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Computer Sciences

New algorithm helps read QR codes on uneven surfaces

Sometimes, we try to capture a QR code with a good digital camera on a smartphone, but the reading eventually fails. This usually happens when the QR code itself is of poor image quality, or if it has been printed on surfaces ...

Engineering

A quick and easy way to produce anode materials for sodium-ion batteries using microwaves

A research team has developed a process technology that enables ultrafast, 30-second preparation of hard carbon anodes for sodium-ion batteries using microwave induction heating.

Engineering

Dragonfly wing pattern reinforces vaults and domes better than ancient Roman and tech-generated methods

Skoltech researchers and their colleagues from the University of Granada, Spain, have determined the most efficient ways to reinforce vaults and domes in architecture. The team compared how well various traditional and unconventional ...

Energy & Green Tech

Scientists improve catalytic converter efficiency to cut harmful pollution from hydrogen engines

Hydrogen-burning internal combustion engines offer great promise in the fight against climate change because they are powerful without emitting any earth-warming carbon. They can power heavy-duty trucks and buses and are ...

Engineering

Research allows for 3D printing of 'organic electronics'

When looking at the future of production of micro-scale organic electronics, Mohammad Reza Abidian—associate professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering—sees their potential ...

Engineering

Researchers develop a wearable textile exomuscle

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a wearable textile exomuscle that serves as an extra layer of muscles. They aim to use it to increase the upper body strength and endurance of people with restricted mobility.

Robotics

Robots learn to play with play dough

The inner child in many of us feels an overwhelming sense of joy when stumbling across a pile of the fluorescent, rubbery mixture of water, salt, and flour that put goo on the map: play dough. (Even if this happens rarely ...

Electronics & Semiconductors

First organic bipolar transistor developed

The invention of the transistor in 1947 by Shockley, Bardeen and Brattain at Bell Laboratories ushered in the age of microelectronics and revolutionized our lives. First, so-called bipolar transistors were invented, in which ...

Robotics

Can robotics help us achieve sustainable development?

An international team of scientists, led by the University of Leeds, have assessed how robotics and autonomous systems might facilitate or impede the delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Robotics

Robots found to turn racist and sexist with flawed AI

A robot operating with a popular Internet-based artificial intelligence system consistently gravitates to men over women, white people over people of color, and jumps to conclusions about peoples' jobs after a glance at their ...

Robotics

Robotic lightning bugs take flight

Fireflies that light up dusky backyards on warm summer evenings use their luminescence for communication—to attract a mate, ward off predators or lure prey.