Tag: concepts

Scientists Use VR to Teach Robots Swarming Behavior by Studying Fish

Pooja Kashyap

A team of biologists and robotic engineers recently used virtual reality (VR) to crack the code of how fish school, with the goal of teaching robots to swarm in the same way. Imagine you’re at a party where everyone’s dancing to the same rhythm, but there’s no DJ or leader telling people what to do. Everyone just knows how to stay in sync, avoid bumping into each other, and respond to changes in the crowd. That’s basically what schools of fish do, and it’s something that robots have struggled to…

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AntGrip: Enhancing Gripper Performance with Ant-Inspired Hairs

Pooja Kashyap

Whenever I find myself really fascinated by biomimicry, I often discover new things inspired by it. This time, it’s a robotic hand that takes ideas from how ants work. Imagine you’re picking up a slippery soda can with a simple two-finger robot gripper. No suction cups, no fancy sensors, just friction. Sounds tricky, right? That’s exactly the kind of challenge researchers tackled by taking inspiration from “ants”.

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Cracking the Mystery of Strange Metals with Quantum Entanglement

Pooja Kashyap

Quantum criticality in metals is an exciting area of study where physics explores mysterious concepts. A new study in Nature Communications looks at a unique way to understand entanglement at a specific point called the Kondo destruction quantum critical point (QCP). Instead of using standard methods, the researchers focus on concepts like mutual information and quantum Fisher information (QFI) to explore how quantum connections change as they get closer to this transition.

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ULVAC and IBM Quantum Team Up to Revolutionize Quantum Computing Cooling

Pooja Kashyap

Quantum computing is one of the most promising technological frontiers, but it comes with a major challenge, which is, maintaining the extreme cold temperatures that is required for qubits to function. Today’s quantum computers rely on dilution refrigerators, complex and highly specialized cooling systems that keep qubits operating near absolute zero. However, these systems are expensive, tough to maintain and don’t scale easily.

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Yarn-Based Weaving for Soft Robotics: Revolutionizing Healthcare

Pooja Kashyap

Globally, electronics engineers are busy developing devices that are flexible, adaptable, and built for high performance. These devices are designed for real-world applications, including – robotics, healthcare and wearable technology. Similar efforts are underway in developing smart textiles as well. Interestingly, these fabrics can detect environmental changes or perform specific functions.

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Biomimicry: Mantis-Inspired Biomimetic Vision System

Pooja Kashyap

A self-driving car approaches a street with a parked car and a cyclist waiting to cross. The car detects the cyclist moving but has difficulty judging the distance and speed of both the stationary parked car and the slow-moving cyclist, leading it to miscalculate the necessary response and causing a collision. This is similar to how some insects see the world: their eyes are good at noticing movement and seeing a lot at once, but they struggle to tell how far away things are. However, this is not the case…

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Neutron Innovation: Precise Temperature Measurement for Electronics

Pooja Kashyap

We are constantly surrounded by electronics. From LEDs to batteries, these electronics have become part of our lives. And so, more advanced and intricate components are needed to make them more efficient and reliable. However, as these components become increasingly sophisticated, getting reliable temperature measurements of specific elements inside an object can be a challenge.

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From Urine to Water: The Latest Breakthrough in Spacesuit Technology

Pooja Kashyap

Of all the things in movie, Dune, I particularly got fascinated with the idea how the people used those suits to recycle sweat and urine into drinkable water. It got me thinking: why can’t we make this tech a reality? Well, it turns out researchers at Cornell University are on it! They’ve developed a prototype for a new urine collection and filtration system for spacesuits. Isn’t that awesome?

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Electronic Spider Silk: A Versatile Solution for Bioelectronics

Pooja Kashyap

Super-thin and flexible electronics are here to stay. This tech will not only create but it will also revolutionize the use of gadgets. Since, it leads to unlimited possibilities for innovative and practical applications. Some of the them include but not limited to – wearable tech, portability, healthcare applications, space probes etc.

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MK03: Key Player in Multiple Sclerosis Pathway

Pooja Kashyap

To achieve a holistic understanding of multiple sclerosis, an international team of scientists led by the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS) at Pompeu Fabra University, has devised a computational biology instrument. This innovation also holds potential for probing into other intricate illnesses, like various forms of dementia. Understanding multiple sclerosis is not that easy. It’s an autoimmune condition. In such a situation, the immune system mistakenly attacks the brain and spinal cord. Gaining insights as to why it happens is slightly tricky, as it involves everything, from genes…

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Electron Dance: Creating Robust Continuous Time Crystals

Pooja Kashyap

Researchers at TU Dortmund University have achieved a breakthrough by creating a remarkably resilient time crystal. It exceeds the temporal stability observed in previous trials by millions of times. This accomplishment not only validates a captivating phenomenon proposed by Nobel Prize laureate Frank Wilczek approximately a decade ago but also echoes themes that have fascinated science fiction enthusiasts. The intriguing findings have been officially documented in the prestigious journal Nature Physics.

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Biohybrid Bipedal: Muscle-Powered Two-Legged Robot

Pooja Kashyap

Unlike robots, our bodies are super flexible and can make delicate moves effortlessly. Components like muscles, joints, and nerves work in tandem and allow us to make precise and delicate movements with ease. Robots, on the other hand, rely on rigid structures and predefined movements; in contrast, our bodies can adapt and respond dynamically to various situations.

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