science wire

Power electronics, which do things like modify voltages or convert between direct and alternating current, are everywhere.

UC Berkeley researchers have developed a robotic learning technology that enables robots to imagine the future of their actions so they can figure out how to manipulate objects they have never encountered before. In the future, this technology could help self-driving cars anticipate future events on the road and produce more intelligent robotic assistants in homes, but the initial prototype focuses on learning simple manual skills entirely from autonomous play.

For News Media FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11/29/17 Devices tend to store that information in two ways: through electric fields (think of a flash drive) or through magnetic fields (like a computer's spinning hard disk). Each method has advantages and disadvantages. However, in the future, our electronics could benefit from the best of each.

Soft robotics has made leaps and bounds over the last decade as researchers around the world have experimented with different materials and designs to allow once rigid, jerky machines to bend and flex in ways that mimic and can interact more naturally with living organisms.

With streaming movies and UltraHD television taking more and more bandwidth, there is a race to deliver data into people's homes as quickly as possible.

At any given moment, the Earth's atmosphere is showered with high-energy cosmic rays that have been blasted from supernovae and other astrophysical phenomena far beyond the Solar System.

The state's biggest electricity generator, Luminant, recently announced the closing of three coal-fired power plants in Texas, but out of the coal ashes could rise a phoenix.

UCL scientists are seeking new links with Peking University (PKU) to create a new generation of "green" electronic devices that use nanotechnology to reduce the energy needed to generate their power.

Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) has been awarded a £1m grant to help set-up a world-leading centre of excellence for nuclear robotics in the UK.

For the first time, engineers at Caltech have created a stable ring of plasma in open air-essentially capturing lightning in a bottle, but without the bottle.

One bar, two bars - it's an all-too-common problem. You're in a large building, driving in a remote area, or even right in the middle of a big city, but you can't stream video, check email or even make a phone call - because your cellular signal is weak. But the future may be different. University of Wisconsin-Madison electrical engineers have devised a new fundamental understanding that someday could lead to vast improvements in devices that gather or deliver information at any wavelength.

An international team of researchers has developed a new light-based manipulation method that could one day be used to mass produce light-based devices and electronic components for smartphones, computers and other electronics. Optical traps, which use light to hold and move small objects in liquid, are promising as a non-contact method to assemble electronic and optical devices.

Researchers have successfully incorporated washable, stretchable and breathable electronic circuits into fabric, opening up new possibilities for smart textiles and wearable electronics. The circuits were made with cheap, safe and environmentally friendly inks, and printed using conventional inkjet printing techniques.

ANN ARBOR-Gasoline vehicles would produce lower emissions than the average battery-electric vehicle only if their fuel economy was higher than 51.5 mpg worldwide, say researchers at the University of Michigan.

Today, more than 1.3 billion people are living without regular access to power, including more than 300 million in India and 600 million in sub-Saharan Africa. In these and other developing countries, access to a main power grid, particularly in rural regions, is remote and often unreliable. Increasingly, many rural and some urban communities are turning to microgrids as an alternative source of electricity.

!- Start of DoubleClick Floodlight Tag: Please do not remove Activity name of this tag: UCB001CP Retargeting URL of the webpage where the tag is expected to be placed: http://unknown This tag must be

!- Start of DoubleClick Floodlight Tag: Please do not remove Activity name of this tag: UCB001CP Retargeting URL of the webpage where the tag is expected to be placed: http://unknown This tag must be placed between the California leads the way in finding sustainable energy supplies to combat climate change, but Dan Kammen's experience in the developing world makes it clear that energy solutions, like politics, must be local.

!- Start of DoubleClick Floodlight Tag: Please do not remove Activity name of this tag: UCB001CP Retargeting URL of the webpage where the tag is expected to be placed: http://unknown This tag must be placed between the Researchers at UC Berkeley and UC Riverside have developed a new, ultrafast method for electrically controlling magnetism in certain metals, a breakthrough that could lead to greatly increased performance and more energy-efficient computer memory and processing technologies.

A Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) spin out company has received investment to commercialise a new material technology which would both drastically cut energy use and increase the speed of optical communications.

ESA Space in Images This may resemble an alien landscape, but it is actually a microscopic view of tin used to solder electronic components.

A new type of smart fabric developed at the University of Washington could pave the way for jackets that store invisible passcodes and open the door to your apartment or office.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The phenomenon that forms interference patterns on television displays when a camera focuses on a pattern like a person wearing stripes has inspired a new way to conceptualize electronic devices. Researchers at the University of Illinois are showing how the atomic-scale version of this phenomenon may hold the secrets to help advance electronics design to the limits of size and speed.

We've seen RoboBees that can fly , stick to walls , and dive into water. Now, get ready for a hybrid RoboBee that can fly, dive into water, swim, propel itself back out of water, and safely land.

New global trials have shown the super-fast 'Red Belly Blockchain' can process financial transactions 50 percent faster than first anticipated - outperforming some market leaders including VISA for world-wide payments.

ANN ARBOR-Despite widespread concern about potential human health impacts from hydraulic fracturing, the lifetime toxic chemical releases associated with coal-generated electricity are 10 to 100 times greater than those from electricity generated with natural gas obtained via fracking, according to a new University of Michigan study.

In a traditional computer, a microprocessor is mounted on a "package," a small circuit board with a grid of electrical leads on its bottom.

The "drone race" between countries is underway and the UK can be a leader, said an Imperial aeronautical engineer at the launch of a new centre.

In recent years, electric roads have emerged as potential alternatives to the heavy and expensive batteries currently needed in electric road vehicles.

Slow internet speeds and the Internet 'rush hour' - the peak time when data speeds drop by up to 30% - could be history with new hardware designed and demonstrated by UCL researchers that provides consistently high-speed broadband connectivity.

In this edition: We discover Imperial's involvement in the IPCC, meet underfloor robots and explore the Imperial universe at the latest Fringe.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017 The University of Pennsylvania's School of Engineering and Applied Science has established the Intel Center for Wireless Autonomous Systems.

In a blink of an eye, an octopus can transform from a colorful creature to a drab pile of rocks and plant life, indistinguishable from the surface it's perched on.

The central hub of Boston's 2017 HUBweek celebration last week was a remarkable sight: a sprawling village of over 80 shipping containers transformed into a brightly painted celebration of art, technology, and innovation, bustling with people exploring the towering crates.

Research news Power on the go is in demand: The greater the battery capacity, the larger the reach of electric cars and the longer the operating time of cell phones and laptops.

If a robot is sent to disable a roadside bomb - or delicately handle an egg while cooking you an omelet - it needs to be able to sense when objects are slipping out of its grasp.

Liquid metal brings soft robotics a step closer Scientists have invented a way to morph liquid metal into physical shapes.

University of Queensland research projects to develop better batteries for renewable energy and a way of predicting crop yields from space have been funded under a joint Queensland-China scheme.

Optical frequency combs are widely-used, high-precision tools for measuring and detecting different frequencies - a.k.a.

Calling all Lego fans..the University of Nottingham is looking for school teams to take part in the regional heat of the global FIRST LEGO League challenge taking place on Tuesday 19 th December.