Chemistry: Biochemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

Revolutionizing hydrogen production: Economical and efficient solutions unveiled      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists introduce superaerophobic three-dimensional nickel nanostructured catalysts for accelerated water electrolysis.

Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

Universal controller could push robotic prostheses, exoskeletons into real-world use      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of researchers has developed a universal approach to controlling robotic exoskeletons that requires no training, no calibration, and no adjustments to complicated algorithms. Instead, users can don the 'exo' and go. Their system uses a kind of artificial intelligence called deep learning to autonomously adjust how the exoskeleton provides assistance, and they've shown it works seamlessly to support walking, standing, and climbing stairs or ramps.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Offbeat: General
Published

Research suggests how turbulence can be used to generate patterns      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Physicists show how patterns can emerge from chaos in turbulent fluids.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Nanotechnology Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Robotic metamaterial: An endless domino effect      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

If it walks like a particle, and talks like a particle... it may still not be a particle. A topological soliton is a special type of wave or dislocation which behaves like a particle: it can move around but cannot spread out and disappear like you would expect from, say, a ripple on the surface of a pond. Researchers now demonstrate the atypical behavior of topological solitons in a robotic metamaterial, something which in the future may be used to control how robots move, sense their surroundings and communicate.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Harnessing hydrogen at life's origin      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new report uncovers how hydrogen gas, the energy of the future, provided energy in the past, at the origin of life 4 billion years ago. Hydrogen gas is clean fuel. It burns with oxygen in the air to provide energy with no CO2. Hydrogen is a key to sustainable energy for the future. Though humans are just now coming to realize the benefits of hydrogen gas (H2 in chemical shorthand), microbes have known that H2 is good fuel for as long as there has been life on Earth. Hydrogen is ancient energy.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Two artificial intelligences talk to each other      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Performing a new task based solely on verbal or written instructions, and then describing it to others so that they can reproduce it, is a cornerstone of human communication that still resists artificial intelligence (AI). A team has succeeded in modelling an artificial neural network capable of this cognitive prowess. After learning and performing a series of basic tasks, this AI was able to provide a linguistic description of them to a 'sister' AI, which in turn performed them.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Thermodynamics Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

Advance for soft robotics manufacturing, design      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Engineers propose a new quantitative framework to account for and predict the impact of temperature on the curing speed of platinum-catalyzed silicone elastomers. The findings could maximize throughput and minimize waste in the manufacturing of components for soft robotics and wearables.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Environmental: General Physics: Optics
Published

Reimagining the future of solar energy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research suggests that there might be other ways to generate solar energy than just trying to make individual solar cells super-efficient.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Physics: Optics
Published

Perovskite solar cells: Vacuum process may offer a short track to commercialization      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Which process is best suited for mass production of perovskite solar cells? While solvent-based manufacturing processes are used in laboratories around the world, vacuum vapor-phase deposition processes are still the standard for the production of thin films for photovoltaics or organic light-emitting diodes. A new study that reveals major differences in the scientific discussion of these production processes.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Advanced army robots more likely to be blamed for deaths      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Advanced killer robots are more likely to blamed for civilian deaths than military machines, new research has revealed. The study shows that high-tech bots will be held more responsible for fatalities in identical incidents.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

Robot ANYmal can do parkour and walk across rubble      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The quadrupedal robot ANYmal went back to school and has learned a lot. Researchers used machine learning to teach it new skills: the robot can now climb over obstacles and successfully negotiate pitfalls.

Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR) Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

Opening new doors in the VR world, literally      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Recreating the action of opening doors in the virtual world requires engineering ways in which to provide the equivalent haptic feedback and steer users away from walls in the real world. A research group has done just this; developing RedirectedDoors+, which employs door robots and rotation to create a more realistic experience.

Computer Science: General Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR) Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

Straightening teeth? AI can help      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new tool will help orthodontists correctly fit braces onto teeth. Using artificial intelligence and virtual patients, the tool predicts how teeth will move, so as to ensure that braces are neither too loose nor too tight.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
Published

You don't need glue to hold these materials together -- just electricity      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Is there a way to stick hard and soft materials together without any tape, glue or epoxy? A new study shows that applying a small voltage to certain objects forms chemical bonds that securely link the objects together. Reversing the direction of electron flow easily separates the two materials. This electro-adhesion effect could help create biohybrid robots, improve biomedical implants and enable new battery technologies.

Chemistry: General Energy: Alternative Fuels Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Physics: Optics
Published

New high-performance solar cell material      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study reports the discovery of an entirely new stable, earth-abundant, high-performance material for solar absorbers -- the central part of a solar cell that turns light into electricity. While identifying new solar materials is typically very time-consuming, the researchers used a unique high-throughput computational screening method to quickly evaluate around 40,000 candidate materials.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research
Published

Robotic interface masters a soft touch      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a haptic device capable of reproducing the softness of various materials, from a marshmallow to a beating heart, overcoming a deceptively complex challenge that has previously eluded roboticists.

Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Engineering: Robotics Research Mathematics: General Mathematics: Modeling
Published

Method rapidly verifies that a robot will avoid collisions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new safety-check technique can prove with 100 percent accuracy that a planned robot motion will not result in a collision. The method can generate a proof in seconds and does so in a way that can be easily verified by a human.

Energy: Alternative Fuels
Published

Evolving hydrogen-storage technology: Guidelines developed for the design of anti-evaporation catalysts      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research team has identified materials capable of catalyzing the conversion of ortho-hydrogen to para-hydrogen. These catalysts should be essential to the spread of mass-transportation/storage of liquid hydrogen.