Category Technology/Electronics

Evan Reed, assistant professor of Materials Science & Engineering at Stanford, and graduate student Austin Sendek are using artificial intelligence to develop safer batteries. Credit: L.A. Cicero/Stanford News Service

Scientists have spent decades searching for a safe alternative to the flammable liquid electrolytes used in lithium-ion batteries. Stanford University researchers have identified nearly 2-dozen solid electrolytes that could someday replace the volatile liquids used in smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices. The results, based on techniques adapted from artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, are published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science.

“Electrolytes shuttle lithium ions back and forth between the battery’s positive and negative electrodes...

Research subjects at the University of Minnesota fitted with a specialized noninvasive brain cap were able to move the robotic arm just by imagining moving their own arms. Credit: University of Minnesota

Researchers have made a major breakthrough that allows people to control a robotic arm using only their minds. The research has the potential to help millions of people who are paralyzed or have neurodegenerative diseases. “This is the first time in the world that people can operate a robotic arm to reach and grasp objects in a complex 3D environment using only their thoughts without a brain implant,” said Bin He, University of Minnesota biomedical engineering professor. “Just by imagining moving their arms, they were able to move the robotic arm.”

The noninvasive technique, EEG based brai...

Cross-sectional schematic view showing the detailed structural characteristics of a SGC hybrid particle. Credit: UNIST

A new approach developed by a team of researchers, led by Prof. Jaephil Cho (School of Energy and Chemical Engineering) could hold the key to greatly improving the performance of commercial lithium-ion batteries. Prof. Cho and his research team have developed a new type anode material that would be used in place of a conventional graphite anode, which they claim will lead to lighter and longer-lasting batteries for everything from personal devices to electric vehicles.

In the study, the research team has demonstrated the feasibility of a next-generation hybrid anode using silicon-nanolayer-embedded graphite/carbon...

The neural structure we use to store and process information in verbal working memory is more complex than previously understood, finds a new study by NYU researchers—a discovery that has implications for the creation of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, such as speech translation tools. (c)iStock/NicoElNino

The neural structure we use to store and process information in verbal working memory is more complex than previously understood, finds a new study by New York University researchers. It shows that processing information in working memory involves 2 different networks in the brain rather than one—a discovery that has implications for the creation of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, such as speech translation tools.

“Our results show there are at least two brain networks th...