Category Physics

Researchers have developed a simple and ecofriendly way to use a laser to turn natural leather into flexible and wearable energy devices. The new approach could lay the groundwork for more sustainable wearable electronics. In a paper in Optics Letters, the researchers demonstrate the new technique by creating microsupercapacitors on leather in various patterns, including a tiger, dragon and rabbit.

“Using a laser, we directly write conductive patterns onto vegetable-tanned leather to create microsupercapacitors that can store energy and help smooth electrical signals so that wearable e...

Guide dogs are powerful allies, leading the visually impaired safely to their destinations, but they can’t talk with their owners—until now. Using large language models, a team of researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York has created a talking robot guide dog system that determines an ideal route and safely guides users to their destination, offering real-time feedback along the way.

The paper, “From Woofs to Words: Towards Intelligent Robotic Guide Dogs with Verbal Communication,” was presented at the 40th Annual AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI 2026)...

Modern life depends on fast and reliable wireless connections. Video calls, streaming services, virtual reality, and smart devices all place growing demands on networks that already serve billions of users. Most wireless data today travels through radio-based technologies such as Wi-Fi and cellular systems.

While these approaches have been highly successful, they face mounting challenges, including crowded radio spectrum, interference in dense indoor spaces, and rising energy consumption as more devices come online.

A promising complementary approach is optic...

While technology has made the world “smaller,” it has also pulled individuals apart, thanks to mobile phones and other devices that command our attention. Cornell University researchers are using technology, in the form of a mirror-equipped robot, to help bring people together. Members of the Architectural Robotics Lab, led by Keith Evan Green, have built a four-foot-tall robot—dubbed MirrorBot—with dual mirrors that, when placed in front of a pair of strangers, let each participant see themself in one mirror and the other person in the other.

In a study involving participants in a waiting-room setting, MirrorBot spurred conversations, playful excha...