DFKI unveils pioneering approach to safe and verifiable humanoid walking. Recent advances in robotics based on data-driven AI hold promise for a wide range of practical applications. However, ensuring the safety of these applications is a challenge. The German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in Bremen has developed innovative control methods for complex systems, combining the advantages of fast self-learning and reliable verification via symbolic models. With this hybrid AI approach, the project funded by the Federal Ministry of…

EPFL researchers have succeeded in directing floating objects around an aquatic obstacle course using only soundwaves. Their novel, optics-inspired method holds great promise for biomedical applications such as noninvasive targeted drug delivery. In 2018, Arthur Ashkin won the Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing optical tweezers: laser beams that can be used to manipulate microscopic particles. While useful for many biological applications, optical tweezers require extremely controlled, static conditions to work properly. “Optical tweezers work by creating a light ‘hotspot’…

… Visiting Websites and Watching Videos. Online activities can be monitored in detail simply by analysing latency fluctuations in the internet connection, researchers at Graz University of Technology have discovered. The attack works without malicious code or access to the data traffic. The team from the Institute of Applied Information Processing and Communications at TU Graz that discovered and analysed the security vulnerability (from left): Fabian Rauscher, Jonas Juffinger, Stefan Gast, Simone Franza, Daniel Gruss, Roland Czerny. (c) IAIK –…

Using an instrument on the 4.1-meter Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope, researchers obtained the first astronomical spectrum using skipper charge-coupled devices (CCDs). The results were presented on June 16 at the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation meeting in Japan by Edgar Marrufo Villalpando, a physics PhD candidate at the University of Chicago and a Fermilab DOE Graduate Instrumentation Research Award Fellow. “This is a major milestone for skipper-CCD technology,” said Alex Drlica-Wagner, a cosmologist at the U.S. Department…

Researchers have reported previously unobserved phenomena in an ultra-clean sample of the correlated metal SrVO3. The study challenges existing theoretical models by providing new experimental insights into these unusual metals. The team demonstrated that high-purity SrVO3 exhibits unique electronic properties, revealing the importance of defect-free materials in studying electron correlation effects. The study’s breakthrough was achieved using an innovative thin film growth technique, leading to the synthesis of SrVO3 with unprecedented purity, enabling detailed exploration of its true properties. Findings…

CARMEN teaches strategies to help improve memory and executive function. Meet CARMEN, short for Cognitively Assistive Robot for Motivation and Neurorehabilitation–a small, tabletop robot designed to help people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) learn skills to improve memory, attention, and executive functioning at home. Unlike other robots in this space, CARMEN was developed by the research team at the University of California San Diego in collaboration with clinicians, people with MCI, and their care partners. To the best of the…

New findungs on light published by scientists from the University of Rostock. A collaboration of Professor Szameit’s research group at the University of Rostock with researchers from the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg has succeeded in stabilizing the interference of two photons in optical chips with the concept of topologically protected wave propagation. The research results were published in the renowned journal Science. (from left to right) Matthias Heinrich, Alexander Szameit and Max Ehrhardt – the authors of the Science paper – experimenting…

Researchers develop method to confine light inside an organic material to form a hybrid quantum state, creating new physical and chemical properties. A team of international scientists led by the University of Ottawa have gone back to the kitchen cupboard to create a recipe that combines organic material and light to create quantum states. Professor Jean-Michel Ménard, leader of the Ultrafast Terahertz Spectroscopy group at the Faculty of Science, coordinated with Dr. Claudiu Genes at the Max Planck Institute for…

With speeds over 200 times faster than traditional methods, new technology could benefit autonomous driving, industrial inspection and security applications. Researchers have developed a new 3D method that can be used to track fast-moving objects at unprecedented high speeds. The real-time tracking approach, which is based on single-pixel imaging, could be used to improve autonomous driving, industrial inspection and security surveillance systems. “Our approach does not require reconstructing the object’s image to calculate its position, which significantly reduces data storage…

The potential of quantum computers is currently thwarted by a trade-off problem. Quantum systems that can carry out complex operations are less tolerant to errors and noise, while systems that are more protected against noise are harder and slower to compute with. Now a research team from Chalmers University of Technology, in Sweden, has created a unique system that combats the dilemma, thus paving the way for longer computation time and more robust quantum computers. For the impact of quantum computers…

In late 2019 the previously unremarkable galaxy SDSS1335+0728 suddenly started shining brighter than ever before. To understand why, astronomers have used data from several space and ground-based observatories, including the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), to track how the galaxy’s brightness has varied. In a study out today, they conclude that they are witnessing changes never seen before in a galaxy — likely the result of the sudden awakening of the massive black hole at its core….

Mission to find gamma ray bursts is latest to use technology from University of Leicester in X-ray optics. A satellite telescope designed to rapidly hunt down the universe’s biggest explosions will launch later this week, carrying technology developed at the University of Leicester. The Space Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) is the second mission this year to benefit from expertise in X-ray optics at Leicester, following the launch of Einstein Probe in January. The SVOM mission (Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects…

…including objects blocked from view. This technique could lead to safer autonomous vehicles, more efficient AR/VR headsets, or faster warehouse robots. Imagine driving through a tunnel in an autonomous vehicle, but unbeknownst to you, a crash has stopped traffic up ahead. Normally, you’d need to rely on the car in front of you to know you should start braking. But what if your vehicle could see around the car ahead and apply the brakes even sooner? Researchers from MIT and…

A team of scientists used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to parse the composition of the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant located 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. With the telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) and NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), the team gathered data that is helping to clarify the Crab Nebula’s history. The Crab Nebula is the result of a core-collapse supernova from the death of a massive star. The supernova explosion itself was seen on Earth in 1054 CE and was bright enough to…

…to demonstrate energy harvesting innovation in space. The mission entails sending technologies developed at LIST into space for testing with an aim to achieve flight heritage. The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) announces the launch of its CubeSat project LIST-SAT-01, the first Luxembourgish nanosatellite initiative with a scientific experiment on-board made in house, aimed at showcasing the institute’s technology innovation in the space environment. Under the mission of testing and advancing technologies developed at LIST, the CubeSat project…

Quantum entangled photons react to Earth’s spin. A team of researchers led by Philip Walther at the University of Vienna carried out a pioneering experiment where they measured the effect of the rotation of Earth on quantum entangled photons. The work, just published in Science Advances, represents a significant achievement that pushes the boundaries of rotation sensitivity in entanglement-based sensors, potentially setting the stage for further exploration at the intersection between quantum mechanics and general relativity. Optical Sagnac interferometers are…