System Bits: May 15


Navigating with GPS and sensors According to MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) researchers, navigating roads less traveled in self-driving cars is a difficult task mainly because self-driving cars are usually only tested in major cities where countless hours have been spent meticulously labeling the exact 3D positions of lanes, curbs, off-ramps, and stop signs... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: May 15


Aluminum battery materials Scientists from ETH Zurich and Empa identified two new materials that could boost the development of aluminum batteries, a potential low cost, materially abundant option for temporary storage of renewable energy. The first is a corrosion-resistant material for the conductive parts of the battery; the second is a novel material for the battery's positive pole that ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: May 8


Electrolyte transistors Delft University of Technology, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and NTT have developed a nanotransistor technology that will make it easier to measure the concentration of different electrolytes in the body. Electrolytes involve nutrients and chemicals in the body. They perform important functions and a disruption of the electrolyte balance is... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: May 8


Cobalt-free cathodes Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, built lithium-ion battery cathodes without cobalt that can store 50% more energy than traditional cobalt-containing cathodes. Currently, lithium-ion battery cathodes use layered structures, which cobalt is necessary to maintain. When lithium ions move from the cathode to anode during charging, a lot of space is left... » read more

System Bits: May 8


Unlocking the brain Stanford University researchers recently reminded that for years, the people developing artificial intelligence drew inspiration from what was known about the human brain, and now AI is starting to return the favor: while not explicitly designed to do so, certain AI systems seem to mimic our brains’ inner workings more closely than previously thought. [caption id="attach... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: May 1


Adaptive materials The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and the University of Maryland have developed a technique to make adaptive materials. Using ultraviolet light, researchers have devised a way that causes a composite material to become stiffer and stronger on-demand. This in turn could enable a variety of new capabilities for the U.S. military, such as rotorcraft design. In this... » read more

System Bits: May 1


Tiniest implanted wireless nerve stimulator UC Berkeley researchers, co-led by Rikky Muller, who is also assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at Berkeley, have built what they say is the smallest volume, most efficient wireless nerve stimulator to date. Before this milestone, UC Berkeley engineers demonstrated the first implanted, ultrasonic neural dust sensor... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: May 1


Low power video streaming Engineers at the University of Washington developed a method for streaming HD video from a lightweight, wearable camera. The researchers used backscatter to send pixel data to a more powerful device, such as a smartphone or laptop, for power-hungry tasks like video processing and compression that have made a lightweight streaming camera out of reach. The pixels in ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: April 24


Super electron guns The Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is developing a new type of electron gun based on superconducting technology. The new superconducting electron gun recently produced its first beam of electrons, according to SLAC. The technology is being developed for future high-energy X-ray lasers and ultra-fast electron microscopes. Electron guns a... » read more

System Bits: April 24


Some superconductors carry spin currents A few years ago, researchers from the University of Cambridge showed that it was possible to create electron pairs in which the spins are aligned: up-up or down-down. The spin current can be carried by up-up and down-down pairs moving in opposite directions with a net charge current of zero, and the ability to create such a pure spin super-current is an... » read more

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