Mini Games

Scientists in Japan have developed a paper-based sensor equipped with an array of extremely tiny microneedles, which they say can painlessly penetrate human skin for a quick and easy method of conducting diagnostic tests for conditions like pre-diabetes.   Microneedles are super tiny-spikes so small they’re measured in micrometres (one thousandth of a millimetre), designed

Scientists have unveiled a new printing process that can turn just about any piece of paper or cardboard into a waterproof keyboard that you can fold up and put in your pocket – and it doesn’t require a power source.   The tech makes use of a special coating that’s repellent to liquids and dust, which

Plants have a seemingly effortless skill – turning sunlight into energy – and scientists have been working to artificially emulate this photosynthesis process. The ultimate benefits for renewable energy could be huge – and a new approach based on ‘photosheets’ could be the most promising attempt we’ve seen so far.   The new device takes CO2, water, and

Of the many high expectations we have of quantum technology, one of the most exciting has to be the ability to simulate chemistry on an unprecedented level. Now we have our first glimpse of what that might look like.   Together with a team of collaborators, the Google AI Quantum team has used their 54

In 2020, we’re sadly used to hearing how disinformation campaigns are being waged to influence people’s thinking, spread fake news, and further political agendas But the same tactics aren’t solely a threat in terms of long-term social manipulation, scientists warn.   In a new study, researchers demonstrate that weaponised disinformation campaigns could also hypothetically be exploited

The internet has transformed most areas of our lives over the last few decades, and the technology keeps improving: researchers just set a new record for data transmission rates, logging an incredible speed of 178 terabits per second (Tbps).   That’s around a fifth faster than the previous record, set by a team of researchers

The sound of a key sliding into a lock could be enough information to potentially create a copy of that key and open the lock – that’s the conclusion of researchers who’ve been investigating “acoustics-based physical key inference”.   It makes sense, if you think about it: the clicks and clacks of a key pushed

Scientists are ironing out the kinks for an ‘anti-solar power’ cell, one that can harvest energy at nighttime, even when the sun isn’t shining. Instead of absorbing light from the Sun and converting it into electricity, like a normal solar panel would, this type of technology works in reverse.   At night, when there’s no

The world could be headed for an ‘information catastrophe’ as the rate of production of digital bits continues to accelerate with no sign of stopping, new research suggests. In a new study – one firmly positioned in the more abstract quarters of theoretical physics, it must be said – researcher Melvin Vopson from the University

The world has a new brightest fluorescent material, and it’s the first of its kind. Rather than trying to improve fluorescent molecules, a team of chemists have developed a new material that preserves the optical properties of fluorescent dyes.   This effectively prevents one of the biggest problems in producing fluorescent materials – the tendency

Fourteen years after receiving the official go-ahead, scientists on Tuesday began assembling a giant machine in southern France designed to demonstrate that nuclear fusion, the process which powers the Sun, can be a safe and viable energy source on Earth.   The groundbreaking multinational experiment, known as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), has seen components arrive

We have developed four-winged bird-like robots, called ornithopters, that can take off and fly with the agility of swifts, hummingbirds and insects. We did this by reverse engineering the aerodynamics and biomechanics of these creatures.   Our ornithopters have the potential to outperform and outmanoeuvre existing drone configurations with static wings or propellers. What are

US officials and scientists have begun laying the groundwork for a more secure “virtually unhackable” internet based on quantum computing technology. At a presentation Thursday, Department of Energy (DOE) officials issued a report that lays out a blueprint strategy for the development of a national quantum internet, using laws of quantum mechanics to transmit information

If doomsday comes, know this: precautions have been taken. On an isolated Arctic archipelago, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault – aka Norway’s ‘Doomsday Vault’ – holds over 1 million seed samples in a fortress-like bunker designed to be the most invulnerable seed bank in the world.   Svalbard protects more than just seeds, though. On

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram started out as a way to connect with friends, family and people of interest. But anyone on social media these days knows it’s increasingly a divisive landscape.   Undoubtedly you’ve heard reports that hackers and even foreign governments are using social media to manipulate and attack you.

While artificial intelligence systems continue to make huge strides forward, they’re still not particularly good at dealing with chaos or unpredictability. Now researchers think they have found a way to fix this, by teaching AI about physics.   To be more specific, teaching them about the Hamiltonian function, which gives the AI information about the

By making use of the ‘spooky’ laws behind quantum entanglement, physicists think have found a way to make information leap between a pair of electrons separated by distance. Teleporting fundamental states between photons – massless particles of light – is quickly becoming old news, a trick we are still learning to exploit in computing and encrypted communications

The list of the fastest 500 supercomputers in the world just got updated again, and there’s a new number one: the Fugaku supercomputer built by the RIKEN Institute and the Fujitsu tech company in Japan.   IBM’s Summit supercomputer has been comprehensively pushed into second place, because Fugaku can crunch through 415.5 quadrillion computations per second