Tech Xplore

Worried about your employment prospects now that the next level of artificial intelligence has arrived, accompanied by breakthroughs like ChatGPT? "Don't be," says Barry Smith, Ph.D., SUNY distinguished professor of philosophy at the University at Buffalo. "There are many things that AI does well, but there are too many areas of human intelligence that involve what you can't emulate through the data that's used to train AI."

A tall garage gate on Northeastern University's Seattle campus rolled up to reveal the snarling headlights of a Ford Mustang Mach-E wrapped in the signature Husky red-and-white color scheme. Behind the wheel of the sleek, all-electric SUV was Xian Li, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and instructor of the Robotics Sensing and Navigation course.

How can we harness the potential of automation while retaining human oversight? And what does successful automation look like in practice?

A study led by the University of Oxford has identified a novel semiconductor that overcomes a key limitation of light-harvesting materials. The results, published today (Oct. 28) in Nature, could enable more efficient solar panels with higher outputs.

A key goal in solar cell research is to improve efficiency toward the Shockley–Queisser limit, the theoretical maximum efficiency for converting sunlight into electricity under specified conditions. Organic solar cells use carbon-based semiconducting materials and offer advantages such as being lightweight, potentially low-cost and suitable for flexible applications. Their power conversion efficiencies have approached 20%, but voltage losses remain a major obstacle to further improvements.

A joint research team has developed self-powered fibers using a simple spray-coating process that blends two different polymers, eliminating the need for high-voltage equipment. The paper is published in the journal Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials. The technology is expected to simplify complex conventional fiber fabrication processes and facilitate the manufacturing of smart sensors and wearable electronic devices based on triboelectricity.

Multiferroics are a promising class of materials for making computer chips and other electronic components that can operate at much lower power than today's devices. The materials have coupled electrical and magnetic properties that can be manipulated simultaneously with a relatively tiny electrical voltage.

A sleek, pilotless, solar-powered airplane that soars through the atmosphere to monitor climate or track wildfires was once just an idea. Now, these high-altitude specialty aircraft are advancing from early prototyping demonstrations toward potential commercial applications, supported by decades of research and development involving Harvard scientists, aerospace engineers and industry collaborators.

A new method for controlling groups of drones, technically known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), could make formation flying smoother and reduce energy consumption and mechanical wear, according to research in the International Journal of Systems, Control and Communications. The work combines fuzzy logic processing with a self-adjusting control system, known as a self-coupling proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller.

Many buildings and sites tied to national security rely on cameras and sensor networks to detect people and other objects nearby, but weather conditions can quickly obscure their view. To understand how these systems perform, Sandia National Laboratories researchers are deliberately recreating thick fog and heavy rain in a controlled chamber.