NASA recently built and tested an additively-manufactured – or 3D printed – rocket engine nozzle made of aluminum, making it lighter than conventional nozzles and setting the course for deep space flights that can carry more payloads.
Engineers at Aalto University have developed an improved method for long-distance wireless charging. By enhancing the interaction between transmitting and receiving antennas and leveraging the “radiation suppression” phenomenon, they’ve deepened our theoretical understanding of wireless power transfer beyond the traditional inductive methods, a significant advancement in the field.
Charging over short distances, such as through induction pads, uses magnetic near fields to transfer power with high efficiency, but at longer distances the efficiency dramatically drops. New research shows that this high efficiency can be sustained over long distances by suppressing the radiation resistance of the loop antennas that are sending and receiving power.
Join us as we delve into the fascinating world of collective intelligence, programmable biology, and the future of learning with renowned TED speaker and Harvard’s Wyss Institute Associate Faculty, Michael Levin. As the director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University and co-director of the Institute for Computer-Designed Organisms, Levin stands at the forefront of biological research and innovation.
In this enlightening interview, we explore the potentials and pitfalls of rewriting our DNA to gain superhuman abilities – imagine being able to breathe underwater or see in infrared! We also address the nuances of academic publishing and the urgent need for more collaborative approaches within scientific disciplines.
Speaking to partners last week as part of their annual Open Innovation Platform forum in Europe, a big portion of TSMC’s roadshow was dedicated to the next generation of the company’s foundry technology. TSMC’s 2 nm-class N2, N2P, and N2X process technologies are set to introduce multiple innovations, including nanosheet gate-all-around (GAA) transistors, backside power delivery, and super-high-performance metal-insulator-metal (SHPMIM) capacitor over the next few years. But in order to take advantage of these innovations, TSMC warns, chip designers will need to use all-new electronic design automation (EDA), simulation, and verification tools as well as IP. And while making such a big shift is never an easy task, TSMC is bringing some good news to chip designers early-on: even with N2 still a couple of years out, many of the major EDA tools, verification tools, foundation IP, and even analog IP for N2 are already available for use.
“For N2 we could be working with them two years in advance already because nanosheet is different,” said Dan Kochpatcharin, Head of Design Infrastructure Management at TSMC, at the OIP 2023 conference in Amsterdam. “[EDA] tools have to be ready, so what the OIP did is to work with them early. We have a huge engineering team to work with the EDA partners, IP partners, [and other] partners.”
*Chip density published by TSMC reflects ‘mixed’ chip density consisting of 50% logic, 30% SRAM, and 20% analog.
In a breakthrough in cancer therapeutics, a team of researchers at the Magzoub Biophysics Lab at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) has made a significant advance in light-based therapies—biocompatible and biodegradable tumor-targeting nanospheres that combine tumor detection and monitoring with potent, light-triggered cancer therapy to dramatically increase the efficacy of existing light-based approaches.
Non-invasive, light-based therapies, photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) have the potential to be safe and effective alternatives to conventional cancer treatments, which are beset by a number of issues, including a range of side-effects and post-treatment complications.
However, to date, the development of effective light-based technologies for cancer has been hindered by poor solubility, low stability, and lack of tumor specificity, among other challenges. Nanocarriers designed to deliver PDT and PTT more effectively have also proven to have significant limitations.
Summary: A groundbreaking suite of 21 papers has unveiled a momentous leap in our understanding of the brain, spotlighting the intricate cellular composition of human and primate brains through a consortium led by the BRAIN Initiative.
Utilizing innovative single-cell transcriptomics, researchers illuminated a stunning array of over 3,000 different brain cells and their distinctive functionalities. This extensive research not only dives into the distinctiveness of the human brain but also pioneers a suite of scalable techniques that offer an unparalleled, detailed organization view of the brain.
This pivotal moment in neuroscience sets a promising stage for the next phase in cellular census efforts, propelling towards a more profound understanding of the brain’s complexity and functionality.
