Bizarre Things: Computers & Math

June 15, 2024

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Scientists Preserve DNA in an Amber-Like Polymer

June 13, 2024 — With their 'T-REX' method, researchers developed a glassy, amber-like polymer that can be used for long-term storage of DNA, such as entire human genomes or digital files such as ...

Swimming Microrobots Deliver Cancer-Fighting Drugs to Metastatic Lung Tumors in Mice

June 12, 2024 — Engineers have developed microscopic robots, known as microrobots, capable of swimming through the lungs to deliver cancer-fighting medication directly to metastatic tumors. This approach has shown ...

To Heal Skin, Scientists Invent Living Bioelectronics

June 12, 2024 — Engineers have created a patch that combines sensors and bacteria to interact with the ...

Towards a New Era in Flexible Piezoelectric Sensors for Both Humans and Robots

June 12, 2024 — Flexible piezoelectric sensors are essential to monitor the motions of both humans and humanoid robots. However, existing designs are either are costly or have limited sensitivity. In a recent study, ...

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Enhancing Cybersecurity With 'Moving Trees'

May 29, 2024 — Researchers propose a new tree-inspired one-time password scheme that provides security and privacy while supporting changing user ...

AI-Powered Simulation Training Improves Human Performance in Robotic Exoskeletons

June 12, 2024 — Researchers have demonstrated a new method that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and computer simulations to train robotic exoskeletons to ...

3D-Printed Mini-Actuators Can Move Small Soft Robots, Lock Them Into New Shapes

June 11, 2024 — Researchers have demonstrated miniature soft hydraulic actuators that can be used to control the deformation and motion of soft robots that are less ...

Algae Offer Real Potential as a Renewable Electricity Source

June 11, 2024 — The need to transition away from fossil fuels to more sustainable energy production is critical. That's why a team of researchers is looking at a potential power source that not only produces no ...

New Technique Could Help Build Quantum Computers of the Future

June 11, 2024 — Researchers have demonstrated a new method that could enable the large-scale manufacturing of optical qubits. The advance could bring us closer to a scalable quantum ...

Trash-Sorting Robot Mimics Complex Human Sense of Touch

June 11, 2024 — Researchers are breaking through the difficulties of robotic recognition of various common, yet complex, items. Their layered sensor is equipped with material detection at the surface and pressure ...

Four-Legged, Dog-Like Robot 'Sniffs' Hazardous Gases in Inaccessible Environments

June 10, 2024 — Nightmare material or truly man's best friend? A team of researchers equipped a dog-like quadruped robot with a mechanized arm that takes air samples ...

Protocol for Creating 'Wired Miniature Brains'

June 10, 2024 — Researchers have developed -- and shared -- a process for creating brain cortical organoids -- essentially miniature artificial brains with functioning neural ...

Researchers Demonstrate the First Chip-Based 3D Printer

June 10, 2024 — Researchers have demonstrated the first chip-based 3D printer, a tiny device that emits reconfigurable beams of visible light into a well of resin that rapidly cures into a solid shape. The advance ...

Researchers Create Skin-Inspired Sensory Robots to Provide Medical Treatment

June 10, 2024 — Scientists have created innovative soft robots equipped with electronic skins and artificial muscles, allowing them to sense their surroundings and ...

Liquid Metal-Based Electronic Logic Device That Mimics Intelligent Prey-Capture Mechanism of Venus Flytrap

June 6, 2024 — A research team has developed a liquid metal-based electronic logic device that mimics the intelligent prey-capture mechanism of Venus flytraps. Exhibiting memory and counting properties, the device ...

People Feel More Connected to 'Tweezer-Like' Bionic Tools That Don't Resemble Human Hands

June 6, 2024 — Some say the next step in human evolution will be the integration of technology with flesh. Now, researchers have used virtual reality to test whether humans can feel embodiment -- the sense that ...

Flapping Frequency of Birds, Insects, Bats and Whales Described by Universal Equation

June 5, 2024 — A single universal equation can closely approximate the frequency of wingbeats and fin strokes made by birds, insects, bats and whales, despite their different body sizes and wing shapes, researchers ...

