Tech Xplore news

Tech Xplore / A robot that shifts its own weight to cross land, steps, and water

A robot meant to inspect a coastline, a flooded street or a wetland can't count on one kind of ground. It might need to crawl over a hard surface, climb a bank, scale a curb or a step, then slide into open water, often within ...

Sep 17, 2026
Tech Xplore / AI still isn't as good at recognizing objects as people are, new test shows

Artificial intelligence has gradually made its way into many areas of life with abilities that often match or surpass those of humans. But a study published in the journal iScience finds that AI-powered machines have trouble ...

Sep 17, 2026
Tech Xplore / Chatbot gives teens first-hand experience of cybergrooming tactics without the risk of harm

Virginia Tech researchers are developing virtual tools to help teens protect themselves against cybergrooming. Using survey data from parents and teens and leveraging artificial intelligence, the research team created a chatbot ...

Sep 17, 2026
Tech Xplore / MRI technique eliminates 'dead time' to capture rapidly fading signals, making scans more precise

A team of researchers at the University of Stuttgart has developed a new method that could make MRI even more precise by eliminating "dead time," a key limiting factor in the measurement process, thereby enabling the detection ...

Sep 17, 2026
Tech Xplore / Manuscripts-turned AI agents can now 'talk' to each other and make new discoveries

Since 1665, scholarly journals have served as written records of scientific advancement—static words on a page, references written by people for other people to read. That's about to change.

Sep 16, 2026
Tech Xplore / How AI models decide not to answer a question

Large language models (LLMs), the artificial intelligence (AI) systems supporting the functioning of ChatGPT, Gemini and similar conversational platforms, are often expected to answer queries, generate texts for specific ...

Sep 16, 2026
Tech Xplore / When AI agents cheat on math problems, others blow the whistle

AI is advancing rapidly. One of the major shifts in the field is that, instead of single chatbots performing individual tasks, teams of autonomous agents work together by communicating with each other, sharing tools and accessing ...

Sep 16, 2026
Tech Xplore / 'We're losing control': AI pioneer urges nuclear-style safeguards for autonomous agents

The Canadian computer scientist Yoshua Bengio, considered one of the founders of AI, told AFP that humanity is "losing control" of the technology and that the world needs guardrails similar to nuclear arms controls.

Sep 16, 2026
Tech Xplore / Steelmaking waste could store solar energy, with electric arc furnace slag leading early tests

Storing energy as heat is a proven pathway to address the challenge solar power faces when it's dark or cloudy outside by enabling the capture, storage and on-demand release of thermal energy. The process, called high-temperature ...

Sep 16, 2026
Tech Xplore / It bends, but does not break: A new sustainable treatment for shaping wood

The Smart Materials research unit, coordinated by Athanassia Athanassiou, deputy scientific director of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia) in Genoa, Italy, has developed a new method ...

Sep 16, 2026
Tech Xplore / DNA computer performs 100-bit calculations using heat, water and salt

Researchers at Maynooth University (MU) have developed a first-of-its-kind DNA computer, described as one of the most complex and fastest molecular computers yet reported.

Sep 16, 2026
Tech Xplore / Tiny polymer devices mimic neuron firing, pointing toward energy-efficient edge computing

MIT researchers have created a computing platform that could be used to develop intelligent and adaptive next-generation electronics that can perform multiple functions, like computing and memory, within one extremely compact, ...

Sep 16, 2026