news 2020

We want to make sure our phones no longer disturb us at the wrong moment. To achieve this, we first have to better understand where our attention lies when using smartphones. Computer scientists at ETH have now developed a system that records eye contact with the display in everyday situations for the first time.

Intelligent software for a better understanding of plant tissue development Using artificial intelligence, researchers have developed a novel computer-based image processing method for plant sciences. The method enables the detailed 3D representation of all cells in various plant organs with unprecedented precision.

On September 27 Switzerland votes for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, including on a contentious initiative to end the free movement of workers with the European Union. Predikon will be predicting the final outcome within minutes of the release of the first partial municipal results from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office.

Engineers at Stanford have used X-ray CT scans, more common in hospital labs, to study how wood catches fire. They've now turned that knowledge into a computer simulation to predict where fires will strike and spread. As wildfires rage across much of the American West, researchers at Stanford have used CAT scanners, the same instruments used in medicine to peer inside the human body, to understand the process of smoldering - the state of burning without flame that often leads to fire.

Quantum technologies have the potential to help create next-generation computers, sensors and communication networks-but doing so requires building a scalable platform in which quantum bits ("qubits") can be controlled individually and retain information for a long time. In a new study, scientists at the University of Chicago managed to do exactly that.

Fibre-optic cables are emerging as a valuable tool for geoscientists and glaciologists. They offer a relatively inexpensive way of measuring even the tiniest glacial earthquakes - plus they can also be used to obtain more accurate images of the geological subsurface in earthquake-prone megacities. Today's fibre-optic cables move data at tremendous speeds, enabling us to stream films and TV shows in HD or even 8K resolution.

Both elements are critical for applications such as self-driving cars Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a new metric for evaluating how well self-driving cars respond to changing road conditions and traffic, making it possible for the first time to compare perception systems for both accuracy and reaction time.

The Government of India's use of nudge theory in the first three months of the pandemic helped to tackle the virus on numerous fronts, a new study suggests. The government urgently needed to buy time and.. bring a deeply divided population together to fight a common struggle Ronita Bardhan India has reported nearly five million COVID-19 cases and well over 80,000 deaths (as of 17 September 2020), making the country one of the worst hit in the world.

Security software for autonomous vehicles Before autonomous vehicles participate in road traffic, they must demonstrate conclusively that they do not pose a danger to others. New software developed at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) prevents accidents by predicting different variants of a traffic situation every millisecond.

From Alexa and Siri to translation programs and computer-generated news, anything seems possible these days.The Media Technology Center is searching for applications that could lend a hand with day-to-day editorial work. Every time you talk to Siri on your phone and ask a question or give a command, you are communicating with artificial intelligence.

EPFL and MIT scientists have used machine-learning to organize the chemical diversity found in the ever-growing databases for the popular metal-organic framework materials. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of materials that contain nano-sized pores. These pores give MOFs record-breaking internal surface areas, which can measure up to 7,800 m2 in a single gram of material.

New policies, technologies could help make sense of flood of information The science community has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with such a flurry of research studies that it is hard for anyone to digest them all. This conundrum underscores a long-standing need to make scientific publication more accessible, transparent and accountable, two artificial intelligence experts assert in a data science journal.

Using algorithms to analyse the whole-genome sequence of a tumour can make treatment more successful - and can even help determine how cells become cancerous. Detailed genetic analysis of tumour tissue samples has become standard practice at a small number of the world's leading hospitals specialising in cancer treatment.

Using computer simulations powered by machine-learning algorithms EPFL scientists have made an important breakthrough in understanding how hydrogen behaves on Saturn and Jupiter. The giant planets in our solar system are made mainly of hydrogen, mostly in a liquid state. Near the planets- surface, hydrogen exists in an insulating, molecular form - H2 - but closer to the center, it takes on a metallic form where individual atoms can move around freely.

How do you calculate the coordinated movements of two robot arms so they can accurately guide a highly flexible tool? ETH researchers have integrated all aspects of the optimisation calculations into an algorithm. The hot-wire cutter will be used, among other things, to develop building blocks for a mortar-free structure.

Using a new algorithm, Stanford researchers have reconstructed the movements of individual particles of light to see through clouds, fog and other obstructions. Like a comic book come to life, researchers at Stanford University have developed a kind of X-ray vision - only without the X-rays. Working with hardware similar to what enables autonomous cars to "see" the world around them, the researchers enhanced their system with a highly efficient algorithm that can reconstruct three-dimensional hidden scenes based on the movement of individual particles of light, or photons.

The world is one step closer to having a totally secure internet and an answer to the growing threat of cyber-attacks, thanks to a team of international scientists who have created a unique prototype which could transform how we communicate online. The invention led by the University of Bristol, revealed today in the journal Science Advances , has the potential to serve millions of users, is understood to be the largest-ever quantum network of its kind, and could be used to secure people's online communication, particularly in these internet-led times accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rice physicists set far-more-accurate limits on speed of quantum information Nature's speed limits aren't posted on road signs, but Rice University physicists have discovered a new way to deduce them that is better - infinitely better, in some cases - than previous methods. "The big question is, 'How fast can anything - information, mass, energy - move in nature?'” said Kaden Hazzard , a theoretical quantum physicist at Rice.

Genetic material as a stable storage medium "Biohackers" TV series stored on DNA The first episode of the newly released series "Biohackers" was stored in the form of synthetic DNA. This was made possible by the research of Prof. Reinhard Heckel of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and his colleague Prof. Robert Grass of ETH Zürich.

A PIN code is usually required at the checkout when paying large sums by credit card. ETH researchers have now discovered a flaw in the security system of some credit cards. Credit cards that enable contactless payments are extremely popular. Small amounts can be charged quickly and easily at the till, and the cards are considered safe because a security code is required to debit large sums.