Technology
press releases.

Technology11 Jun 2024

Trash-sorting robot mimics complex human sense of touch

WASHINGTON, June 11, 2024 – Today’s intelligent robots can accurately recognize many objects through vision and touch. Tactile information, obtained through sensors, along with machine learning algorithms, enables robots to identify objects previously handled. However, sensing is often confused when presented with objects similar in size and shape, or objects unknown to the robot. Other factors restrictive to robot perception include background noise and the same type of object with different shapes and sizes. In Applied Physics Reviews, by AIP Publishing, researchers from Tsinghua University worked to break through the difficulties ...

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Technology11 Jun 2024

New computer vision method helps speed up screening of electronic materials

Boosting the performance of solar cells, transistors, LEDs, and batteries will require better electronic materials, made from novel compositions that have yet to be discovered. To speed up the search for advanced functional materials, scientists are using AI tools to identify promising materials from hundreds of millions of chemical formulations. In tandem, engineers are building machines that can print hundreds of material samples at a time based on chemical compositions tagged by AI search algorithms. But to date, there’s been no similarly speedy way to confirm that these printed materials actually perform as expected. ...

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Technology11 Jun 2024

Sustainable battery technology: innovations in design, manufacturing, and fault detection

In an era where sustainable energy is paramount, a groundbreaking study provides critical insights into battery health management. It meticulously examines the design, optimization, fault detection, and recycling of Lithium-ion, Lead Acid, and Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries—crucial components for the next generation of portable devices, electric vehicles, and renewable energy systems. As our reliance on electric vehicles and renewable energy systems grows, so does the demand for efficient and sustainable ...

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Technology10 Jun 2024

Researchers demonstrate the first chip-based 3D printer

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Imagine a portable 3D printer you could hold in the palm of your hand. The tiny device could enable a user to rapidly create customized, low-cost objects on the go, like a fastener to repair a wobbly bicycle wheel or a component for a critical medical operation. Researchers from MIT and the University of Texas at Austin took a major step toward making this idea a reality by demonstrating the first chip-based 3D printer. Their proof-of-concept device consists of a single, millimeter-scale photonic ...

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Technology10 Jun 2024

Miniaturizing a laser on a photonic chip

Lasers have revolutionized the world since the 60’s and are now indispensable in modern applications, from cutting-edge surgery and precise manufacturing to data transmission across optical fibers. But as the need for laser-based applications grows, so do challenges. For example, there is a growing market for fiber lasers, which are currently used in industrial cutting, welding, and marking applications. Fiber lasers use an optical fiber doped with rare-earth elements (erbium, ytterbium, neodymium etc) as their optical gain source (the part that produces the laser’s light). They emit high-quality beams, they have high power output, and they are efficient, ...

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Technology7 Jun 2024

What makes roads safer? New UMD study uses AI to find out

College Park, Md. – Most people use Google Street View to find their way. Dr. Quynh Nguyen, an epidemiologist and statistician at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, uses it to locate spots where your journey might abruptly end. In a study published June 6 in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) of Injury Prevention, Nguyen identifies uses AI tools to identify key environmental elements impacting car-related collisions as well as cyclist-related and pedestrian-related accidents. “Car crashes are the leading cause of death for young people ...

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Technology7 Jun 2024

World's leading technology associations publish comprehensive curricular guidelines for computer science at the undergraduate level

ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, has joined with the IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS) and the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) to develop “Computer Science Curricula 2023” (CS2023). CS2023 provides a comprehensive guide outlining the knowledge and competencies students should attain for degrees in computer science and related disciplines at the undergraduate level. Establishing uniform curricular guidelines for computer science disciplines is viewed as being essential to the ongoing vitality of the field and the future success of the students ...

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Technology7 Jun 2024

With programmable pixels, novel sensor improves imaging of neural activity

Neurons communicate electrically so to understand how they produce brain functions such as memory, neuroscientists must track how their voltage changes—sometimes subtly—on the timescale of milliseconds. In a new paper in Nature Communications, MIT researchers describe a novel image sensor with the capability to substantially increase that ability. The invention led by Jie Zhang, a postdoctoral scholar in The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory lab of Sherman Fairchild Professor Matt ...

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Technology6 Jun 2024

University of South Florida using AI to help combat malaria in Africa

Media Contact: John Dudley (814) 490-3290 (cell) jjdudley@usf.edu TAMPA, Fla. (June 6, 2024) – University of South Florida researchers are using artificial intelligence to revolutionize mosquito surveillance to help combat malaria in Africa. Ryan Carney, professor of integrative biology, and Sriram Chellappan, professor in the department of computer science and engineering, will collaborate with an interdisciplinary team of researchers to advance malaria research and explore innovative solutions ...

