Computer Science: General Physics: Optics
Published

New technology could reduce lag, improve reliability of online gaming, meetings      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Whether you’re battling foes in a virtual arena or collaborating with colleagues across the globe, lag-induced disruptions can be a major hindrance to seamless communication and immersive experiences. That’s why researchers have developed new technology to make data transfer over optical fiber communication faster and more efficient.

Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Zoology Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Science: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Mathematics: Modeling
Published

Birders and AI push bird conservation to the next level      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Big data and artificial intelligence (AI) are being used to model hidden patterns in nature, not just for one bird species, but for entire ecological communities across continents. And the models follow each species’ full annual life cycle, from breeding to fall migration to non-breeding grounds, and back north again during spring migration.

Biology: Botany Computer Science: General Ecology: Endangered Species
Published

AI drones to help farmers optimize vegetable yields      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

For reasons of food security and economic incentive, farmers continuously seek to maximize their marketable crop yields. As plants grow inconsistently, at the time of harvesting, there will inevitably be variations in quality and size of individual crops. Finding the optimal time to harvest is therefore a priority for farmers. A new approach making heavy use of drones and artificial intelligence demonstrably improves this estimation by carefully and accurately analyzing individual crops to assess their likely growth characteristics.

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

Instant evolution: AI designs new robot from scratch in seconds      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers developed the first AI to date that can intelligently design robots from scratch by compressing billions of years of evolution into mere seconds. It's not only fast but also runs on a lightweight computer and designs wholly novel structures from scratch — without human-labeled, bias-filled datasets.

Computer Science: General Environmental: General
Published

Engineering study employs deep learning to explain extreme events      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

At the core of uncovering extreme events such as floods is the physics of fluids – specifically turbulent flows. Researchers leveraged a computer-vision deep learning technique and adapted it for nonlinear analysis of extreme events in wall-bounded turbulent flows, which are pervasive in numerous physics and engineering applications and impact wind and hydrokinetic energy, among others. Results show the technique employed can be invaluable for accurately identifying the sources of extreme events in a completely data-driven manner.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels Offbeat: General
Published

Scientists unveil fire-safe fuel      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Chemical engineers have designed a fuel that ignites only with the application of electric current. Since it doesn't react to flames and cannot start accidental fires during storage or transport, it is a 'safe' liquid fuel.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Environmental: General Geoscience: Geochemistry Physics: Optics
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How organic solar cells could become significantly more efficient      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The sun sends enormous amounts of energy to the earth. Nevertheless, some of it is lost in solar cells. This is an obstacle in the use of organic solar cells, especially for those viable in innovative applications. A key factor in increasing their performance: Improved transport of the solar energy stored within the material. Now a research group has shown that certain organic dyes can help build virtual highways for the energy.

Computer Science: General Computer Science: Quantum Computers
Published

New qubit circuit enables quantum operations with higher accuracy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed a novel superconducting qubit architecture that can perform operations between qubits with much higher accuracy than scientists have yet been able to achieve. This architecture, which utilizes a relatively new type of superconducting qubit called fluxonium, is scalable and could be used to someday build a large-scale quantum computer.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Computer Science: General Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR) Mathematics: Modeling
Published

Drug discovery on an unprecedented scale      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Boosting virtual screening with machine learning allowed for a 10-fold time reduction in the processing of 1.56 billion drug-like molecules. Researchers teamed up with industry and supercomputers to carry out one of the world's largest virtual drug screens.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels Engineering: Graphene
Published

Efficient fuel-molecule sieving using graphene      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A research team has successfully developed a new method that can prevent the crossover of large fuel molecules and suppress the degradation of electrodes in advanced fuel cell technology using methanol or formic acid. The successful sieving of the fuel molecules is achieved via selective proton transfers due to steric hindrance on holey graphene sheets that have chemical functionalization and act as proton-exchange membranes.

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

Efficient training for artificial intelligence      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New physics-based self-learning machines could replace the current artificial neural networks and save energy.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Predicting the sustainability of a future hydrogen economy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

As renewable energy sources like wind and solar ramp up, they can be used to sustainably generate hydrogen fuel. But implementing such a strategy on a large scale requires land and water dedicated to this purpose.

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

Scientists successfully maneuver robot through living lung tissue      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have shown that their steerable lung robot can autonomously maneuver the intricacies of the lung, while avoiding important lung structures.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Batteries Energy: Fossil Fuels Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Sustainable energy for aviation: What are our options?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists and industry leaders worldwide are looking for answers on how to make aviation sustainable by 2050 and choosing a viable sustainable fuel is a major sticking point. Aerospace engineers took a full inventory of the options to make a data-driven assessment about how they stack up in comparison. He reviewed over 300 research projects from across different sectors, not just aerospace, to synthesize the ideas and draw conclusions to help direct the dialogue about sustainable aviation toward a permanent solution.

Computer Science: General Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

'Garbatrage' spins e-waste into prototyping gold      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Building on work in human-computer interaction that aims to incorporate sustainability and reuse into the field, researchers introduce 'garbatrage,' a framework for prototype builders centered around repurposing underused devices.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Technology Engineering: Nanotechnology Environmental: General
Published

Efficient next-generation solar panels on horizon following breakthrough      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A scientific breakthrough brings mass production of the next generation of cheaper and lighter perovskite solar cells one step closer.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: General Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR)
Published

Let it flow: Recreating water flow for virtual reality      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A research team has harnessed the power of deep reinforcement learning to replicate the flow of water when disturbed. The replication allowed for recreating water flow in real time based on only a small amount of data, opening up the possibility for virtual reality interactions involving water.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: General
Published

Cloud services without servers: What's behind it      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new generation of cloud services is on the rise. It is based on the paradigm of 'serverless computing'. A recent article deals with the history, status and potential of serverless computing.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Alternative Fuels Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: Optics
Published

Chameleon-inspired coating could cool and warm buildings through the seasons      (via sciencedaily.com) 

As summer turns to fall, many people will be turning off the air conditioning and firing up heaters instead. But traditional heating and cooling systems are energy intensive, and because they typically run on fossil fuels, they aren't sustainable. Now, by mimicking a desert-dwelling chameleon, a team has developed an energy-efficient, cost-effective coating. The material could keep buildings cool in the summers -- or warm in the winters -- without additional energy.