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Computer Sciences

Virtual markers help smartphone cameras reconstruct lifelike multi-person movement, from hugs to martial arts

For decades, the gold standard for capturing human movement and transferring these data into the digital world has required actors to wear suits with physical markers that cameras track in a specialized studio. While accurate, ...

Energy & Green Tech

Consumer camera modification offers low-cost way to assess solar cell performance

Commercial cameras can be powerful, producing images with exquisite detail that mimic real life. In the lab, specially designed cameras can photograph objects in the infrared region, invisible to the naked eye.

Robotics

Snapping rods let frog-like robot outrun rigid legs across six terrains

Roboticists at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and the University of Michigan have shown that elastic rods can be bent and twisted to repeatedly snap between shapes, releasing built-up energy that enables small robots ...

Engineering

Ultrathin film blocks electromagnetic waves while masking infrared heat

A research team led by Dr. Taehoon Kim of the Composites & Convergence Materials Research Division at the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), collaborated with research teams led by Dr. Seon Joon Kim and Dr. Jaewoo ...

Technology news

Hardware

Toward physical AI: When the hardware becomes the neural network

Digital computing using silicon chips has transformed nearly every aspect of modern life and enabled the remarkable growth of artificial intelligence. But as AI models scale up, that growth comes with increasing demands for ...

Machine learning & AI

AI might be making women sound bad at work

When prompts to draft work emails and job applications contain language commonly used by women, AI chatbots, including ChatGPT, offer less sophisticated responses than they do to requests for office correspondence containing ...

Internet

Research reveals where the internet really slows down

Most people associate network performance with bandwidth, the amount of data that can be transferred per second. However, for many of today's digital services, latency is just as important.

Engineering

New method puts a twist on creating efficient micromixers

"Micromixer" might just sound like a fancy name for a tiny blender, but mixing liquids at the microliter scale is no simple task. Micromixers are essential components of microfluidic devices widely used across the pharmaceutical, ...

Robotics

Like a bird, this drone uses touch to grip branches and rest

Drones often hover in the air, noisy and whining. They can already be used for many tasks, but not when you need some quiet. Their batteries would also last longer if they could take a "rest" from time to time. But when a ...

Robotics

Light-powered soft robots that can keep jumping forever

Researchers from North Carolina State University have created teardrop-shaped soft robots that leap upward or forward when exposed to infrared light—and will keep jumping as long as the light is present. The work demonstrates ...