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Technology6 Jun 2024

Mapping noise to improve quantum measurements

One of the biggest challenges in quantum technology and quantum sensing is “noise”–seemingly random environmental disturbances that can disrupt the delicate quantum states of qubits, the fundamental units of quantum information. Looking deeper at this issue, JILA Associate Fellow and University of Colorado Boulder Physics Assistant Professor Shuo Sun recently collaborated with Andrés Montoya-Castillo, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, and his team to develop a new method for better understanding and controlling this noise, potentially paving the way for significant advancements in quantum computing, ...

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Technology6 Jun 2024

Calcium oxide’s quantum secret: nearly noiseless qubits

Calcium oxide is a cheap, chalky chemical compound commonly used in the manufacturing of cement, plaster, paper, and steel. But the material may soon have a more high-tech application. UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering researchers and their collaborator in Sweden have used theoretical and computational approaches to discover how tiny, lone atoms of bismuth embedded within solid calcium oxide can act as qubits — the building blocks of quantum computers and quantum communication devices. These qubits are described today in Nature Communications. “This system has even better properties than we expected,” said Giulia Galli, Liew Family Professor ...

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Technology6 Jun 2024

Tepper School study offers a better way to make AI fairer for everyone

n a new paper, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Stevens Institute of Technology show a new way of thinking about the fair impacts of AI decisions. They draw on a well-established tradition known as social welfare optimization, which aims to make decisions fairer by focusing on the overall benefits and harms to individuals. This method can be used to evaluate the industry standard assessment tools for AI fairness, which look at approval rates across protected groups. "In assessing fairness, the AI community tries to ensure equitable treatment for groups that differ in economic level, race, ethnic background, gender, and other categories,” ...

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Technology6 Jun 2024

Novel diamond quantum magnetometer for ambient condition magnetoencephalography

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a biomedical imaging technique used for mapping brain activity by recording magnetic fields produced by the naturally occurring electrical currents generated by neurons in the brain, using very sensitive magnetometers. Currently, MEG requires a magnetically shielded room for operation. Achieving MEG that works in normal environments, without the need for magnetic shielding, is a major goal. This would enable daily diagnosis, brain-machine interfaces, and fundamental research on brain function. Magnetometers using diamond quantum sensors with nitrogen–vacancy (NV) centers are promising candidates for realizing ambient ...

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Technology6 Jun 2024

Better farming through nanotechnology

Advanced technologies enable the controlled release of medicine to specific cells in the body. Scientists argue these same technologies must be applied to agriculture if growers are to meet increasing global food demands. In a new Nature Nanotechnology journal review paper, scientists from UC Riverside and Carnegie Mellon University highlight some of the best-known strategies for improving agriculture with nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is an umbrella term for the study and design of microscopically small things. How small? A nanometer is one billionth of a meter, or about 100,000 times smaller ...

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Technology5 Jun 2024

Study shows AI-driven cyberattacks can inflict damage on GDP and supply chains for the world’s largest economies

Cyberattacks driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) pose unprecedented risks to global economies, supply chains, and trade. A forthcoming study from the journal Risk Analysis explores the cascading impacts of AI-driven cyberattacks. Unlike traditional cyberattacks, which are typically manual or scripted, AI-driven cyberattacks utilize AI and machine learning algorithms to enhance their effectiveness, stealthiness and adaptability. AI-driven cyberattacks can autonomously learn and evolve their tactics, techniques and procedures based on real-time feedback and environmental changes. Through simulation scenarios, the researchers discovered the potential ...

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Technology5 Jun 2024

Drones and AI harnessed to monitor invasive stink bugs

Researchers in Italy have unveiled the first successful application of commercial drones combined with artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor the invasive agricultural pest, Halyomorpha halys, commonly known as the brown marmorated stink bug. This research, published in the SCI journal Pest Management Science, marks a significant advancement in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for automated monitoring of invasive species. Halyomorpha halys is notorious for its extensive damage to orchard crops across North America and southern Europe. In Italy, this invasive pest caused an ...

