Engineering Design
- Tech
Talking through a tube can trick AI into mistaking one voice for another
Researchers crafted tubes that can trick AI into mistaking one person’s voice for another’s. Bad guys could use such tricks to hack into accounts.
- Animals
Adult corals have been frozen and revived for the first time
Living corals could be frozen for safekeeping. Scientists could later revive them to restore reef ecosystems that are withering in warming seas.
- Tech
AI can now turn blurry thermal vision into crisp images
Even when it’s pitch black, the new imaging system can create clear images while also accurately gauging distances to objects.
- Tech
Could Star Trek replicators exist?
Experts break down what’s possible and what’s not for this classic science-fiction invention.
- Tech
Nanobots can now enter brain cells to spy on what they’re doing
Fleets of advanced versions may one day be able to detect disease and then go about surgically treating it — without ever opening the skull.
- Materials Science
Made from fungi, this vegan leather can self-heal holes or rips
If made under gentle conditions, leather formed from the “roots” of mushrooms can retain the ability to regrow and repair minor damage.
- Tech
This electronic bandage sterilizes wounds with flashes of light
Dentists have sterilized medical equipment with ultraviolet-C light for years. Applying this tech to bandages had proven a challenge — until now.
- Tech
Gravity ‘batteries’ might help a weighty renewable-energy problem
To store the energy generated by wind and solar power, researchers are looking at mammoth systems that raise and lower weights.
- Tech
New device can harvest clean energy from humid air anywhere
Unlike solar power, this new source of electricity is available day or night.
- Animals
How artificial intelligence could help us talk to animals
AI translates human languages with ease. Researchers are now using this tech to analyze the sounds of whales, rodents and many other animals.
- Tech
What is my pet saying? Scientists are working to find out
Researchers are using artificial intelligence for pet-translation apps. One day, it might put into words what our furry friends are vocalizing.
- Tech
High-tech solar ‘leaves’ create green fuels from the sun
Chemists make a liquid alternative to fossil fuels from carbon dioxide, water and the sun. Their trick? They use a new type of artificial leaf.
