https://techxplore.com/ en-us Tech Xplore internet news portal provides the latest news on electronics, technology, and engineering. Looking for an at-home HIV test on CVS' website is not as private an experience as one might think. An investigation by The Markup and KFF Health News found trackers on CVS.com telling some of the biggest social media and advertising platforms the products customers viewed. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-hiv-online-facebook.html Business Thu, 13 Jul 2023 15:50:01 EDT news608482062 For years, the financial press has helped inform investors of all stripes. Cornell researchers have discovered it can also inform the algorithm behind a new financial predicting model. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-scientists-stock-ai-online-news.html Business Thu, 13 Jul 2023 14:14:46 EDT news608476481 Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have gained attention for their high power-conversion efficiencies and low-cost solution processing. However, ensuring their stability at high temperatures has been a challenge, as the points of contact between their different layers ("interfaces") are susceptible to degradation, leading to energy loss and decreased performance. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-high-temperature-stability-perovskite-solar-cells.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 13 Jul 2023 14:00:01 EDT news608474768 The same AI technology used to mimic human art can now synthesize artificial scientific data, advancing efforts toward fully automated data analysis. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-generative-ai-scientists-artificial-automated.html Machine learning & AI Thu, 13 Jul 2023 13:51:54 EDT news608475109 In a new study, deepfake video clips of movie remakes that don't actually exist prompted participants to falsely remember the films—but simple text descriptions of the fake movies prompted similar false memory rates. Gillian Murphy of University College Cork, Ireland, and Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software, and colleagues presented these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-deepfake-videos-prompt-false-memories.html Consumer & Gadgets Thu, 13 Jul 2023 12:52:03 EDT news608471521 Researchers in the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Technion in Israel have demonstrated control over an emerging material, which they consider as a possible future alternative to silicon in microelectronics. This is a timely development, because scientists and engineers face challenges in continuing the transistor shrinking trend, an important driver of computer chip performance. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-lays-groundwork-future-high-performance-alternatives.html Engineering Thu, 13 Jul 2023 12:12:05 EDT news608469122 A University of Minnesota Twin Cities team has, for the first time, synthesized a thin film of a unique topological semimetal material that has the potential to generate more computing power and memory storage while using significantly less energy. The researchers were also able to closely study the material, leading to some important findings about the physics behind its unique properties. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-material-key-energy-consumption-electronics.html Engineering Thu, 13 Jul 2023 12:00:01 EDT news608468203 A research team led by Prof. Ma Cheng from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has developed a new type of solid-state electrolyte. The study was published in Nature Communications. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-oxychloride-solid-state-electrolyte-lithium-batteries.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 13 Jul 2023 11:35:02 EDT news608466901 An Aston University researcher has turned one of the basic rules of construction on its head. For centuries a hanging chain has been used as an example to explain how masonry arches stand. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-basic-upside.html Engineering Thu, 13 Jul 2023 11:03:02 EDT news608464981 The hottest drink of the summer may be the SEAS-colada. Here's what you need to make it: gin, pineapple juice, coconut milk and a dielectric elastomer actuator-based soft peristaltic pump. Unfortunately, the last component can only be found in the lab of Robert Wood, the Harry Lewis and Marlyn McGrath Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-powers-soft-robots-cocktails-door.html Robotics Thu, 13 Jul 2023 10:43:20 EDT news608463796 How does the human brain navigate complex circumstances—say, driving through Harvard Square traffic at 5 p.m.? https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-algorithms-ai-human-like-scientists-fmri.html Computer Sciences Thu, 13 Jul 2023 10:42:01 EDT news608463716 Clean energy plans, including the U.S. Infrastructure Investment Act's "Clean Hydrogen Road Map," are counting on hydrogen as a fuel of the future. But current hydrogen separation technology is still falling short of efficiency and sustainability goals. As part of ongoing efforts to develop materials that could enable alternative energy sources, researchers in Drexel University's College of Engineering have produced a titanium oxide nanofilament material that can harness sunlight to unlock the ubiquitous molecule's potential as a fuel source. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-titanium-oxide-material-sunlight-green.html Engineering Thu, 13 Jul 2023 10:41:16 EDT news608463672 Many scholars, analysts, and other observers have suggested that resistance to innovation is an Achilles' heel of authoritarian regimes. Such governments can fail to keep up with technological changes that help their opponents; they may also, by stifling rights, inhibit innovative economic activity and weaken the long-term condition of the country. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-ai-tocracy-emerges.html Security Thu, 13 Jul 2023 10:36:58 EDT news608463410 Until recently, 3D surface reconstruction has been a relatively slow, painstaking process involving significant trial and error and manual input. But what if you could take a video of an object or scene with your smartphone and turn it into an accurate, detailed model, the way a master sculptor creates masterpieces from marble or clay? Its creators claim that the aptly named Neuralangelo does just that through the power of neural networks—and with submillimeter accuracy. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-neuralangelo-unleashing-digital-michelangelo-smartphone.html Computer Sciences Thu, 13 Jul 2023 10:35:29 EDT news608463322 Filmmakers may soon be able to stabilize shaky video, change viewpoints and create freeze-frame, zoom and slow-motion effects—without shooting any new footage—thanks to an algorithm developed by researchers at Cornell University and Google Research. