Hi Tech & Innovation news

Hi Tech & Innovation

China's growing 'robotaxi' fleet sparks concern, wonder on streets

Turning heads as they cruise past office buildings and malls, driverless taxis are slowly spreading through Chinese cities, prompting both wariness and wonder.

Engineering

From shrimp to steel: Introducing nature-inspired metalworking

Humans have long turned to nature for solutions, from deciphering the mysteries of flight to creating stronger materials. For Javier Fernandez, Associate Professor at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), ...

Robotics

Researchers invent intelligent soft robotic clothing for automatic thermal adaptation in extreme heat

As global warming intensifies, people increasingly suffer from extreme heat. For those working in a high-temperature environment indoors or outdoors, keeping thermally comfortable becomes particularly crucial.

Electronics & Semiconductors

Quantum sensing milestone draws closer to exquisitely accurate, GPS-free navigation

Peel apart a smartphone, fitness tracker or virtual reality headset, and inside you'll find a tiny motion sensor tracking its position and movement. Bigger, more expensive versions of the same technology, about the size of ...

Engineering

A light-powered hydrogel launcher

An international team of mechanical engineers has developed what they call a fracture-driven, power-amplified hydrogel launcher. They have published their discovery in the journal Nature Materials.

Hi Tech & Innovation

New detector paves the way to large-scale optical neural networks

For the first time, researchers have used a surface normal nonlinear photodetector (SNPD) to improve the speed and energy efficiency of a diffractive optical neural network (ONN). The new device lays the groundwork for large-scale ...

Engineering

Engineers use kirigami to make ultrastrong, lightweight structures

Cellular solids are materials composed of many cells that have been packed together, such as in a honeycomb. The shape of those cells largely determines the material's mechanical properties, including its stiffness or strength. ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

Japanese turn to wearable tech to beat the heat

Selling jackets with built-in fans, neck coolers and T-shirts that feel cold, Japanese firms are tapping into a growing market for products to help people handle the summer heat.

Engineering

Clever coating turns lampshades into indoor air purifiers

Indoor air pollution may have met its match. Today, scientists will report that they have designed catalyst-coated lampshades that transform indoor air pollutants into harmless compounds. The lampshades work with halogen ...

Electronics & Semiconductors

Tough memory device aims for space missions

Among the many hazards encountered by space probes, exposure to radiation and huge temperature swings pose particular challenges for their electronic circuits. Now KAUST researchers have invented the first ever flash memory ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

Driverless taxis gain ground in San Francisco

California authorities took a major step forward Thursday in expanding driverless taxi services in San Francisco, giving the green light for operators Waymo and Cruise to compete with ride-share services and cabs.

Hi Tech & Innovation

Why the growth of AI in making art won't eliminate artists

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has been in the news, most recently concerning the Hollywood actors' strike about the potential impact of AI in filmmaking. Another story involved AI being used to replicate the voice ...

Robotics

3D printed robotic gripper doesn't need electronics to function

A new soft robotic gripper is not only 3D printed in one print, it also doesn't need any electronics to work. The device was developed by a team of roboticists at the University of California San Diego, in collaboration with ...