1+ hour, 47+ min ago  (481+ words) As artificial intelligence chatbots become more common, some governments and organizations have introduced rules requiring these systems to regularly remind users that they are not human. The goal is to prevent people from becoming emotionally dependent on AI companions. However,…...

6+ day, 16+ hour ago  (360+ words) Earbuds may soon do much more than play music or take phone calls. According to a new international study, the same devices millions of people wear every day could one day help monitor brain health and mental workload simply by…...

1+ week, 15+ hour ago  (409+ words) Sodium-ion batteries are emerging as a promising alternative to today's lithium-ion batteries. While lithium-ion technology powers everything from smartphones to electric cars, lithium is relatively scarce and unevenly distributed around the world. However, for sodium-ion batteries to compete with lithium-ion…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago  (382+ words) Researchers have created a microphone so thin it looks like a human hair, yet tough enough to survive temperatures as high as 1,000C. Made entirely from silica glass, this tiny device can detect ultrasonic sounds far beyond the range of human…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago  (514+ words) Lithium-ion batteries power everything from smartphones to electric cars, but they rely on materials that raise environmental and ethical concerns. Metals like nickel and cobalt are costly to mine, difficult to recycle, and linked to toxic processing. Now, materials scientists…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago  (339+ words) Optical fiber quietly powers much of the modern world. It carries internet traffic across oceans and cities with astonishing efficiency, letting light travel kilometers with barely any loss. Now, researchers at California Institute of Technology say they are closer than…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago  (468+ words) Most synthetic materials are made to do just one or two things. Once they are created, their properties rarely change. A research team at Penn State is trying to change that idea by developing a new kind of "smart synthetic…...

2+ week, 3+ day ago  (632+ words) Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have demonstrated a surprising new way to compute'by using heat instead of electricity. In a proof-of-concept study published in Physical Review Applied, the team showed that microscopic silicon structures can carry out mathematical calculations…...

2+ week, 4+ day ago  (486+ words) Sodium-ion batteries are attracting growing attention as a greener and more affordable alternative to today's lithium-ion batteries. Sodium is abundant, widely available, and cheaper than lithium, making it appealing for large-scale energy storage. But despite this promise, sodium-ion batteries have…...

3+ week, 5+ day ago  (533+ words) Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed a powerful new 3D-printing system that could transform how large and complex parts are manufactured. The new approach combines several smaller 3D-printing extruders into one coordinated, high-output…...