Hi Tech & Innovation news

Hardware

Voltage-controlled photonic chip could make smart-glasses displays more efficient

Smart glasses need compact, efficient displays that can produce detailed images without drawing too much power. Laser beam scanning is one approach to meeting these requirements. Rather than using a fixed array of pixels, ...

Electronics & Semiconductors

Single transistor design combines memory and signal processing for brain-inspired computing

As artificial intelligence moves increasingly toward edge devices, researchers are exploring electronic components that can combine memory and information processing. Memristive and synaptic devices are of particular interest ...

Engineering

Flaws become reinforcements: Engineered crystal defects strengthen metals without changing their chemistry

Scientists have found a way to use defects in crystals to engineer stronger materials, according to a new study.

Hi Tech & Innovation

Mini brain organoids 'read' braille in key step toward biohybrid computing

Could computers include tiny brain organoids one day? The human brain is an incredibly energy-efficient computer, and silicon processors that try to imitate it achieve huge energy savings over traditional processors. Now ...

Engineering

Elon Musk unveils Tesla's 'flying' car

Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled what he described as a "flying" car, equipped with thrusters, during a livestreamed event at his SpaceX rocket company's facility on Thursday.

Engineering

AI and symmetry speed design of sound-absorbing fabrics

Woven textiles can do more than provide softness and strength. Their microscopic arrangement of yarns can also influence how sound travels through a material. However, finding suitable over-and-under yarn patterns is a difficult ...

Engineering

Metal alloys defy the deep freeze, staying tough at -253°C

Scientists have discovered a class of metal that can unexpectedly resist extreme cold using an unusual mechanism. Normally such temperatures would make similar materials brittle and vulnerable to breaking. The findings, published ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

AI can help run factories better: Thesis sharpens the 3D models

Digital twins are virtual 3D replicas of real spaces such as factories, warehouses and industrial plants. Companies use them to monitor equipment, plan maintenance and simulate changes without disrupting operations.

Hi Tech & Innovation

How bionic eyes are becoming a reality

If you've delved into the worlds of "Star Trek," "The Terminator" or William Gibson's cyberpunk novel "Neuromancer," you'll know that enhanced electronic vision is a staple of science fiction. Now, what was once futuristic ...

Energy & Green Tech

Zinc-air batteries gain new momentum with long-lasting catalyst

Zinc-air batteries can store significantly more energy than lithium-ion batteries, but until now have been virtually impossible to recharge. A team led by Professor Jörg J. Schneider from the Department of Chemistry has now ...

Engineering

Underground acoustic signals reveal hidden tunnels

For decades, engineers have searched for underground tunnels by sending signals from the surface downward—an approach that can miss what lies below. By reversing that approach, researchers at the Department of Energy's (DOE) ...

Engineering

New technology for smarter indirect Time-of-Flight cameras

Researchers from Kyushu University and DENSO IT Laboratory, Inc. have developed a new method to improve the accuracy of indirect Time-of-Flight (I-ToF) cameras. The technology considers the practical limitations of real-world ...

Robotics

Pea-size liquid-metal pump runs robot butterfly on under 0.1 V

Engineers have invented an ingenious liquid-metal pump that could make future soft robotics and wearable devices much more portable and agile. The innovation, led by the University of Bristol and published in the journal ...