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Princeton engineers have developed a scalable 3D printing technique to produce soft plastics with customizable stretchiness and flexibility, while also being recyclable and cost-effective—qualities rarely combined in commercially available materials.

In a study published in Advanced Functional Materials, a team led by Emily Davidson detailed how they used thermoplastic elastomers—a class of widely available polymers—to create 3D-printed structures with adjustable stiffness. By designing the 3D printer’s print path, the engineers could program the plastic’s physical properties, allowing devices to stretch and flex in one direction while remaining rigid in another.

Continue reading “Stretchable, Flexible, Recyclable: Princeton Scientists Develop Fantastic New Material” »

As tech companies release a slew of generative AI updates, there’s a growing risk that educational practices and policies are struggling to keep up with new capabilities.

2024: A year when AI, quantum computing, and cybersecurity converged to redefine our digital landscape. For those navigating these complex technological frontiers, clarity became the most critical currency.

Inside Cyber, Key moments that resonated with our community:

• Cybersecurity Trends for 2025 Diving deep into the evolving threat landscape and strategic priorities.

Continue reading “5 Cybersecurity Priorities for The Trump Administration” »

Two robots, Levita’s Mars and Da Vinci SP, combined for a groundbreaking prostate removal surgery, advancing precision in minimally invasive care.

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Scientists have discovered that future robots might be able to gauge how you are feeling by just touching human skin. According to a new study published in the journal IEEE Access, researchers used skin conductance as a way to figure out how an individual was feeling. Skin conductance is a measure of how well skin conducts electricity, which usually changes in response to sweat secretion and nerve activity, signifying different human emotional states.

Traditional emotion-detection technologies such as facial recognition and speech analysis, are often prone to error, especially in suboptimal audio-visual conditions. However, scientists believe that skin conductance offers a potential workaround, providing a non-invasive way to capture emotion in real-time.

For the study, the emotional responses of 33 participants were measured by showing them emotionally evocative videos and measuring their skin conductance. The findings revealed distinct patterns for different emotions: fear responses were the longest-lasting, suggesting an evolutionary alert mechanism; family bonding emotions, a blend of happiness and sadness, showed slower responses; and humour triggered quick but fleeting reactions.

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has released what appears to be one of the most powerful open-source language models to date, trained at a cost of just $5.5 million using restricted Nvidia H800 GPUs.

Meta, Aitomatic, and other members of the AI Alliance have released the world’s first large language model specifically trained on the needs of the semiconductor industry.

Uber and Lyft drivers in Phoenix and Los Angeles are facing increasing challenges as driverless taxis, notably Waymo One, enter the market. These autonomous vehicles are making an already competitive ride-hailing industry even tougher for human drivers.

According to Jacob Zinkula’s report, driverless taxis are significantly impacting the ride-hailing landscape in key markets like Phoenix and Los Angeles. Jason D., a 50-year-old Uber driver based in Phoenix, attributes his decreasing earnings to the influx of Waymo One robotaxis. He notes that heightened competition and operational costs, along with reduced fares and tips, are exacerbating income challenges for both full-time and part-time drivers.

Waymo One, operating under Alphabet, has rolled out over 100,000 paid rides weekly across Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix. With planned expansions to Atlanta and Austin, these vehicles are set to be integrated into the Uber app. Despite potential regulatory hurdles and safety considerations, experts in the ride-hailing field anticipate a gradual decline in Uber and Lyft drivers’ earnings as autonomous vehicles become more commonplace.

The average American consumer is starting to pay for the additional power consumed by new data centers.