Tech Xplore news

Tech Xplore / New AI testing method flags fairness risks in autonomous systems

Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used to help optimize decision-making in high-stakes settings. For instance, an autonomous system can identify a power distribution strategy that minimizes costs while keeping ...

Apr 2, 2026
Tech Xplore / Fair decisions, clear reasons: Creating fuzzy AI with fairness built in from the start

Although AI is not intentionally biased, it can inherit biases from the data fed into it, learning and repeating them until the system becomes inherently unfair. This is complicated by the problem of identifying where the ...

Apr 2, 2026
Tech Xplore / Lab tests find Yankees' torpedo bat matches standard bat for power

The New York Yankees took the baseball world by storm with the newly designed torpedo bat last year, but the revolutionary design has ended up being no better than a standard bat for hitting the ball out of the park. In the ...

Apr 2, 2026
Tech Xplore / Researchers measure traffic emissions, to the block, in real-time

In a study focused on New York City, MIT researchers have shown that existing sensors and mobile data can be used to generate a near real-time, high-resolution picture of auto emissions, which could be used to develop local ...

Apr 2, 2026
Tech Xplore / Brain-inspired chip could make some AI tasks up to 2,000 times more energy efficient

A new type of computer chip that uses the physics of materials to process information could make some artificial intelligence (AI) systems far more energy efficient, researchers have found. Loughborough University physicists ...

Apr 2, 2026
Tech Xplore / UV glow test measures air disinfection performance in minutes

The effectiveness of air disinfection devices may now be measured in minutes, rather than hours, with a new technique from University of Michigan Engineering. This is important for researchers developing better antiviral ...

Apr 2, 2026
Tech Xplore / Do you trust me? A framework for making networks of robots and vehicles safer

From birds flying in formation to students working on a group project, the functioning of a group requires not only coordination and communication but also trust—each member must be confident in the others. The same is true ...

Apr 2, 2026
Tech Xplore / Got an awkward or embarrassing Gmail address? Google is now letting users change it

Good news for people who regret the Gmail address they came up with when they registered for an account: Google is now letting users change it.

Apr 2, 2026
Tech Xplore / Your call center rep is emotionally exhausted—their computer may know when to help

When a customer calls to complain about a billing error or a delayed package, the person on the other end of the line is doing more than answering questions.

Apr 2, 2026
Tech Xplore / AI machine sorts clothes faster than humans to boost textile recycling in China

In an industrial park in Zhangjiagang, a small city on China's east coast, a large humming and hissing machine feeds on piles of used clothes and sorts them.

Apr 2, 2026
Tech Xplore / Combining the robot operating system with LLMs for natural-language control

Over the past few decades, robotics researchers have developed a wide range of increasingly advanced robots that can autonomously complete various real-world tasks. To be successfully deployed in real-world settings, such ...

Apr 1, 2026
Tech Xplore / Lithium-air batteries break performance barriers thanks to a newly developed 2D catalyst

As the electric vehicle and energy storage system (ESS) markets experience rapid growth, the development of next-generation batteries capable of surpassing the energy density limitations of existing lithium-ion batteries ...

Apr 1, 2026