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May 22, 2021

BCI decodes neural signals for handwriting

Posted by in categories: innovation, neuroscience

Researchers have, for the first time, decoded the neural signals associated with writing letters, then displayed typed versions of these letters in real time. They hope their invention could one day help people with paralysis communicate.

May 22, 2021

AI can now detect sarcasm

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Computer science researchers at the University of Central Florida (UCF) have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) program that can detect sarcasm in social media.

May 22, 2021

Researchers create new zinc-air pouch cells

Posted by in categories: energy, materials

Zinc-air batteries (ZABs) are among the most promising next-generation battery technologies due to their many advantageous characteristics. Most notably, these batteries have unique half-open structures, a significant theoretical energy density (1086 and 1370 Wh kg−1 when including and excluding oxygen, respectively), flexible electrodes and an inherently aqueous electrolyte. Moreover, in contrast with other materials used in batteries, Zinc (Zn) is less harmful for the environment and more abundant.

Researchers at Hanyang University in South Korea recently designed a new type of zinc-air pouch cell that can outperform other commercially available battery technologies. These pouch cells, presented in a paper published in Nature Energy, use (101)-facet copper phosphosulfide [CPS(101)] as a cathode, anti-freezing chitosan-biocellulosics as super-ionic conductor electrolytes, and patterned Zn as the anode.

“Previous ZABs employing liquid (6 M KOH) electrolytes failed because of the sluggish kinetics for the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR/OER) and irreversibility of Zn accompanying the parasitic reactions over wide temperatures,” Jung-Ho Lee, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told Tech Xplore. “This feature inspired us to develop solid-state electrolytes, such as functionalized biocellulose, capable of transferring OH- ions effectively without parasitic reactions.”

May 22, 2021

Misconfiguration of third party mobile apps exposes the data of 100 million users

Posted by in category: security

Despite the obvious benefits of contemporary cloud-based, mobile application development solutions—such as cloud storage, notification management, real-time databases, and analytics—many developers of these solutions fail to properly take into account the potential security risks involved when these apps are misconfigured.

Most recently, Check Point Research has discovered misconfigurations and implementation issues that have exposed the data of 100 million mobile application users. This kind of exposure places both the users as well as the at risk of reputation threats and security damage. In this instance, the developers left open notification managers, storage locations and real-time databases to access by attackers, thus leaving 100 million users vulnerable.

In terms of real-time databases, can help mobile app users sync their data to the cloud in real time. However, when developers do not correctly implement this service with authentication, any user can theoretically access that database, including all mobile customer data. In fact, researchers expressed surprise at facing no obstacles to accessing these open databases for certain apps on Google Play. Some of the aspects obtainable in this case were device locations, email addresses, passwords, private chats and user identifiers, among other attack vectors. Such vulnerabilities leave all of these users at risk for fraud and identity theft.

May 22, 2021

Researchers create world’s most power-efficient high-speed ADC microchip

Posted by in category: computing

To meet soaring demand for lightning-quick mobile technology, each year tech giants create faster, more powerful devices with longer-lasting battery power than previous models.

A major reason companies like Apple and Samsung can miraculously pull this off year after year is because engineers and researchers around the world are designing increasingly power-efficient microchips that still deliver .

To that end, researchers led by a team at Brigham Young University have just built the world’s most power-efficient high-speed analog-to– (ADC) microchip. An ADC is a tiny piece of technology present in almost every electronic piece of equipment that converts analog signals (like a radio wave) to a digital signal.

May 22, 2021

Researchers develop advanced model to improve safety of next-generation reactors

Posted by in categories: engineering, nuclear energy, sustainability

When one of the largest modern earthquakes struck Japan on March 11, 2011, the nuclear reactors at Fukushima-Daiichi automatically shut down, as designed. The emergency systems, which would have helped maintain the necessary cooling of the core, were destroyed by the subsequent tsunami. Because the reactor could no longer cool itself, the core overheated, resulting in a severe nuclear meltdown, the likes of which haven’t been seen since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

Since then, reactors have improved exponentially in terms of safety, sustainability and efficiency. Unlike the light-water reactors at Fukushima, which had liquid coolant and , the current generation of reactors has a variety of coolant options, including molten-salt mixtures, supercritical water and even gases like helium.

Dr. Jean Ragusa and Dr. Mauricio Eduardo Tano Retamales from the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University have been studying a new fourth-generation , -bed reactors. Pebble-bed reactors use spherical fuel elements (known as pebbles) and a fluid coolant (usually a gas).

May 22, 2021

World’s smallest single-chip system can be injected into the body

Posted by in categories: computing, health, neuroscience

The continuing miniaturization of electronics is opening up some exciting possibilities when it comes to what we might place in our bodies to monitor and improve our health. Engineers at Columbia University have demonstrated an extreme version of this technology, developing the smallest single-chip system ever created, which could be implanted with a hypodermic needle to measure temperature inside the body, and possibly much more.

From ladybug-sized implants that track oxygen levels in deep body tissues to tiny “neural dust” sensors that monitor nerve signals in real time, scientists are making big steps when it comes to the functionality of tiny electronic devices. The implant developed by the Columbia Engineers breaks new ground as the world’s smallest single-chip system, which is a completely functional electronic circuit with a total volume of less than 0.1 mm3.

That makes it as small as a dust mite, and only visible under a microscope. The tiny chip required some outside-the-box thinking to make, particularly when it comes to the way it communicates and is powered.

May 22, 2021

Zhurong rover rolls onto Martian surface a week after landing

Posted by in category: space

HELSINKI — China’s Zhurong rover descended onto the surface of Mars late May 21, a week after the vehicle’s historic landing in Utopia Planitia.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced Saturday that the six-wheeled Zhurong had reached the surface at 10:20 p.m. Eastern Friday.

The rover will now begin science and exploration tasks in Utopia Planitia with six science payloads, including optical and multispectral cameras and ground-penetrating radar.

May 22, 2021

Watch a Supercomputer Simulation of a Star Forming

Posted by in category: supercomputing

STARFORGE, an initiative dedicated to modeling early star formation, has released stunning supercomputer simulations of young protostars.

May 22, 2021

Yeah, scientists just went there and came up with a faster way to create artificial DNA

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, existential risks, genetics

DNA was personified in Jurassic Park, where the animated double helix that called himself Mr. DNA took you and a group of skeptical scientists through the oversimplified (and obviously fictional) steps to creating dino DNA — but there is some reality in this.

For all you dinosaur enthusiasts out there, synthesizing DNA can’t bring T.Rex and Brachiosaurus back from extinction. Though creating genes in a lab sounds like the original eureka moment of Jurassic Park, synthesizing human DNA has done everything from genetic sequencing and editing to detecting diseases like the current plague we are living through. There is just one step that has always been problematic.