Bees not only provide us humans with honey, but thanks to the pollination of herbs, shrubs and trees, they are significantly responsible for the preservation of species. As a result, they generate around 1.6 billion euros for agriculture and food production in Germany*. To help honey bees take flight and advance environmental and agricultural monitoring as well as research on bee health, a research project will now equip them with miniaturized, integrated sensor systems. Beekeeping is in vogue, and not…
Researchers have devised a method, using spin-torque oscillators, to harness wireless signals and convert them into energy to power small electronics. With the rise of the digital age, the amount of WiFi sources to transmit information wirelessly between devices has grown exponentially. This results in the widespread use of the 2.4GHz radio frequency that WiFi uses, with excess signals available to be tapped for alternative uses. To harness this under-utilised source of energy, a research team from the National University…
Researchers at Osaka University use deep learning to reduce noise in the electrical current data collected from nanopores, which may lead to higher precision measurements when working with very tiny experiments or medical diagnostics. Scientists from the Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research at Osaka University used machine learning methods to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio in data collected when tiny spheres are passed through microscopic nanopores cut into silicon substrates. This work may lead to much more sensitive data collection…
Researchers at North Carolina State University have made what is believed to be the smallest state-of-the-art RFID chip, which should drive down the cost of RFID tags. In addition, the chip’s design makes it possible to embed RFID tags into high value chips, such as computer chips, boosting supply chain security for high-end technologies. “As far as we can tell, it’s the world’s smallest Gen2-compatible RFID chip,” says Paul Franzon, corresponding author of a paper on the work and Cirrus…
Glide symmetry offers a compact, flexible solution for suppression of channel crosstalk in SSPP transmission lines. Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are highly localized surface waves on the interface between metal and dielectric in the optical frequency band. SSPs do not naturally exist in the microwave and terahertz frequencies, so “spoof” surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) are necessary for operations in those lower frequency bands. Like optical SPPs, microwave SSPPs exhibit highly localized electromagnetic fields, subwavelength resolution, and extraordinary field confinement. Therefore,…
University of Rochester researchers use vectorial time reversal to demonstrate enhanced channel capacity in a 1-km-long multimode fiber. The use of multimode optical fibers to boost the information capacity of the Internet is severely hampered by distortions that occur during the transmission of images because of a phenomenon called modal crosstalk. However, University of Rochester researchers at the Institute of Optics have devised a novel technique, described in a paper in Nature Communications, to “flip” the optical wavefront of an…
The promise of a quantum internet depends on the complexities of harnessing light to transmit quantum information over fiber optic networks. A potential step forward was reported today by researchers in Sweden who developed integrated chips that can generate light particles on demand and without the need for extreme refrigeration. Quantum computing today relies on states of matter, that is, electrons which carry qubits of information to perform multiple calculations simultaneously, in a fraction of the time it takes with…
Machine learning helps some of the best microscopes to see better, work faster, and process more data. To observe the swift neuronal signals in a fish brain, scientists have started to use a technique called light-field microscopy, which makes it possible to image such fast biological processes in 3D. But the images are often lacking in quality, and it takes hours or days for massive amounts of data to be converted into 3D volumes and movies. Now, EMBL scientists have…
The evolution of microchips seemed to have reached its limits, as far as their size is concerned. Nevertheless, it is crucial that these small components be-come even smaller and more powerful so that many devices — including smartphones — can be developed even further. The Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology ISIT in Itzehoe and IMS Nanofabrication GmbH have now succeeded in pushing the existing boundaries when it comes to MEMS pro-cessing of a microsystem switching element which is at the…
Software plays a key role in modern science. Experiments that produce large amounts of data generally need substantial software-based analysis to extract understanding. Simulation-based research in particular yields results based solely on the computer-based generation of data and its subsequent analysis. For publications, the scientific principle of reproducibility requires that studies and processes are documented and archived to such a level that they can be repeated at a later point – by the original authors as well as by other…
University of Rochester researchers combine freeform optics and a metasurface to avoid ‘bug eyes’. “Image” is everything in the $20 billion market for AR/VR glasses. Consumers are looking for glasses that are compact and easy to wear, delivering high-quality imagery with socially acceptable optics that don’t look like “bug eyes.” University of Rochester researchers at the Institute of Optics have come up with a novel technology to deliver those attributes with maximum effect. In a paper in Science Advances, they…
Additive manufacturing … House key, wallet, health insurance card, hotel key card — a smart finger ring could replace all these in the future. Produced by a 3D printing process, the ring has an integrated RFID chip, tamper-proof, sealed and invisible. The technology of integrating electronics during 3D printing can of course be used for other applications too. The multifunctional ring was developed by a research team at Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite and Processing Technology IGCV. Now, where’s my…
Fraunhofer SCAI has greatly improved its successfully marketed AutoPanelSizer software. The new version now optimizes plans for cutting rectangular parts much faster. New features and the utilization of multiple processor cores ensure even more efficient cutting plans. As a pure optimization kernel, the software can be integrated into existing plant control systems or ERP/MES systems. Cutting panels into smaller rectangular parts belongs to the daily routine in many factories. In the woodworking industry and in industries requiring metal or glass…
In a step toward enabling ultrafast wireless data transmission, researchers explore non-line-of-sight path issue for link discovery method using terahertz radiation. If a base station in a local area network tries to use a directional beam to transmit a signal to a user trying to connect to the network — instead of using a wide area network broadcast, as base stations commonly do — how does it know which direction to send the beam? Researchers from Rice University and Brown…
Anyone with children knows that while controlling one child can be hard, controlling many at once can be nearly impossible. Getting swarms of robots to work collectively can be equally challenging, unless researchers carefully choreograph their interactions — like planes in formation — using increasingly sophisticated components and algorithms. But what can be reliably accomplished when the robots on hand are simple, inconsistent, and lack sophisticated programming for coordinated behavior? A team of researchers led by Dana Randall, ADVANCE Professor…
Researchers have developed the first LiDAR-based augmented reality head-up display for use in vehicles. Tests on a prototype version of the technology suggest that it could improve road safety by ‘seeing through’ objects to alert of potential hazards without distracting the driver. The technology, developed by researchers from the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and University College London (UCL), is based on LiDAR (light detection and ranging), and uses LiDAR data to create ultra high-definition holographic representations of…
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