Novel AI semiconductor uses hydrogen ions for learning and memory

New AI semiconductor uses hydrogen to remember and learn
Credit: ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2026). DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5c21475

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.

Whereas modern AI requires the rapid processing of vast amounts of data, the separation of computation and memory in conventional computers results in speed degradation and high power consumption...

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Ryugu asteroid samples contain all DNA and RNA building blocks, bolstering origin-of-life theories

The black particles from an asteroid some 300 million kilometres away look unremarkable, but they hold components of life
The black particles from an asteroid some 300 million kilometers away look unremarkable, but they hold components of life.

All the essential ingredients to make the DNA and RNA underpinning life on Earth have been discovered in samples collected from the asteroid Ryugu, scientists said Monday.

The discovery comes after these building blocks of life were detected on another asteroid called Bennu, suggesting they are abundant throughout the solar system.

One longstanding theory is that life first began on Earth when asteroids carrying fundamental elements crashed into our planet long ago.

The asteroids that hurtle through our solar system give scientists a rare chance to study this possibility.

In 2014, the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa-2 blasted off on a 300-million-kilometer...

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The gut can drive age-associated memory loss, research reveals

The gut can drive age-associated memory loss
An intestinal immune cell detects medium-chain fatty acids produced by aging gut bacteria through the GPR84 receptor, releasing inflammatory molecules that block signaling along the vagus nerve to the hippocampus. Disruption of this gut-brain pathway drives age-associated cognitive decline. Credit: Thaiss Lab

We become forgetful as we age. This is often seen as a universal truth, but in fact it is far from universal: some people remain incredibly sharp at 100 years old, while others experience memory loss starting in middle age.

While it seems logical that age-related cognitive decline would be blamed on brain aging and degeneration (which, like anything in the brain, is notoriously hard to treat), there’s some evidence that processes elsewhere in the body influence the brain’s abil...

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No battery needed: Single organic device can act as both indoor solar cell and a photodetector

Dongguk University researchers develop breakthrough material for powering next-generation smart devices
The proposed material facilitates bifunctionally driven organic photonic conversion devices for next-generation applications. Credit: Associate Professor Jea Woong Jo from Dongguk University and Associate Professor Jae Won Shim from Korea University

Next-generation optoelectronic systems (devices that convert light to electrical energy) leverage organic semiconductor-based indoor energy-autonomous architectures for cutting-edge applications. Notably, organic semiconductors possess mechanical flexibility, solution processability, and bandgap-tunable optoelectronic properties, making them highly lucrative for indoor power generation via organic photovoltaics (OPVs), as well as for spectrally selective photodetection through organic photodetectors (OPDs)...

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