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-software-views-video.html Software Thu, 13 Jul 2023 10:34:03 EDT news608463241 On the moon, there are raw materials that humanity could one day mine and use. Various space agencies, such as the European Space Agency (ESA), are already planning missions to better explore Earth's satellite and find minerals. This calls for appropriate exploration vehicles. Swiss researchers led by ETH Zurich are now pursuing the idea of sending not just one solitary rover on an exploration tour, but rather an entire team of vehicles and flying devices that complement each other. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-planetary-analog-environments-explored-team.html Robotics Thu, 13 Jul 2023 10:24:01 EDT news608462637 Google launched its AI chatbot Bard in the European Union and several more nations on Thursday, entering a key market in its race against Microsoft-backed ChatGPT after a delay over data privacy concerns. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-google-chatgpt-rival-bard-eu.html Internet Thu, 13 Jul 2023 10:16:48 EDT news608462203 In the future, climate-neutral hydrogen will play an important role as a fuel and raw material. Hydrogen is produced by electrolysis of water, either using an indirect approach in which an external energy source (solar panel or wind turbine) supplies the electrolysis cell with voltage, or using a direct approach: a photoelectrochemical cell in which the photoelectrode itself supplies the electrical energy for electrolysis (PEC cell). This direct approach would have some advantages, but is not yet competitive. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-solar-hydrogen-barriers-metal-oxides.html Electronics & Semiconductors Thu, 13 Jul 2023 09:29:24 EDT news608459361 In a study published recently in Advanced Intelligent Systems, researchers from Queen Mary University of London have made significant advancements in the field of bionics with the development of a new type of electric variable-stiffness artificial muscle that possesses self-sensing capabilities. This innovative technology has the potential to revolutionize soft robotics and medical applications. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-self-sensing-electric-artificial-muscles.html Robotics Thu, 13 Jul 2023 09:13:46 EDT news608458421 Scientists at the Department of Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), have developed a super flexible, composite semiconductor material that may have applications in next-generation flexible or curved displays, foldable phones and wearable electronics. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-super-flexible-composite-semiconductors-next-gen.html Electronics & Semiconductors Thu, 13 Jul 2023 08:58:27 EDT news608457503 Companion robots enhanced with artificial intelligence may one day help alleviate the loneliness epidemic, suggests a new report from researchers at Auckland, Duke, and Cornell Universities. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-ai-powered-robot-companions-combat-human.html Robotics Thu, 13 Jul 2023 04:34:59 EDT news608441690 When an electric vehicle is parked outside, its temperature can swing wildly from day to night and season to season, which can lead to deterioration of the battery. To dampen these fluctuations and extend the battery's lifespan, researchers have designed an all-season thermal cloak that can cool an electric vehicle by 8°C on a hot day and warm it by 6.8°C at night. The cloak, made predominantly of silica and aluminum, can do so passively without outside energy input and operates without any modification between hot or cold weather. This prototype is described July 11 in the newly launched Device, an application-oriented sister journal to Matter, Joule, and Cell. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-thermal-cloak-passively-electric-vehicles.html Engineering Thu, 13 Jul 2023 03:01:35 EDT news608436081 There is a "silent hazard" lurking underneath our major global cities, and our buildings were not designed to handle it. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-ground-deforming-ready-infrastructure.html Engineering Wed, 12 Jul 2023 20:10:05 EDT news608207129 Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), rechargeable batteries that store energy via the reversible reduction of lithium ions, are used to power countless devices and technologies, ranging from laptops and smartphones to electric cars. While LIBs have several advantages over other battery technologies, their current energy densities restrict the distances that electric vehicles can travel before they need to be recharged. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-scalable-method-prelithiate-anodes-lithium-ion.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 12 Jul 2023 20:10:05 EDT news608221236 As researchers make major advances in medical care, they are also discovering that the efficacy of these treatments can be enhanced by individualized approaches. Therefore, clinicians increasingly need methods that can both continuously monitor physiological signals and then personalize responsive delivery of therapeutics. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-headway-precision-therapeutics-fully-bioelectronic.html Engineering Mon, 10 Jul 2023 17:07:31 EDT news608227641 A common food and medicine additive has shown it can boost the capacity and longevity of a next-generation flow battery design in a record-setting experiment. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-next-generation-battery.html Engineering Mon, 10 Jul 2023 16:59:19 EDT news608227151 Imagine a wearable patch that tracks your vital signs through changes in the color display, or shipping labels that light up to indicate changes in temperature or sterility of food items. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-stretchy-color-changing-display-future-wearable.html Engineering Mon, 10 Jul 2023 16:56:05 EDT news608226959 Unused solar, wind, and hydroelectric power in the U.S. could support the exponential growth of transactions involving non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Cornell Engineering researchers have found. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-unused-renewable-energy-option-powering.html Business Mon, 10 Jul 2023 16:18:03 EDT news608224679 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers have developed a novel method for underwater geolocalization using deep neural networks that have been trained on 10 million polarization-sensitive images collected from locations around the world. This new study, led by electrical and computer engineering professor Viktor Gruev, along with computer science professor David Forsyth, enables underwater geolocalization using only optical data while providing a tool for tethered-free underwater navigation. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-future-underwater-geolocalization-polarization-patterns.html Engineering Mon, 10 Jul 2023 16:16:15 EDT news608224570 Humans make lots of irrational decisions in predictable ways, but what if we're all just doing our best within the limits of our abilities? https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-game-playing-automaton-irrational-human.html Computer Sciences Mon, 10 Jul 2023 15:57:18 EDT news608223426