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Technology5 Jun 2024

Breakthrough in battery technology: iron-chromium redox flow batteries enhanced with N-B doped electrodes

Researchers at the State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, China University of Petroleum Beijing, have achieved a significant advancement in battery technology that could revolutionize how energy is stored and utilized, particularly for large-scale applications. In a recently published article in the journal Green Energy and Intelligent Transportation, the team, led by Yingchun Niu and Senwei Zeng, introduced a novel N-B doped composite electrode for iron-chromium redox flow batteries (ICRFB), demonstrating outstanding improvements in performance and efficiency. Iron-chromium redox flow batteries are pivotal in addressing the ...

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Technology5 Jun 2024

AI approach elevates plasma performance and stability across fusion devices

Achieving a sustained fusion reaction is a delicate balancing act, requiring a sea of moving parts to come together to maintain a high-performing plasma: one that is dense enough, hot enough, and confined for long enough for fusion to take place. Yet as researchers push the limits of plasma performance, they have encountered new challenges for keeping plasmas under control, including one that involves bursts of energy escaping from the edge of a super-hot plasma. These edge bursts negatively impact overall performance and even damage the plasma-facing ...

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Technology5 Jun 2024

Safer, cheaper, more flexible battery invented for wearable tech

Researchers have developed a safer, cheaper, better performing and more flexible battery option for wearable devices. A paper describing the ‘recipe’ for their new battery type was published in the journal Nano Research Energy on June 3. Fitness trackers. Smart watches. Virtual-reality headsets. Even smart clothing and implants. Wearable smart devices are everywhere these days. But for greater comfort, reliability and longevity, these devices will require greater levels of flexibility and miniaturization of their energy storage mechanisms, which are often frustratingly bulky, heavy and fragile. On top of this, any improvements cannot come at the expense of ...

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Technology5 Jun 2024

New AI algorithm detects rare epileptic seizures

More than 3.4 million people in the US and 65 million people worldwide have epilepsy, a neurological disorder that affects the nervous system and causes seizures. One in 26 people will develop epilepsy at some point in their lives, and 1 out of 1000 people with epilepsy die from unexpected deaths each year. Like many conditions, epilepsy treatment starts with early detection. The World Health Organization estimates that 70% of people with epilepsy could live seizure-free if adequately diagnosed and treated. Over the years, ...

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Technology4 Jun 2024

Accelerating the R&D of wearable tech: Combining collaborative robotics, AI

College Park, Md. — Engineers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have developed a model that combines machine learning and collaborative robotics to overcome challenges in the design of materials used in wearable green tech. Led by Po-Yen Chen, assistant professor in UMD's Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, the accelerated method to create aerogel materials used in wearable heating applications – published June 1 in the journal Nature Communications – could automate design processes for new materials. Similar to water-based ...

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Technology4 Jun 2024

Researchers use machine learning to detect defects in additive manufacturing

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a new method for detecting defects in additively manufactured components. One of the most important tasks in any factory is to determine whether a manufactured component is free of defects. In additive manufacturing (3D printing), it can be particularly challenging to find defects, because additive manufacturing can make components that have complex three-dimensional shapes and important internal features that are not easily observed. The novel technology uses deep machine ...

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Technology4 Jun 2024

Robots could clear snow, assist at crosswalks, monitor sidewalks for traffic

A new study by Carnegie Mellon University researchers found that when roboticists and people with disabilities collaborate on robot designs, interesting ideas emerge that could make existing robots more accessible and inspire new uses. In their research, School of Computer Science faculty members Sarah Fox and Nikolas Martelaro highlight potential issues sidewalk robots encounter during deployment and propose solutions to mitigate them before the robots hit the streets. Their new study, led by Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) Ph.D. student Howard Han, was presented last month at the ACM Conference on ...

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Technology3 Jun 2024

ACP recommends AI tech should augment physician decision-making, not replace it

ACP Recommends AI Tech Should Augment Physician Decision-Making, Not Replace It WASHINGTON, June 4, 2024—The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in clinical health care has the potential to transform health care delivery but it should not replace physician decision-making, says the American College of Physicians (ACP) in a new policy paper published today. “Artificial Intelligence in the Provision of Health Care,” published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, offers recommendations on the ethical, scientific, and clinical components of ...

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Technology3 Jun 2024

A technique for more effective multipurpose robots

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Let’s say you want to train a robot so it understands how to use tools and can then quickly learn to make repairs around your house with a hammer, wrench, and screwdriver. To do that, you would need an enormous amount of data demonstrating tool use. Existing robotic datasets vary widely in modality — some include color images while others are composed of tactile imprints, for instance. Data could also be collected in different domains, like simulation or human demos. And each dataset ...

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