Communication & Information

Neural networks first treat sentences like puzzles solved by word order, but once they read enough, a tipping point sends them diving into word meaning instead—an abrupt “phase transition” reminiscent of water flashing into steam. By revealing this hidden switch, researchers open a window into how transformer models such as ChatGPT grow smarter and hint at new ways to make them leaner, safer, and more predictable.

Scientists at NIST and the University of Colorado Boulder have created CURBy, a cutting-edge quantum randomness beacon that draws on the intrinsic unpredictability of quantum entanglement to produce true random numbers. Unlike traditional methods, CURBy is traceable, transparent, and verifiable thanks to quantum physics and blockchain-like protocols. This breakthrough has real-world applications ranging from cybersecurity to public lotteries—and it’s open source, inviting the world to use and build upon it.

Scientists at the University of Amsterdam discovered that our brains automatically understand how we can move through different environments—whether it's swimming in a lake or walking a path—without conscious thought. These "action possibilities," or affordances, light up specific brain regions independently of what’s visually present. In contrast, AI models like ChatGPT still struggle with these intuitive judgments, missing the physical context that humans naturally grasp.

MIT scientists have built a tiny, ultra-efficient 5G receiver that can thrive in noisy wireless environments ideal for smartwatches, wearables, and sensors that need to sip power and still stay reliably connected. The chip s unique design uses clever capacitor-switch networks and barely a milliwatt of power to block interference 30 times better than typical receivers. This tech could shrink and strengthen the next generation of smart devices.

Scientists at UBC have devised a chip-based device that acts as a "universal translator" for quantum computers, converting delicate microwave signals to optical ones and back with minimal loss and noise. This innovation preserves crucial quantum entanglement and works both ways, making it a potential backbone for a future quantum internet. By exploiting engineered flaws in silicon and using superconducting components, the device achieves near-perfect signal translation with extremely low power use and it all fits on a chip. If realized, this could transform secure communication, navigation, and even drug discovery.

A team of Danish and German scientists has launched a major project to create new technology that could form the foundation of the future quantum internet. They re using a rare element called erbium along with silicon chips like the ones in our phones to produce special particles of light for ultra-secure communication and powerful computing. With cutting-edge tools like lasers and nanotech, the researchers are working to make something that didn t seem possible just a few years ago: light that can both travel long distances and remember information.

Despite advances in machine vision, processing visual data requires substantial computing resources and energy, limiting deployment in edge devices. Now, researchers from Japan have developed a self-powered artificial synapse that distinguishes colors with high resolution across the visible spectrum, approaching human eye capabilities. The device, which integrates dye-sensitized solar cells, generates its electricity and can perform complex logic operations without additional circuitry, paving the way for capable computer vision systems integrated in everyday devices.

A review of experimental research reveals how VR is best used and why it's struggled to become a megahit with consumers.

Miniature organs on a chip could allow us to do scientific studies with great precision, without having to resort to animal testing. The main problem, however, is that artificial tissue needs blood vessels, and they are very hard to create. Now, new technology has been developed to create reproducible blood vessels using high-precision laser pulses. Tissue has been created that acts like natural tissue.

Scientists found that neural networks cannot yet forecast 'gray swan' weather events, which might not appear in existing training data but could still happen -- like 200-year floods or massive hurricanes.

Neuroscientists and materials scientists have created contact lenses that enable infrared vision in both humans and mice by converting infrared light into visible light. Unlike infrared night vision goggles, the contact lenses do not require a power source -- and they enable the wearer to perceive multiple infrared wavelengths. Because they're transparent, users can see both infrared and visible light simultaneously, though infrared vision was enhanced when participants had their eyes closed.

SeaSplat is an image-analysis tool that cuts through the ocean's optical effects to generate images of underwater environments reveal an ocean scene's true colors. Researchers paired the color-correcting tool with a computational model that converts images of a scene into a three-dimensional underwater 'world' that can be explored virtually.

Researchers have unveiled a breakthrough in solid-state cooling technology, doubling the efficiency of today's commercial systems. Driven by the Lab's patented nano-engineered thin-film thermoelectric materials and devices, this innovation paves the way for compact, reliable and scalable cooling solutions that could potentially replace traditional compressors across a range of industries.

Humans no longer have exclusive control over training social robots to interact effectively, thanks to a new study. The study introduces a new simulation method that lets researchers test their social robots without needing human participants, making research faster and scalable.

Researchers have developed a novel framework named WildFusion that fuses vision, vibration and touch to enable robots to 'sense' and navigate complex outdoor environments much like humans do.

We need to learn our letters before we can learn to read and our numbers before we can learn how to add and subtract. The same principles are true with AI, a team of scientists has shown through laboratory experiments and computational modeling. In their work, researchers found that when recurrent neural networks (RNNs) are first trained on simple cognitive tasks, they are better equipped to handle more difficult and complex ones later on.

