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Hardware

New memristor design uses built-in oxygen gradient to bring stability to reinforcement learning

In a recent study published in Nature Communications, researchers created a memristor that uses a built-in oxygen gradient to produce slow, stable conductance changes, enabling a reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm to learn ...

Energy & Green Tech

Breaking fuel cell barriers: New platinum catalyst brings high-efficiency hydrogen vehicles closer to commercialization

A research team has developed a next-generation platinum-based catalyst that improves both activity and durability in hydrogen fuel cells. The study is published in Advanced Materials. The team was led by Professor Sang Uck ...

Engineering

This paint changes colors when hit, revealing location and strength of impact

Imagine a paint that changes color depending on how hard its surface is hit. It could be used on football helmets to monitor concussion-level impacts, to record the handling history of shipped packages, or placed on insoles ...

Robotics

Introducing MirrorBot, a robot designed to foster human connection

While technology has made the world "smaller," it has also pulled individuals apart, thanks to mobile phones and other devices that command our attention. Cornell University researchers are using technology, in the form of ...

Technology news

Energy & Green Tech

How electric vehicles could back up the power system

Electric vehicles (EVs) could do more for our environment than simply replace gasoline. Published in Joule, a new assessment of EV charging strategies suggests that EVs could serve as a vast network of mobile batteries, storing ...

Computer Sciences

New AI testing method flags fairness risks in autonomous systems

Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used to help optimize decision-making in high-stakes settings. For instance, an autonomous system can identify a power distribution strategy that minimizes costs while keeping ...

Energy & Green Tech

Researchers measure traffic emissions, to the block, in real-time

In a study focused on New York City, MIT researchers have shown that existing sensors and mobile data can be used to generate a near real-time, high-resolution picture of auto emissions, which could be used to develop local ...

Computer Sciences

'Rosetta stone' for database inputs reveals serious security issue

The data inputs that enable modern search and recommendation systems were thought to be secure, but an algorithm developed by Cornell Tech researchers successfully teased out names, medical diagnoses and financial information ...

Energy & Green Tech

Electric vehicles could catch on in Africa sooner than expected

The number of vehicles in Africa is expected to double between now and 2050—faster than on any other continent. The question is not whether mobility will increase, but how. A new study led by researchers at ETH Zurich and ...

Business

Understanding ammonia energy's tradeoffs around the world

Many people are optimistic about ammonia's potential as an energy source and carrier of hydrogen, and though large-scale adoption would require major changes to the way it is currently manufactured, ammonia does have a number ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

What a virtual zebrafish can teach us about autonomous AI

Aran Nayebi jokes that his robot vacuum has a bigger brain than his two cats. But while the vacuum can only follow a preset path, Zoe and Shira leap, play and investigate the house with real autonomy.

Engineering

Pushing organic solar cell efficiency past 18%

A joint research team from National Taiwan University, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, and National Tsing Hua University has discovered a precise molecular engineering strategy. By adjusting the side chains of organic ...

Engineering

Novel AI method sharpens 3D X-ray vision

X-ray tomography is a powerful tool that enables scientists and engineers to peer inside of objects in 3D, including computer chips and advanced battery materials, without performing anything invasive. It's the same basic ...

Engineering

Supersonic tests defy a 70-year-old rule of metal strength

When engineers want to make a metal stronger, one of the most reliable strategies is to use smaller grains—the microscopic crystal regions within the material. But when deformed at extreme speeds, this rule flips and metals ...

Computer Sciences

Digital technique puts rendered fabric in the best light

The sheen of satin, the subtle glints of twill, the translucence of sheer silk: Fabric has long been difficult to render digitally because of the myriad ways different yarns can be woven or knitted together.

Energy & Green Tech

AI data centers could stabilize the power grid

The rapid development and widespread use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems is posing new challenges for electricity consumption. This is because most AI systems rely on data centers, facilities hosting several computing ...

Robotics

One image is all robots need to find their way

While the capabilities of robots have improved significantly over the past decades, they are not always able to reliably and safely move in unknown, dynamic and complex environments. To move in their surroundings, robots ...