Developing automated systems that track occupants and self-adapt to their preferences is a major next step for the future of smart homes. When you walk into a room, for instance, a system could set to your preferred temperature. Or when you sit on the couch, a system could instantly flick the television to your favorite…
Smart Watch, Algorithm Combo Could Help Improve Sleep Quality
Ultra-Light Gloves Let Users ‘Touch’ Virtual Objects
Engineers and software developers around the world are seeking to create technology that lets users touch, grasp and manipulate virtual objects, while feeling like they are actually touching something in the real world. Scientists at EPFL and ETH Zurich have just made a major step toward this goal with their new haptic glove, which is…
Fast, Accurate Estimation of the Earth’s Magnetic Field for Natural Disaster Detection
Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have applied machine-learning techniques to achieve fast, accurate estimates of local geomagnetic fields using data taken at multiple observation points, potentially allowing detection of changes caused by earthquakes and tsunamis. A deep neural network (DNN) model was developed and trained using existing data; the result is a fast, efficient method…
World’s Fastest Camera Freezes Time at 10 Trillion Frames Per Second
What happens when a new technology is so precise that it operates on a scale beyond our characterization capabilities? For example, the lasers used at INRS produce ultrashort pulses in the femtosecond range (10 exp -15 s) that are far too short to visualize. Although some measurements are possible, nothing beats a clear image, says…
Research on Light-Matter Interaction Could Improve Electronic and Optoelectronic Devices
A paper published in Nature Communications by Sufei Shi, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering at Rensselaer, increases our understanding of how light interacts with atomically thin semiconductors and creates unique excitonic complex particles, multiple electrons, and holes strongly bound together. These particles possess a new quantum degree of freedom, called “valley spin.” The…
AI Tool Automatically Reveals How to Write Apps That Drain Less Battery
New Research Could Lead to More Energy-Efficient Computing
Computers in the future could be more energy-efficient, thanks to new research from Binghamton University, State University at New York. Devices like drones depend on a constant WiFi signal – if the WiFi stops, the drone crashes. Louis Piper, associate professor of physics and director of materials science and engineering at Binghamton University, wants to…
Virtual Reality Could Make Exercising Easier
Virtual reality (VR) might help athletes and others perform better on the track, field, court or weight room by reducing the perceived pain associated with the given activity. Researchers from the University of Kent have found that VR tools can aid in performance during exercise in a number of factors, including heart rate, pain intensity,…
Decoding Multiple Frames from a Single, Scattered Exposure
Novel Smartphone System Tests for Lead in Water
The discovery of lead in Flint, Michigan’s drinking water drew renewed attention to the health risks posed by the metal. Now researchers at the University of Houston have created an inexpensive system using a smartphone and a lens made with an inkjet printer that can detect lead in tap water at levels commonly accepted as…
Connecting the Lab Bench: IoT’s Role in Addressing the Reproducibility Crisis
There is a crisis in science right now, according to ninety percent of scientists surveyed by Nature magazine, and it pertains to one of the most important elements of scientific research: reproducibility. The ability to accurately reproduce study results is crucial because it helps to ensure that the data is correct, provides transparency, and gives…
Study Demonstrates New Mechanism for Developing Electronic Devices
The prevalence of electronic devices has transformed life in the 21st century. At the heart of these devices is the movement of electrons across materials. Scientists today continue to discover new ways to manipulate and move electrons in a quest for making faster and better functioning devices. Scientists from the Femtosecond Spectroscopy Unit led by…
Department of Energy Announces $218 Million for Quantum Information Science
Spray-On Antennas Could Unlock Potential of Smart, Connected Technology
Researchers Patent Technology for Smart Seat Cushion, Adaptable Prosthetics
The University of Texas at Arlington has patented a smart seat cushion that uses changes in air pressure to redistribute body weight and help prevent the painful ulcers caused by sitting for long periods of time in a wheelchair. The same technology can be used to create prosthetic liners that adapt their shape to accommodate…
Putting Underused Smart Devices to Work
There are currently millions of heavily underutilized devices in the World. The storage, networking, sensing and computational power of laptops, smartphones, routers or base stations grows with each new version and product release. Why not put all those extra gigabytes of memory and those powerful processing units to work collaboratively and expand the services available…
New Loudspeaker, Microphone Can Attach to Skin
An international collaboration of researchers has developed new wearable technology that can turn the human skin into a loudspeaker, an advancement that could help the hearing and speech impaired. The researchers, affiliated with the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), developed ultrathin, transparent and conductive hybrid nanomembranes with nanoscale-thickness that comprises an orthogonal…
New Photonic Chip Promises More Robust Quantum Computers
Scientists have developed a topological photonic chip to process quantum information, promising a more robust option for scalable quantum computers. The research team, led by RMIT University’s Dr Alberto Peruzzo, has for the first time demonstrated that quantum information can be encoded, processed and transferred at a distance with topological circuits on the chip. The…
New Devices Based on Rust Could Reduce Excess Heat in Computers
Scientists have succeeded in observing the first long-distance transfer of information in a magnetic group of materials known as antiferromagnets. These materials make it possible to achieve computing speeds much faster than existing devices. Conventional devices using current technologies have the unwelcome side effect of getting hot and being limited in speed. This is slowing…
Power of Tiny Vibrations Could Inspire Novel Heating Devices
Holography, Light-Field Technology Combo Could Deliver Practical 3D Displays
Purdue Develops ‘Augmented Reality’ Tools to Help Health Care Workers in War Zones
Purdue University researchers have developed a unique approach that allows experienced surgeons and physicians around the world to help less-experienced doctors in war zones, natural disasters and in rural areas perform complicated procedures. “The most critical challenge is to provide surgical expertise into the battlefield when it is most required,” said Juan Wachs, Purdue’s James…
Russian Scientists Have Increased the Internet Speed Up to One and a Half Times
A joint article of the scientists of the Samara University and the University of Missouri (Columbia, USA) was published in the IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management journal. The publication presents an algorithm that provides a fast and reliable access to powerful data processing centers (Big Data) for solving high-tech tasks. The algorithm described…
Device Harvests Energy From Low-Frequency Vibrations
A wearable energy-harvesting device could generate energy from the swing of an arm while walking or jogging, according to a team of researchers from Penn State’s Materials Research Institute and the University of Utah. The device, about the size of a wristwatch, produces enough power to run a personal health monitoring system. “The devices we…