New research shows that cyberbullying should be classified as an adverse childhood experience due to its strong link to trauma. Even subtle forms -- like exclusion from group chats -- can trigger PTSD-level distress. Nearly 90% of teens experienced some form of cyberbullying, accounting for 32% of the variation in trauma symptoms. Indirect harassment was most common, with more than half reporting hurtful comments, rumors or deliberate exclusion. What mattered most was the overall amount of cyberbullying: the more often a student was targeted, the more trauma symptoms they showed.

Traditional methods of assessing damage after a disaster can take weeks or even months, delaying emergency response, insurance claims and long-term rebuilding efforts. New research might change that. Researchers have developed a new method that combines remote sensing, deep learning and restoration models to speed up building damage assessments and predict recovery times after a tornado. Once post-event images are available, the model can produce damage assessments and recovery forecasts in less than an hour.

Researchers found that vision-language models, widely used to analyze medical images, do not understand negation words like 'no' and 'not.' This could cause them to fail unexpectedly when asked to retrieve medical images that contain certain objects but not others.

Listen to the first notes of an old, beloved song. Can you name that tune? If you can, congratulations -- it's a triumph of your associative memory, in which one piece of information (the first few notes) triggers the memory of the entire pattern (the song), without you actually having to hear the rest of the song again. We use this handy neural mechanism to learn, remember, solve problems and generally navigate our reality.

A new study outlines how artificial intelligence-powered handwriting analysis may serve as an early detection tool for dyslexia and dysgraphia among young children.

As kids spend more time on screens, a new national survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of The Kids Mental Health Foundation, founded by Nationwide Children's Hospital, identifies parents' greatest fears for their children around screen time.

Engineers developed a ping-pong-playing robot that quickly estimates the speed and trajectory of an incoming ball and precisely hits it to a desired location on the table.

Researchers have developed a more efficient chip as an antidote to the vast amounts of electricity consumed by large-language-model artificial intelligence applications like Gemini and GPT-4.

A research team has discovered a surprising phenomenon that could revolutionize how we think about signal amplification. Just two tiny vibrating units can, when connected with a delay, amplify their combined vibrations by 100 million times. Their findings have applications for communication technology, suggesting that small, simple devices could be used to transmit clear signals over long distances.

Researchers have developed a technique that makes high-dimensional quantum information encoded in light more practical and reliable. The advancement could pave the way for more secure data transmission and next-generation quantum technologies.

Our brain is a complex organ. Billions of nerve cells are wired in an intricate network, constantly processing signals, enabling us to recall memories or to move our bodies. Making sense of this complicated network requires a precise look into how these nerve cells are arranged and connected. A new method makes use of off-the-shelf light microscopes, hydrogel and deep learning.

An artificial intelligence (AI) model improved outcomes in hospitalized patients by quadrupling the rate of detection and treatment of delirium. The model identifies patients at high risk for delirium and alerts a specially-trained team to assess the patient and create a treatment plan, if needed.

Researchers recently connected their campuses with an experimental quantum communications network using two optical fibers.

Researchers have developed a new protocol for characterizing quantum gate errors, paving the way toward more reliable quantum simulations and fault-tolerant quantum computing.

A next-generation technology developed in 2023, conversational swarm intelligence (CSI), combines the principles of ASI with the power of large language models.

Researchers made a technique that improves the trustworthiness of machine-learning models, which could help improve the accuracy and reliability of AI predictions for high-stakes settings such health care.

While exploring a digitally represented object through artificially created sense of touch, brain-computer interface users described the warm fur of a purring cat, the smooth rigid surface of a door key and cool roundness of an apple.

Estimating the pose of hand-held objects is a critical and challenging problem in robotics and computer vision. While leveraging multi-modal RGB and depth data is a promising solution, existing approaches still face challenges due to hand-induced occlusions and multimodal data fusion. In a new study, researchers developed a novel deep learning framework that addresses these issues by introducing a novel vote-based fusion module and a hand-aware pose estimation module.

Every second counts when it comes to detecting and treating heart attacks. A new technology may be able to identify heart attacks faster and more accurately than traditional methods.

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools significantly improve the readability of online patient education materials (PEMs), making them more accessible, a new study shows.

Aiming to address age-related cognitive decline, a growing global health challenge, a team of researchers has developed a VR-based smell-training system to help combat it. This innovative VR game activates memory pathways by incorporating olfactory stimulation in a virtual environment. This game-based method offers an engaging platform for maintaining cognitive function and reducing the risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia in older adults.

Scientists usually use a hypergraph model to predict dynamic behaviors. But the opposite problem is interesting, too. What if researchers can observe the dynamics but don't have access to a reliable model? Scientists now have an answer. They describe a novel algorithm that can infer the structure of a hypergraph using only the observed dynamics.

Multipath interference disrupts wireless signals, causing issues like TV ghosting and fading. Now, researchers have developed a passive metasurface that overcomes traditional filtering limits. Using a time-varying interlocking mechanism with field-effect transistors, it transmits the first signal while blocking delayed ones from other angles -- without power or processing. This innovation enables low-cost, reliable wireless communication, which is ideal for IoT applications and environments prone to interference.

