Hi Tech & Innovation news

Hi Tech & Innovation

A quantum neural network can see optical illusions like humans do. Could it be the future of AI?

Optical illusions, quantum mechanics and neural networks might seem to be quite unrelated topics at first glance. However, in new research published in APL Machine Learning, I have used a phenomenon called "quantum tunneling" ...

Computer Sciences

Virtual and augmented reality can temporarily change the way people perceive distances, finds study

Researchers at the University of Toronto have found that using virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) can temporarily change the way people perceive and interact with the real world—with potential implications for the ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

Shakespeare in sign language, as seen through AI

A new study uses co-creation with reference communities to develop an app for sign language machine translation (SLMT). The research team designed a theatrical performance in sign language, seen through the eyes of artificial ...

Engineering

Sprayable gels could protect buildings during wildfires

As climate change creates hotter, drier conditions, we are seeing longer fire seasons with larger, more frequent wildfires. In recent years, catastrophic wildfires have destroyed homes and infrastructure, caused devastating ...

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), ...

Engineering

How air-powered computers can prevent blood clots

A new, air-powered computer sets off alarms when certain medical devices fail. The invention is a more reliable and lower-cost way to help prevent blood clots and strokes—all without electronic sensors.

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.

Engineering

Liquid metal may point way to wearable ultrasound devices

The best-known byproduct of ultrasound—so named because its frequencies exceed the range of the human ear—is, in fact, not audio but visual: 2D imagery, often of a fetus maturing in the womb. But ultrasound has also found ...

Energy & Green Tech

Researchers develop bendable energy storage materials

Imagine being able to wear your smartphone on your wrist, not as a watch, but literally as a flexible band that surrounds around your arm. How about clothes that charge your gadgets just by wearing them?

Engineering

Exploring biomimetic curved artificial compound eyes

As one of the most successful eye designs in the animal kingdom, natural compound eyes (NCEs) have attracted significant research attention in replicating the anatomical configuration to form biomimetic curved artificial ...

Energy & Green Tech

Reimagining the future of solar energy

Scientists are always on the lookout for ways to make our world a better place, and one area they're focusing on is solar energy. One idea in this area is to make solar cells more efficient by concentrating more solar light ...

Energy & Green Tech

A rechargeable, non-aqueous manganese metal battery

A research team led by Prof. Chen Wei from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) revealed for the first time the important role of halogen-mediated solvation structure ...

Computer Sciences

Opening new doors in the VR world—literally

Room-scale virtual reality (VR) is one where users explore a VR environment by physically walking through it. The technology provides many benefits, given its highly immersive experience. Yet the drawback is that it requires ...

Computer Sciences

Computing's quantum shift

With the race to build a new generation of computers heating up, European companies are eyeing the game-changing opportunities.

Engineering

High-energy laser weapons: How they work, what they are used for

Nations around the world are rapidly developing high-energy laser weapons for military missions on land and sea, and in the air and space. Visions of swarms of small, inexpensive drones filling the skies or skimming across ...