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Smartphone sales have had their worst quarterly performance in over a decade, a fact that raises two big questions. Have the latest models finally bored the market with mere incremental improvements? And if they have, what will the next form factor (and function) be? Today a deep tech startup called Xpanceo is announcing $40 million in funding from a single investor, Opportunity Ventures in Hong Kong, to pursue its take on one of the possible answers to that question: computing devices in the form of smart contact lenses.

The company wants to make tech more simple, and it believes the way to do that is to make it seamless and more connected to how we operate every day. “All current computers will be obsolete [because] they’re not interchangeable,” said Roman Axelrod, who co-founded the startup with material scientist and physicist Valentyn S. Volkov. “We are enslaved by gadgets.”

With a focus on new materials and moving away from silicon-based processing and towards new approaches to using optoelectronics, Xpanceo’s modest ambition, Axelrod said in an interview, is to “merge all the gadgets into one, to provide humanity with a gadget with an infinite screen. What we aim for is to create the next generation of computing.”

Adobe will premiere the first-ever TV commercial powered by its Firefly generative AI during high-profile sports broadcasts on Monday night. The commercial for Adobe Photoshop highlights creative capabilities enabled by the company’s AI technology.

Set to air during MLB playoffs and Monday Night Football, two of the most-watched live events on television, the new Adobe spot will showcase Photoshop’s Firefly-powered Generative Fill feature. Generative Fill uses AI to transform images based on text prompts.

With Adobe’s new commercial, generative AI will enter the mainstream spotlight, reaching audiences beyond just tech circles. While early adopters have embraced AI tools, a recent study found 44% of U.S. workers have yet to use generative AI, indicating its capabilities remain unknown to many.

A battery-less RFID tag could do the job just as well as a GPS landing module. The researchers have further refined how the tag works.

A collaboration between researchers at The University of Tokyo and telecommunications company NTT in Japan has led to the development of a radio-frequency identification (RFID)-based guidance system for autonomous drones, a press release said.

The use of drones for civil applications has been on the rise and is expected to increase further as countries become more liberal with airspace to be used by autonomous flying vehicles. Conventionally, drones have relied on imaging to determine their location, but as piloting control moves toward the machine from humans,… More.


Michael-rojek/iStock.

The Georgia Institute of Technology course teaches engineering students to create art using brainwaves, either their own or someone else’s.

An uncanny course is being taught in the halls of the Georgia Institute of Technology. While the course, called Arts and Geometry, itself isn’t uncanny, it’s the distinct approach taken by the professor that is making waves, literally and figuratively.

The course teaches engineering students to create art using brainwaves, either their own or someone else’s. When the ions and neurons go about their business inside our brains, brainwaves are created in a pattern of electrical activity in the brain.

Vera C. Rubin Observatory will help shed light on the dark universe.

The upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory will help astronomers better understand two perplexing phenomena: dark energy and dark matter. Dark energy, which accounts for 68 percent of the universe, is an enigmatic factor responsible for the observed rapid expansion of the universe. Dark matter, which comprises 27 percent of all matter, has gravitational pull but does not interact with light, therefore remaining hidden.

Together, these mysterious components form what scientists refer to as the dark universe.


RubinObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. Pinto.

A new feat has been achieved in the realm of astronomy. The first supernova was observed, recognized, and classified using a wholly automated approach without human participation.

Led by Northwestern University, an international team of scientists has created a cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) tool known as the Bright Transient Survey Bot (BTSbot).


NASA/JPL-Caltech / D. Lang (Perimeter Institute)

The first supernova was observed, recognized, and classified using a wholly automated approach without human participation.

In today’s world, there is much to be admired in someone who refuses to make a profit out of a good idea for the greater good. David Edquilang invented a new type of finger prosthesis called Lunet that has earned him awards around the world but he plans on making the design open access to benefit those who need it most.

Helping the greatest number of people

“Not every good idea needs to be turned into a business. Sometimes, the best ideas just need to be put out there,” said Edquilang in a statement issued by his university. “Medical insurance will often not cover the cost of a finger prosthesis, since it is not considered vital enough compared to an arm or leg. Making Lunet available online for free will allow it to help the greatest number of people.”

Actor Suzanne Somers has died at the age of 76 after being diagnosed with breast cancer more than two decades ago, which ultimately was her cause of death.

Somers was best known for her roles in the hit sitcoms “Three’s Company” and “Step by Step,” and later in life for her health and fitness business ventures.

Somers died “peacefully at home” surrounded by her family on Oct. 15, one day before her 77th birthday, according to a statement to NBC News from Somers’ publicist on behalf of her family.

Nanozymes are synthetic materials that mimic the properties of natural enzymes for applications in biomedicine and chemical engineering. Historically, they are generally considered too toxic and expensive for use in agriculture and food science. Now, researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a nanozyme that is organic, non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and cost effective.

In a newly published paper, they describe its features and its capacity to detect the presence of glyphosate, a common agricultural herbicide. Their goal is to eventually create an user-friendly test kit for consumers and agricultural producers.

“The word nanozyme is derived from nanomaterial and enzyme. Nanozymes were first developed about 15 years ago, when researchers found that may perform catalytic activity similar to natural enzymes (peroxidase),” explained Dong Hoon Lee, a doctoral student in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE), part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) and The Grainger College of Engineering at U. of I.