Category Technology/Electronics

It is now possible for machines to learn how natural or artificial systems work by observing them, without being told what to look for

It is now possible for machines to learn how natural or artificial systems work by simply observing them, without being told what to look for, according to researchers at the University of Sheffield. This could mean advances in the world of technology with machines able to predict, among other things, human behaviour. The discovery takes inspiration from the work of pioneering computer scientist Alan Turing, who proposed a test, which a machine could pass if it behaved indistinguishably from a human. In this test, an interrogator exchanges messages with two players in a different room: one human, the other a machine.

The interrogator has to find out which o...

An illustration of the Migration Enhance Encapsulated Growth (MEEG) process to stabilize novel wide-bandgap two-dimensional nitride semiconductors that are not naturally occurring. MEEG is facilitated by defects in the graphene lattice that act as pathways for intercalation. When the gallium and nitrogen adatoms meet at the graphene/SiC interface, they chemically react to form two-dimensional gallium nitride. Credit: Z. Al Balushi and Stephen Weitzner, Penn State MatSE

A newly discovered method for making two-dimensional materials could lead to new and extraordinary properties, particularly in nitrides, say the Penn State materials scientists who discovered the process...

The zinc-ion battery could help enable communities move into production of renewable solar and wind energy. Credit: Shutterstock/University of Waterloo

Chemists at the University of Waterloo have developed a long-lasting zinc-ion battery that costs half the price of current lithium-ion batteries and could help enable communities to shift away from traditional power plants and into renewable solar and wind energy production. The battery uses safe, non-flammable, non-toxic materials and a pH-neutral, water-based salt. It consists of a water-based electrolyte, a pillared vanadium oxide + electrode and an inexpensive metallic Zn – electrode...

In this series, a 3-D printed multimaterial shape-memory minigripper, consisting of shape-memory hinges and adaptive touching tips, grasps a cap screw. Credit: Photo courtesy of Qi (Kevin) Ge; Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives license

Heat-responsive materials may aid in controlled drug delivery, solar panel tracking. Engineers from MIT and Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) are using light to print 3D structures that “remember” their original shapes. Even after being stretched, twisted, and bent at extreme angles, the structures – from small coils and multimaterial flowers, to an inch-tall replica of the Eiffel tower – sprang back to their original forms within seconds of being heated to a certain temperature “sweet spot...