Bizarre Things: Computers & Math

February 25, 2025

Top Headlines

Mesoporous Silicon: Semiconductor With New Talents

Feb. 25, 2025 — Silicon is the best-known semiconductor material. However, controlled nanostructuring drastically alters the material's properties. Using a specially developed etching apparatus, a team has now produced mesoporous silicon layers with countless tiny ...

A Completely New Type of Microscopy Based on Quantum Sensors

Feb. 25, 2025 — Researchers have invented an entirely new field of microscopy -- nuclear spin microscopy. The team can visualize magnetic signals of nuclear magnetic resonance with a microscope. Quantum sensors convert the signals into light, enabling extremely ...

How to Get a Robot Collective to Act Like a Smart Material

Feb. 21, 2025 — Researchers are blurring the lines between robotics and materials, with a proof-of-concept material-like collective of robots with behaviors inspired by ...

AI Unlocks the Emotional Language of Animals

Feb. 21, 2025 — Groundbreaking study shows machine learning can decode emotions in seven ungulate species. A game-changer for animal welfare? Can artificial intelligence help us understand what animals feel? A pioneering study suggests the answer is yes. ...

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A Miniature Swimming Robot Inspired by Marine Flatworms

Feb. 19, 2025 — Engineers have developed a versatile swimming robot that nimbly navigates cluttered water surfaces. Inspired by marine flatworms, the innovative device offers new possibilities for environmental ...

Topological Quantum Processor Marks Breakthrough in Computing

Feb. 20, 2025 — In a leap forward for quantum computing, physicists unveiled an eight-qubit topological quantum processor, the first of its kind. The chip, built as a proof-of-concept for the scientists' design, ...

Predator Robots Help Researchers Uncover How Larval Zebrafish Rapidly Learn

Feb. 20, 2025 — A novel system that chases larval zebrafish around an arena with predator robots is enabling scientists to understand how these days-old fish quickly learn in the real ...

Revolutionizing Dynamic Facial Projection Mapping: A Leap Forward in Augmented Reality

Feb. 20, 2025 — Dynamic facial projection mapping (DFPM) has reached new heights in speed and accuracy, with the development of a state-of-the-art system with ...

A Robust and Adaptive Controller for Ballbots

Feb. 19, 2025 — Ballbots are versatile robotic systems with the ability to move around in all directions. This makes it tricky to control their movement. In a recent study, a team has proposed a novel proportional ...

Combining Millions of Years of Evolution With Tech Wizardry: The Cyborg Cockroach

Feb. 13, 2025 — A research team has developed two new autonomous navigation systems for cyborg insects to better navigate unknown, complex environments. The ...

Magnetic Semiconductor Preserves 2D Quantum Properties in 3D Material

Feb. 19, 2025 — Physicists have developed a novel approach to maintain special quantum characteristics, even in 3D materials, with potential applications in optical systems and advanced ...

Magnetic Switch Traps Quantum Information Carriers in One Dimension

Feb. 19, 2025 — A quantum 'miracle material' could support magnetic switching, a team of researchers has ...

Harnessing Failure as an Asset: How Researchers Are Innovating Smarter Wearable Tech

Feb. 18, 2025 — In the world of soft robotics and wearable technology, sheet-based fluidic devices are revolutionizing how lightweight, flexible and multifunctional ...

Holograms Boost 3D Printing Efficiency and Resolution

Feb. 12, 2025 — Scientists have used holographic projections to bring unprecedented resolution to a light-based 3D printing technique. The method allows the fabrication of millimeter-scale objects within seconds ...

Biohybrid Hand Gestures With Human Muscles

Feb. 12, 2025 — A biohybrid hand which can move objects and do a scissor gesture has been created. The researchers used thin strings of lab-grown muscle tissue bundled into sushilike rolls to give the fingers enough ...

Scientists Develop Novel Self-Healing Electronic Skin for Health Monitoring

Feb. 12, 2025 — Researchers have achieved a breakthrough in wearable health technology by developing a novel self-healing electronic skin (E-Skin) that repairs itself in seconds after damage. This could potentially ...

Is the Metaverse a New Frontier for Human-Centric Manufacturing?