Disney’s latest robot combines art and technology to convey emotions through dynamic movements, showcased at IROS 2023.
In a captivating evening keynote address at the 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.
A legacy of emotion-driven robotics
Continue reading “Emotion-infused robots: Disney’s breakthrough” »
The Center for Artificial Intelligence at King Khalid University embraces AI-driven innovation by using and creating advanced digital technologies to help fulfill Vision 2030 objectives. With that as the main driver, Nada Saeed Al-Qahtani, student and inventor at the College of Computer Science at King Khalid University, developed a robot called “Eve”. Eve is tailored to students with Down Syndrome, being equipped with machine learning curriculum adaptations that make completing tasks easier.
Generative AI, dominated by proprietary models locked inside big tech companies, is being disrupted by a new wave of open-source models.
Advocates argue open sourcing has vital benefits like enabling wider access, fostering innovation, and promoting transparency. Many people argue that open source will win in the marketplace.
But that conclusion is not obvious.
Continue reading “Generative AI Throwdown: Open Source Vs. Proprietary Models” »
According to Fioretto et al. [9], whole organ pancreas transplantation is a viable therapeutic option, since it improves the patient’s quality of life and promotes regression of some late complications associated with T1D. However, this procedure constitutes a major surgical intervention, which requires a strict immunosuppressive regimen and heavily depends on properly functioning of the donor pancreas for a successful treatment, being recommended only for patients with brittle/labile T1D who also need a kidney transplant [10]. Pancreatic islets transplantation, introduced in Brazil by our research group [11, 12], has been shown to be a promising alternative to whole organ pancreas transplantation, since it is a simpler and less invasive procedure. According to Hering et al. [13], transplantation of pancreatic islets is a safe and efficient treatment option for T1D patients with hypoglycemia. Nevertheless, there are still some factors that limit this procedure, such as the low availability of pancreas donors and the requirement for constant patient immunosuppression [10, 14].
Chronic usage of immunosuppressant medication becomes necessary for immunological acceptance of the islet allograft; however, this regimen is associated with various side effects, such as oral sores, gastrointestinal diseases, hypertension, dyslipidemia, anemia, increased infection susceptibility, cancer and systemic toxicity [15]. Therefore, encapsulation of pancreatic islets has emerged as a promising strategy to avoid the need for these immunosuppressive drugs. Production of semipermeable microcapsules for biological application, containing cells or proteins, was initially suggested in the 90’s [16], but considerable progress has been achieved in the field since then, with a major increase in application possibilities, including as an alternative for T1D treatment.
To avoid using steroid-based agents that damage β-cells and are known to be diabetogenic or induce peripheral insulin resistance, a glucocorticoid-free immunosuppressive protocol was developed by the Shapiro’s Group [17], for usage in islet transplantation trials. This protocol includes sirolimus, low dosage of tacrolimus and a monoclonal antibody against the interleukin-2 receptor (daclizumab). Their findings, in a study with T1D patients, indicate that islet transplantation alone is associated with minimal risks for the patient and results in good metabolic control, with normalization of glycated hemoglobin values and restricted requirement for exogenous insulin [17]. This protocol, known as the Edmonton Protocol, was considered as a breakthrough, becoming the standard procedure for islet transplantation, constituting a promising step toward the development of a cure for T1D [18]. However, the standard procedure for pancreatic islets transplantation is based on isolation and purification of islet cells from deceased donors, a process that requires two to four donors per patient, since the efficiency of islet isolation is well below 100% and, additionally, only about 50% of the implanted islets survive after transplantation [19]. In addition, several factors interfere with the viability of the graft after transplantation, such as quality of the donated organ, viability and functionality of the purified islets and the patient’s own immune response [20]. Although many advances have been reached in the field, the need for a large number of viable islets, along with the low availability of donors, is still an important factor that compromise the viability of this methodology.