Many products in the modern world are in some way fabricated using computer numerical control (CNC) machines, which use computers to automate machine operations in manufacturing. While simple in concept, the ways to instruct these machines is in reality often complex. A team of researchers has devised a system to demonstrate how to mitigate some of this complexity.

Researchers have long recognized that quantum communication systems would transmit quantum information more faithfully and be impervious to certain forms of error if nonlinear optical processes were used. However, past efforts at incorporating such processes could not operate with the extremely low light levels required for quantum communication.

Researchers have developed a novel high-energy particle detection instrumentation approach that leverages the power of quantum sensors -- devices capable of precisely detecting single particles.

Humans are better than current AI models at interpreting social interactions and understanding social dynamics in moving scenes. Researchers believe this is because AI neural networks were inspired by the infrastructure of the part of the brain that processes static images, which is different from the area of the brain that processes dynamic social scenes.

After uncovering a unifying algorithm that links more than 20 common machine-learning approaches, researchers organized them into a 'periodic table of machine learning' that can help scientists combine elements of different methods to improve algorithms or create new ones.

Engineers developed a technique to grow and peel ultrathin 'skins' of electronic material that could be used in applications such as night-vision eyewear and autonomous driving in foggy conditions.

Researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) technique that brings machine vision closer to how the human brain processes images. Called Lp-Convolution, this method improves the accuracy and efficiency of image recognition systems while reducing the computational burden of existing AI models.

A powerful clinical artificial intelligence tool developed by biomedical informatics researchers has demonstrated remarkable accuracy on all three parts of the United States Medical Licensing Exam (Step exams), according to a new article.

Saying one thing while feeling another is part of being human, but bottling up emotions can have serious psychological consequences like anxiety or panic attacks. To help health care providers tell the difference, a team has created a stretchable, rechargeable sticker that can detect real emotions -- by measuring things like skin temperature and heart rate -- even when users put on a brave face.

A team of researchers has developed a new way to control light interactions using a specially engineered structure called a 3D photonic-crystal cavity that could enable transformative advancements in quantum computing, quantum communication and other quantum-based technologies.

Researchers use mathematical modeling to probe whether cohesive communities are more resilient to extreme events, finding that emotional intensity and levels of stress play a big role.

Neural networks are one typical structure on which artificial intelligence can be based. The term neural describes their learning ability, which to some extent mimics the functioning of neurons in our brains. To be able to work, several key ingredients are required: one of them is an activation function which introduces nonlinearity into the structure. A photonic activation function has important advantages for the implementation of optical neural networks based on light propagation. Researchers have now experimentally shown an all-optically controlled activation function based on traveling sound waves. It is suitable for a wide range of optical neural network approaches and allows operation in the so-called synthetic frequency dimension.

A new study by neuroscientists shows that our brain deals with different forms of visual uncertainty during movements in distinct ways. Depending on the type of uncertainty, planning and execution of movements in the brain are affected differently. These findings could help to optimize brain-computer interfaces that, for example, help people with paralysis to control prostheses or computers with their thoughts alone.

Using artificial intelligence shortens the time to identify complex quantum phases in materials from months to minutes, finds a study. The breakthrough could significantly speed up research into quantum materials, particularly low-dimensional superconductors.

In a new study, researchers created an AI model of the mouse visual cortex that predicts neuronal responses to visual images.

A new approach to streaming technology may significantly improve how users experience virtual reality and augmented reality environments, according to a new study. The research describes a method for directly predicting visible content in immersive 3D environments, potentially reducing bandwidth requirements by up to 7-fold while maintaining visual quality.

American Sign Language (ASL) recognition systems often struggle with accuracy due to similar gestures, poor image quality and inconsistent lighting. To address this, researchers developed a system that translates gestures into text with 98.2% accuracy, operating in real time under varying conditions. Using a standard webcam and advanced tracking, it offers a scalable solution for real-world use, with MediaPipe tracking 21 keypoints on each hand and YOLOv11 classifying ASL letters precisely.

The rapidly increasing data traffic is placing ever greater demands on the capacity of communication systems. A research team now introduces a new amplifier that enables the transmission of ten times more data per second than those of current fiber-optic systems. This amplifier, which fits on a small chip, holds significant potential for various critical laser systems, including those used in medical diagnostics and treatment.

Researchers have successfully demonstrated the UK's first long-distance ultra-secure transfer of data over a quantum communications network, including the UK's first long-distance quantum-secured video call.

A web platform uses a chatbot to enable any chemist -- including undergraduate chemistry majors -- to configure and execute complex quantum mechanical simulations through chatting.

As artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly integrates into health care, a new study reveals that all generative AI models may recommend different treatments for the same medical condition based solely on a patient's socioeconomic and demographic background.