocean's surface

Marine phytoplankton are fundamental to Earth’s ecology and biogeochemistry. Our understanding of the large-scale dynamics of phytoplankton biomass has greatly benefited from, and is largely based on, satellite ocean color observations from which chlorophyll-a (Chla), a commonly used proxy for carbon biomass, can be estimated. However, ocean color satellites only measure a small portion of the surface ocean, meaning that subsurface phytoplankton biomass is not directly monitored. Chla is also an imperfect ...

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Technology28 Oct 2024

AI might scare us, but can we scare it?

In recent years, advancements in artificial intelligence have enabled intelligent machines to generate visual art, compose music, and create videos. They converse with us, help with homework, and have even begun competing for our jobs. Amid these advances, machines evoke powerful reactions from humans—sparking concerns about control, fairness, and the potential for misuse. Many feel unsettled by the growing presence of intelligent machines when they inadvertently reinforce power imbalances and perpetuate injustices. Amid all of this disruption and mistrust, we are comforted to know that machines can`t have emotions. Yet, recent advancements in language-based AI have demonstrated ...

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Technology28 Oct 2024

Towards implementing neural networks on edge IoT devices

There are, without a doubt, two broad technological fields that have been developing at an increasingly fast pace over the past decade: artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). By excelling at tasks such as data analysis, image recognition, and natural language processing, AI systems have become undeniably powerful tools in both academic and industry settings. Meanwhile, miniaturization and advances in electronics have made it possible to massively reduce the size of functional devices capable ...

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Technology28 Oct 2024

Building safer cities with AI: Machine learning model enhances urban resilience against liquefaction

As urban areas expand, the threat of natural disasters becomes a pressing concern for city planners and disaster management authorities. In earthquake-prone countries like Japan, one of the critical risks to infrastructure is liquefaction, a phenomenon where intense shaking causes loose, water-saturated soils to lose their strength and behave like a liquid. Liquefaction can cause buildings to sink into the soil, crack foundations, and collapse roads and utilities like water lines. Soil liquefaction accompanies every major earthquake, and the damage is significant. The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake in Japan caused liquefaction ...

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Technology28 Oct 2024

Humans and AI: Do they work better together or alone?

The potential of human-AI collaboration has captured our imagination: a future where human creativity and AI's analytical power combine to make critical decisions and solve complex problems. But new research from the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence (CCI) suggests this vision may be much more nuanced than we once thought. Published today in Nature Human Behaviour, “When Combinations of Humans and AI Are Useful” is the first large-scale meta-analysis conducted to better understand when human-AI combinations are useful in task completion, and when they are not. Surprisingly, the research has found that combining humans and AI to ...

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Technology28 Oct 2024

Quality control in artificial photosynthesis: validating natural antenna mimicry

Humans can do plenty, but plants have an ability we don’t: they make energy straight from sunlight, a superpower called photosynthesis. Yet new research shows that scientists are closing that gap. Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have revealed the 3D structure of an artificial photosynthetic antenna protein complex, known as light-harvesting complex II (LHCII), and demonstrated that the artificial LHCII closely mirrors its natural counterpart. This discovery marks a significant step forward in understanding how plants harvest and manage solar energy, paving the way for future innovations in artificial ...

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Technology25 Oct 2024

The Urban Future Prize Competition awards top prizes to Faura and Helix Earth Technologies and highlights climate adaptation solutions with the inaugural Future Resilience Prize

NYU Tandon School of Engineering's Urban Future Lab named the winners of its 2024 Future Resilience and Future Solutions prizes, at its 8th annual Urban Future Summit on October 24, 2024 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City. Through the generous support of The New York Community Trust, MUFG Bank, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), the Urban Future Lab continues to catalyze groundbreaking solutions for the climate crisis and this year, they’ve expanded their focus to include adaptation as a critical piece of the puzzle. After an afternoon of pitches, the jury, comprised of industry experts and ...

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Technology25 Oct 2024

Applications now open for Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced a fellowship open to all U.S. students pursuing doctoral degrees in fields that use high-performance computing to solve complex science and engineering problems. Established in 1991 and currently carrying a $45,000 annual stipend, the DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (CSGF) program provides outstanding benefits and opportunities, fostering a community of energetic and committed Ph.D. students, alumni, DOE laboratory staff, and other scientists who want to have an impact on the nation while advancing their research. Fellows ...

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Technology25 Oct 2024

UMD researcher trains AI to predict diarrheal outbreaks related to climate change

Climate change-related extreme weather, such as massive flooding and prolonged drought, often result in dangerous outbreaks of diarrheal diseases particularly in less developed countries, where diarrheal diseases is the third leading cause of death among young children. Now a study out Oct. 22, 2024, in Environmental Research Letters by an international team of investigators led by senior author from University of Maryland’s School of Public Health (UMD SPH) Amir Sapkota, offers a way to predict the risk of such deadly outbreaks ...

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Technology25 Oct 2024

New machine learning model quickly and accurately predicts dielectric function

Researchers Tomohito Amano and Shinji Tsuneyuki of the University of Tokyo with Tamio Yamazaki of CURIE (JSR-UTokyo Collaboration Hub) have developed a new machine learning model to predict the dielectric function of materials, rather than calculating from first-principles. The dielectric function measures the polarization of negative and positive charges within materials, the phenomenon underlying dielectric materials. Thus, the fast and accurate prediction of dielectric function facilitates the development of novel dielectric materials, an ingredient of many cutting-edge technologies such as 6G ...

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Technology25 Oct 2024

A new spectroscopy reveals water’s quantum secrets

Water is synonymous with life, but the dynamic, multifaceted interaction that brings H2O molecules together – the hydrogen bond – remains mysterious. Hydrogen bonds result when hydrogen and oxygen atoms between water molecules interact, sharing electronic charge in the process. This charge-sharing is a key feature of the three-dimensional ‘H-bond’ network that gives liquid water its unique properties, but quantum phenomena at the heart of such networks have thus far been understood only through theoretical simulations. Now, researchers led by Sylvie Roke, head of the Laboratory for Fundamental BioPhotonics in EPFL’s School of Engineering, ...

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Technology25 Oct 2024

Batteries for miniature bio-integrated devices and robotics — here’s how to do it

University of Oxford researchers have made a significant step towards realising miniature, soft batteries for use in a variety of biomedical applications, including the defibrillation and pacing of heart tissues. The work has been published today in the journal Nature Chemical Engineering. The development of tiny smart devices, smaller than a few cubic millimeters, demands equally small power sources. For minimally invasive biomedical devices that interact with biological tissues, these power sources must be fabricated from soft materials. Ideally, these should ...

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