Supercomputers use graphics processors to solve longstanding turbulence question

When a fluid, such as water or air, flows fast enough, it will experience turbulence – seemingly random changes in velocity and pressure within the fluid. Turbulence is extremely difficult to study but is important for many fields of engineering, such as air flow past wind turbines or jet engines. Understanding turbulence better would allow … Read more

200 times faster than ever before! The speediest quantum operation yet

A group of scientists led by 2018 Australian of the Year Professor Michelle Simmons have achieved the first two-qubit gate between atom qubits in silicon – a major milestone on the team’s quest to build an atom-scale quantum computer. The pivotal piece of research was published today in world-renowned journal Nature. A two-qubit gate is … Read more

Automated system generates robotic parts for novel tasks

An automated system developed by MIT researchers designs and 3-D prints complex robotic parts called actuators that are optimized according to an enormous number of specifications. In short, the system does automatically what is virtually impossible for humans to do by hand. In a paper published in Science Advances, the researchers demonstrate the system by fabricating … Read more

Quantum sensor breakthrough using naturally occurring vibrations in artificial atoms

A team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, have discovered a new method that could be used to build quantum sensors with ultra-high precision. When individual atoms emit light, they do so in discrete packets called photons. When this light is measured, this discrete or ‘granular’ nature leads to especially low fluctuations in … Read more

Simple ‘smart’ glass reveals the future of artificial vision

The sophisticated technology that powers face recognition in many modern smartphones someday could receive a high-tech upgrade that sounds – and looks – surprisingly low-tech. This window to the future is none other than a piece of glass. University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers have devised a method to create pieces of “smart” glass that can recognize … Read more

Robot uses machine learning to harvest lettuce

A vegetable-picking robot that uses machine learning to identify and harvest a commonplace, but challenging, agricultural crop has been developed by engineers. The ‘Vegebot’, developed by a team at the University of Cambridge, was initially trained to recognise and harvest iceberg lettuce in a lab setting. It has now been successfully tested in a variety … Read more

Camera brings unseen world to light

When the first full-length movie made with the advanced, three-color process of Technicolor premiered in 1935, The New York Times declared “it produced in the spectator all the excitement of standing upon a peak … and glimpsing a strange, beautiful and unexpected new world.” Technicolor forever changed how cameras – and people – saw and … Read more

‘Eyes’ for the autopilot

Automatic landings have long been standard procedure for commercial aircraft. While major airports have the infrastructure necessary to ensure the safe navigation of the aircraft, this is usually not the case at smaller airports. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and TU Braunschweig have now demonstrated a completely automatic landing with vision assisted … Read more

Picturing access to energy for all in sub-Saharan Africa

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030. Access to electricity services is of course a key priority under this goal, particularly due to the strong interconnections it has with other development objectives. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the … Read more

Developing brain maps through artificial intelligence

Neuroscientists and machine learners from University of Zurich and ETH Zurich have introduced a novel artificial intelligence (AI)-based method to develop a brain atlas through deep learning. The researchers published their results on June 10, 2019 In Nature Machine Intelligence. Brain atlases for mice, humans and other species are not available for every developmental stages … Read more