Babies Use 'Helpless' Infant Period to Learn Powerful Foundation Models, Just Like ChatGPT

June 5, 2024 — Babies' brains are not as immature as previously thought, rather they are using the period of postnatal 'helplessness' to learn powerful foundation models similar to those underpinning ...

Using AI to Decode Dog Vocalizations

June 4, 2024 — Have you ever wished you could understand what your dog is trying to say to you? Researchers are exploring the possibilities of AI, developing tools that can identify whether a dog's bark ...

Unraveling the Physics of Knitting

June 4, 2024 — A team used experiments and simulations to quantify and predict how knit fabric response can be programmed. By establishing a mathematical theory of knitted materials, the researchers hope that ...

A Technique for More Effective Multipurpose Robots

June 3, 2024 — MIT researchers developed a technique to combine robotics training data across domains, modalities, and tasks using generative AI models. They create a combined strategy from several different ...

Enhancing Nanofibrous Acoustic Energy Harvesters With Artificial Intelligence

June 3, 2024 — Scientists have employed artificial intelligence techniques to improve the design and production of nanofibers used in wearable nanofiber acoustic energy harvesters (NAEH). These acoustic devices ...

Public Have No Difficulty Getting to Grips With an Extra Thumb, Study Finds

May 29, 2024 — Researchers have shown that members of the public have little trouble in learning very quickly how to use a third thumb -- a controllable, prosthetic extra thumb -- to pick up and manipulate objects. ...

World's Smallest Quantum Light Detector on a Silicon Chip

May 28, 2024 — Researchers have made an important breakthrough in scaling quantum technology by integrating the world's tiniest quantum light detector onto a silicon ...

Close to 1 in 2 Surveyed Say They Would Use Air Taxis in the Future

May 28, 2024 — Through a study of 1,002 participants, scientists have found that almost half (45.7 per cent) say they intend to use air taxis when they become available, with over one-third (36.2 per cent) planning ...

Imperceptible Sensors Made from 'Electronic Spider Silk' Can Be Printed Directly on Human Skin

May 24, 2024 — Researchers have developed a method to make adaptive and eco-friendly sensors that can be directly and imperceptibly printed onto a wide range of biological surfaces, whether that's a finger or ...

AI Headphones Let Wearer Listen to a Single Person in a Crowd, by Looking at Them Just Once

May 24, 2024 — Engineers have developed an artificial intelligence system that lets someone wearing headphones look at a person speaking for three to five seconds to 'enroll' them. The system then plays ...

New AI Accurately Predicts Fly Behavior

May 22, 2024 — Researchers trained an AI model to accurately predict male fruit flies' courtship behavior in response to any sight of a female. This breakthrough offers new insight into how the brain processes ...

3D Printing Robot Creates Extreme Shock-Absorbing Shape, With Help of AI

May 21, 2024 — See how an autonomous robot created a shock-absorbing shape no human ever could -- and what it means for designing safer helmets, packaging, car bumpers, and ...

2D Materials: A Catalyst for Future Quantum Technologies

May 20, 2024 — Researchers have discovered that a 'single atomic defect' in a layered 2D material can hold onto quantum information for microseconds at room temperature. This underscores the broader ...

Physicists Propose Path to Faster, More Flexible Robots

May 17, 2024 — Physicists revealed a microscopic phenomenon that could greatly improve the performance of soft devices, such as agile flexible robots or microscopic capsules for drug ...

Diamond Glitter: A Play of Colors With Artificial DNA Crystals

May 17, 2024 — Using DNA origami, researchers have built a diamond lattice with a periodicity of hundreds of nanometers -- a new approach for manufacturing semiconductors for visible ...

Building a Better Sarcasm Detector

May 16, 2024 — Sarcasm is notoriously tricky to convey through text, and the subtle changes in tone that convey sarcasm often confuse computer algorithms as well, limiting virtual assistants and content analysis ...

Jet-Propelled Sea Creatures Could Improve Ocean Robotics

May 15, 2024 — Scientists have discovered that colonies of gelatinous sea animals swim through the ocean in giant corkscrew shapes using coordinated jet propulsion, an unusual kind of locomotion that could inspire ...