https://techxplore.com/rss-feed/hardware-news/ en-us The latest news on consumer electronic hardware, electronic gadgets, hardware and electronics. As artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital services continue to expand, the world is facing a growing need for faster and more energy-efficient ways to store and process information. A team led by the National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) has developed a new magnetic memory material that can be rewritten using laser light instead of electric current, a step that could help reduce power consumption in data centers and support future high-speed information systems. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-rewrites-magnetic-memory-pulse-path.html Hardware Thu, 11 Jun 2026 16:00:06 EDT news700411801 A new kernel (core program) within an operating system gives researchers a cleaner view of what's happening inside a processor. Called Fractal and developed at MIT, the kernel has already surfaced previously unknown behavior in Apple's M1. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-os-kernel-uncovers-hidden-apple.html Hardware Wed, 10 Jun 2026 17:00:02 EDT news700329422 Every day, billions of people trust computer chips to protect their most sensitive information, ranging from banking passwords to national security secrets. But what if those chips were secretly compromised before they even left the factory? https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-hidden-chip-threats.html Hardware Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:40:03 EDT news700233961 Randomness forms a crucial backbone of modern society, where every encryption key, secure transaction and digital signature depends on random numbers that no adversary can predict. But every random number generator ever deployed, classical or quantum, has asked its users to take the hardware's honesty on faith. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-quantum-chip-generates-certified-random.html Hardware Tue, 09 Jun 2026 13:40:06 EDT news700231004 The rapid advancement and diffusion of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, such as the machine learning models underpinning the functioning of ChatGPT, Gemini and similar platforms, have posed new demands on the electronics engineering industry. In fact, these systems are computationally intensive and consume substantial power, particularly when running on existing devices. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-ultra-thin-mos-transistors-chip.html Hardware Mon, 08 Jun 2026 11:20:08 EDT news700135828 Researchers led by Takaki Hatsui at the RIKEN SPring-8 Center (RSC) in Japan and collaborators have developed a new approach to compressing X-ray imaging data in real time, reducing the size of data files by more than 8,000 times, while at the same time preserving the detailed X-ray intensity information required for quantitative analysis. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-real-ray-compression-size.html Hardware Wed, 03 Jun 2026 09:00:01 EDT news699695943 Cornell researchers have developed a new type of computing device that stores information electrically but reads it through tiny mechanical motion, an unusual approach that could open a path toward more energy-efficient hardware for artificial intelligence and scientific computing. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-rethinking-ai-hardware-tiny-vibrating.html Hardware Mon, 01 Jun 2026 12:20:08 EDT news699534841 By stacking transistors on top of one another, rather than laying them side by side on a flat chip, many electronic engineers are hopeful that vast amounts of computing power could be packed into tiny spaces, all while cutting energy use. So far, however, the ability to build these monolithic 3D integrated circuits has proven stubbornly difficult, largely because the fabrication processes required can damage the layers already in place. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-3d-silicon-circuits-denser-chips.html Hardware Sat, 30 May 2026 10:00:02 EDT news699267682 Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed an optical device that reveals hidden images and changes colors in response to different levels of humidity. The technology, published in Light: Science & Applications, could lead to the development of new anti-counterfeiting labels, secure data storage, interactive displays, and environmental sensors. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-optical-device-humidity-hidden-option.html Hardware Wed, 27 May 2026 16:20:05 EDT news699116461 Photonic devices are hardware systems that can process information using light instead of electricity. These systems could potentially perform computations faster than electronic devices, while also consuming less energy. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-based-chip-energy-future-ai.html Hardware Sun, 24 May 2026 10:10:01 EDT news698335081 Researchers have developed a memory technology that can store and retain data using almost no electricity by controlling spin states through temperature changes. The work, led by researchers from POSTECH and Chungnam National University, demonstrates non-volatile switching driven by temperature changes rather than electric currents. The approach could reduce energy consumption by up to 66 times compared with existing methods. The study was published as an Inside Front Cover paper in Advanced Functional Materials. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-thermal-war-enables-memory-energy.html Hardware Wed, 13 May 2026 11:24:50 EDT news697890188 Artificial intelligence systems, such as large language models (LLMs) and convolutional neural networks (CNNs), can analyze large amounts of data and rapidly generate desired content or identify meaningful patterns. However, when running on existing hardware, such as smartphones, laptops and tablets, these systems typically consume a large amount of energy. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-neuromorphic-chip-slash-ai-energy.html Hardware Wed, 13 May 2026 08:20:01 EDT news697803616 As traditional computer chips reach their physical limits and artificial intelligence demands more energy than ever, University of Missouri researchers are rethinking how computers work by taking cues from the human brain. The timing is critical. Energy use from AI data centers is projected to double by the end of the decade, raising urgent questions about sustainability. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-brain-smarter-efficient-hardware.html Hardware Thu, 07 May 2026 16:20:05 EDT news697389001 In the era of big data and artificial intelligence, a new approach has emerged for solving combinatorial optimization problems, which involves finding the most efficient solution among many possible options and can otherwise take thousands of years to compute. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-silicon-oscillators-problems-thousands-years.html Hardware Wed, 06 May 2026 12:20:05 EDT news697287601 A new hardware-software co-design increases AI energy efficiency and reduces latency, enabling real-time processing of continuous data streams like video or sensor feeds. The neuromorphic approach unlocks the ability to run powerful, real-time AI directly on local edge devices like phones, hearing aids or autonomous vehicle cameras, according to a University of Michigan Engineering study published in Nature Communications. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-hardware-software-efficiently-ai-edge.html Software Sat, 11 Apr 2026 11:00:04 EDT news694871654 In an effort to meet the rising energy demands of data centers, engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new chip design that could improve how graphics processing units (GPUs) convert and manage power. The technology demonstrates a more efficient way to perform a critical task in electronics: converting high voltages into lower levels required by computing hardware. In lab tests, a prototype chip performed the type of voltage conversion used in modern data centers with high efficiency. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-prototype-chip-boost-efficiency-power.html Hardware Wed, 08 Apr 2026 16:00:02 EDT news694882441 To improve data center efficiency, multiple storage devices are often pooled together over a network so many applications can share them. But even with pooling, significant device capacity remains underutilized due to performance variability across the devices. MIT researchers have now developed a system that boosts the performance of storage devices by handling three major sources of variability simultaneously. Their approach delivers significant speed improvements over traditional methods that tackle only one source of variability at a time. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-software-pooled-ssd-centers.html Software Tue, 07 Apr 2026 12:12:57 EDT news694782611 A cross-institutional research team has developed Co-Located Authentication and Processing (CLAP), a privacy-preserving system that overcomes the trade-off between security and performance in edge computing devices. The study, titled "Privacy-preserving data analysis using a memristor chip with co-located authentication and processing," is published in Science Advances. The team was led by Professor Ngai Wong and Dr. Zhengwu Liu from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), in collaboration with Tsinghua University and the Southern University of Science and Technology. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-memristor-chip-combines-memory-edge.html Hardware Mon, 06 Apr 2026 12:20:04 EDT news694695661 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 faster and more stably than conventional approaches. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-memristor-built-oxygen-gradient-stability.html Hardware Fri, 03 Apr 2026 09:02:29 EDT news694425647 A new type of computer chip that uses the physics of materials to process information could make some artificial intelligence (AI) systems far more energy efficient, researchers have found. Loughborough University physicists have developed a device that can process data that changes over time directly in hardware, rather than relying on software running on conventional computers. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-brain-chip-ai-tasks-energy.html Hardware Thu, 02 Apr 2026 09:00:05 EDT news694338615 The electronics inside your phone, your car, and every satellite currently orbiting Earth share one critical weakness: heat. Push them past about 200 degrees Celsius and they start to fail. For decades, that thermal ceiling has been one of the hardest walls in engineering. Now a team at the University of Southern California may have just found a way around it. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-memory-chip-survives-temperatures-hotter.html Hardware Tue, 31 Mar 2026 17:20:06 EDT news694195201 Think about how easily you recognize a friend in a dimly lit room. Your eyes capture light, while your brain filters out background noise, retrieves stored visual information, and processes the image to make a match. It all happens in a fraction of a second and uses remarkably little energy. Unfortunately, artificial vision systems in smartphones, cameras, and autonomous machines operate more like an assembly line. In our recent paper published in Nature Electronics, we describe how we addressed this challenge by enabling sensing, memory, and processing within the same device, pointing to a possible route toward more efficient machine vision. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-diode-memory-smart-cameras.html Hardware Mon, 30 Mar 2026 18:00:03 EDT news694089972 The human brain constantly makes decisions. It requires minimal power to move bodies in a desired direction or avoid an object. A Purdue University engineer uses the brain's efficiency as inspiration to help autonomous vehicles, such as drones and robots, make crucial, time-sensitive decisions while operating in the field. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-brain-ai-hardware-autonomous-devices.html Hardware Fri, 27 Mar 2026 10:20:05 EDT news693822781 Researchers have developed a holographic data storage approach that stores and retrieves information in three dimensions by combining three properties of light—amplitude, phase and polarization. By allowing more data to be stored in the same space, the new approach could help advance efforts to meet the growing global demand for data storage. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-holographic-storage-approach-space-encoding.html Hardware Thu, 26 Mar 2026 10:00:02 EDT news693656041 As AI processing demands reach the limits of current CMOS technology, neuromorphic computing—hardware and software that mimic the human brain's structure—can help process information faster and more efficiently. A new memristor made from 2D layers of bismuth selenide (Bi2Se3) combines long-term data retention and analog tuning to enhance AI energy efficiency and processing speed. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-memristor-fully-analog-hardware-based.html Hardware Wed, 25 Mar 2026 15:40:03 EDT news693671642 Thanks to the 5th generation (5G) technology, we now enjoy unprecedented levels of connectivity. Nevertheless, wireless data traffic is facing an increasing demand for an even higher capacity and faster data transfer—a demand that, according to Edholm's law, could exceed the terabit per second before 2035. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-graphene-energy-efficient-6g-hardware.html Hardware Wed, 25 Mar 2026 13:20:03 EDT news693661801 AI-generated images and videos pose a threat to democratic processes and undermine trust within society. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now developed chip technology that enables verification of the authenticity of sensor data including images or videos. Their study is published in the journal Nature Electronics. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-sensor-chips-deepfakes-adding-cryptographic.html Hardware Tue, 24 Mar 2026 10:30:10 EDT news693565096 Researchers have developed a new kind of nanoelectronic device that could dramatically cut the energy consumed by artificial intelligence hardware by mimicking the human brain. The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, developed a form of hafnium oxide that acts as a highly stable, low-energy "memristor"—a component designed to mimic the efficient way neurons are connected in the brain. The results are reported in the journal Science Advances. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-brain-nanoelectronic-device-ai-hardware.html Hardware Fri, 20 Mar 2026 14:00:01 EDT news693136502 A research team led by Lee Hyun Jun and Noh Hee Yeon from the Division of Nanotechnology at DGIST has succeeded in implementing the world's first two-terminal-based artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor that precisely controls hydrogen with electrical signals to enable self-learning and memory. The team's work appears in Advanced Science. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-ai-semiconductor-hydrogen-ions-memory.html Hardware Mon, 16 Mar 2026 15:40:04 EDT news692891401 Edge computing is an emerging IT architecture that enables the processing of data locally by smartphones, autonomous vehicles, local servers, and other IoT devices instead of sending it to be processed at a centralized large data center. This approach could allow artificial intelligence (AI) models and other computational systems to perform tasks rapidly, while consuming less power. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-communication-aware-neural-networks-advance.html Hardware Mon, 16 Mar 2026 10:00:02 EDT news692873648