Could AI tell you where you left your keys?

Could AI tell you where you left your keys?
MIT researchers have developed a long-term memory framework for robots that combines advanced map representations with rich descriptions of the environment. Here, a moving robot attaches detailed descriptions to the bicycles it sees as it explores. Credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

An auto factory worker can remember the storage bin where she left a partly assembled component the night before and quickly return to that spot to pick it up. But robots that may work side by side with her would struggle to develop and access this same type of “spatiotemporal” memory.

Now, MIT researchers have developed a long-term memory framework that allows robots to rapidly form and recall a detailed mental model of complicated, large-scale environments...

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Young stellar activity drives galactic evolution across the universe

Revealing new evidence about cosmic evolution can teach researchers how galaxies begin and grow.
Revealing new evidence about cosmic evolution can teach researchers how galaxies begin and grow.
Photo: Getty Images

Astronomers have revealed new details about how young stars shape their galactic surroundings in a new study. Researchers analyzed about 18,000 star-forming regions in nearby spiral galaxies using data from powerful instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, whose observations were made as part of the PHANGS survey—a collaboration aimed at better understanding galactic evolution.

They found that in normal galaxies, pressure from ionized gas drives the expansion of young star-forming regions...

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How intermittent fasting may shield the brain from chronic stress

Intermittent Fasting Mouse Study
Credit: Image generated by the editorial team using AI for illustrative purposes.

Chronic stress, the prolonged exposure to psychological and/or physical strain, is known to be a risk factor for depression, anxiety and some other psychiatric disorders. Past studies suggest that chronic stress disrupts the integrity of myelin, a fatty insulating layer that surrounds nerve fibers and helps electrical signals travel efficiently between brain cells.

Identifying lifestyle changes that can reverse or diminish the adverse effects of chronic stress on the brain could be advantageous, as they could potentially help prevent or delay the onset of various psychiatric conditions...

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Quantum hyperdimensional computing can work 500 times faster than other methods

Quantum computing paradigm inspired by the human brain
Circuit diagram illustrating the two-stage bundling. Credit: npj Unconventional Computing (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s44335-026-00064-6

Cleveland Clinic researchers are unlocking quantum computing’s full potential through the creation of a new computing paradigm inspired by the human brain. Fabio Cumbo, Ph.D., research associate in the lab of Daniel Blankenberg, Ph.D., associate staff, Computational Life Sciences, is developing the model, called quantum hyperdimensional computing (QHDC).

Cumbo published the first-ever implementation of QHDC in two distinct experiments in npj Unconventional Computing.

Hyperdimensional computing (HDC) is a type of computing based in neuroscience. It follows the idea that a concept in the brain is not stored on one single neuron...

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