Feb. 11, 2025 — The future of manufacturing is not just about machines and AI; it's about re-empowering humans, according to a new ...

When Qubits Learn the Language of Fiberoptics

Feb. 11, 2025 — Qubits -- the fundamental units of quantum information -- drive entire tech sectors. Among them, superconducting qubits could be instrumental in building a large-scale quantum computer, but they rely ...

Truly Autonomous AI Is on the Horizon

Feb. 10, 2025 — Researchers have developed a new AI algorithm, called Torque Clustering, that significantly improves how AI systems independently learn and uncover patterns in data, without human ...

A Symphony in Quantum

Feb. 10, 2025 — Entanglement -- linking distant particles or groups of particles so that one cannot be described without the other -- is at the core of the quantum revolution changing the face of modern technology. ...

Quantum Theory and Thermodynamics: Maxwell's Demon?

Feb. 7, 2025 — An international collaboration sheds new light on the relationship between quantum theory and thermodynamics. The research group demonstrated that while the laws of quantum theory alone do not ...

Novel 'Living' Biomaterial Aims to Advance Regenerative Medicine

Feb. 6, 2025 — A biomaterial that can mimic certain behaviors within biological tissues could advance regenerative medicine, disease modeling, soft robotics and more, according to ...

Making an Invisible Electric Wire: Guiding Electricity With Sound

Feb. 6, 2025 — Electric sparks are used for welding, powering electronics, killing germs or for igniting the fuel in some car engines. Despite their usefulness, they are hard to control in open space, they split ...

'Living' Electrodes Breathe New Life Into Traditional Silicon Electronics

Feb. 5, 2025 — Researchers have developed advanced terahertz photodetectors containing 'living' microelectrodes. A vanadium dioxide (VO2) layer was precisely deposited on a silicon substrate. Temperature ...

Paving the Way to Quantum Supercomputers

Feb. 5, 2025 — In a milestone that brings quantum computing tangibly closer to large-scale practical use, scientists have demonstrated the first instance of distributed quantum computing. Using a photonic network ...

Researchers Combine Holograms and AI to Create Uncrackable Optical Encryption System

Jan. 30, 2025 — Researchers developed a new optical system that uses holograms to encode information, creating a level of encryption that traditional methods cannot ...

New Acoustic Wave Phenomenon Discovered

Jan. 29, 2025 — This novel finding regarding the nonreciprocal diffraction of acoustic waves could open doors for next-generation communication ...

Even Quantum Physics Obeys the Law of Entropy

Jan. 29, 2025 — The universe is getting more disordered, entropy is growing -- this is the second law of thermodynamics. But according to quantum theory, entropy should actually stay the same. Scientists took a ...

A New Register With Thousands of Entangled Nuclei to Scale Quantum Networks

Jan. 28, 2025 — In a groundbreaking achievement for quantum technologies, researchers have created a functional quantum register using the atoms inside a semiconductor quantum ...

'Embodied Energy' Powers Modular Worm, Jellyfish Robots

Jan. 27, 2025 — In the same way that terrestrial life evolved from ocean swimmers to land walkers, soft robots are progressing, too, thanks to recent research in battery development and ...

A New Experimental System to Bring Quantum Technologies Closer to Students

Jan. 27, 2025 — The world of quantum physics is experiencing a second revolution, which will drive an exponential leap in the progress of computing, the internet, telecommunications, cybersecurity and biomedicine. ...

Scaling Up Neuromorphic Computing for More Efficient and Effective AI Everywhere and Anytime

Jan. 23, 2025 — Neuromorphic computing -- a field that applies principles of neuroscience to computing systems to mimic the brain's function and structure -- needs to scale up if it is to effectively compete ...

Adding Bridges to Stabilize Quantum Networks

Jan. 23, 2025 — While entangled photons hold incredible promise for quantum computing and communications, they have a major inherent disadvantage. After one use, they simply disappear. In a new study physicists ...

London Cabbies' Planning Strategies Could Help Inform Future of AI

Jan. 23, 2025 — Researchers have measured the thinking time of London taxi drivers -- famous for their knowledge of more than 26,000 streets across the city -- as part of a study into the future of AI ...