Imagine living in a cool, green city flush with parks and threaded with footpaths, bike lanes, and buses, which ferry people to shops, schools, and service centers in a matter of minutes. That breezy dream is the epitome of urban planning, encapsulated in the idea of the 15-minute city, where all basic needs and services

For eons, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has served as a sort of instruction manual for life, providing not just templates for a vast array of chemical structures but a means of managing their production. In recent years engineers have explored a subtly new role for the molecule’s unique capabilities, as the basis for a biological computer.

Ever since 1911, when British mycologist Michael Cressé Potter noticed that brewer’s yeast generated electricity, scientists have been trying to harness the power of microbial fuel cells. But the efficiencies of tiny, budding ‘bioreactors’ have been too low for practical use. What’s more, it turns out microbes can be surprisingly picky in what substrates they

We might soon be able to record the tunes we hear in our dreams, thanks to a system that’s under development. A team from the startup REMspace, run as part of the Phase Research Center in Russia, has come up with a combination of hardware and software able to decode a melody being played via

In an effort to create robots capable of controlling their own life-cycles, researchers have developed squishy little devices that can melt themselves into a puddle of goo. “We have mimicked death in a life cycle where the robot could end itself,” Seoul National University engineer Min-Ha Oh told Peter Grad at Tech Xplore. This ‘death’

Our lives were already infused with artificial intelligence (AI) when ChatGPT reverberated around the online world late last year. Since then, the generative AI system developed by tech company OpenAI has gathered speed and experts have escalated their warnings about the risks. Meanwhile, chatbots started going off-script and talking back, duping other bots, and acting

The Pentagon has opened up a new portal on the internet for professionals to submit reports about UFOs — now officially known as unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs — and for the rest of us to find out about the reports that have been released. AARO.mil, the website for the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, is

The abilities of artificial intelligence (AI) systems are advancing at an astounding rate, nearing or bettering what humans can do in simulations and test environments. Setting aside the ethical and environmental concerns around AI and those of autonomous drones for a minute, we can marvel at this latest feat: an AI-controlled drone system that beat

It may seem like the ultimate in bling, but a new technique for tattooing gold onto living tissue is a step towards integrating human cells with electronic devices. By building on a fabrication technique called nanoimprint lithography, scientists printed living mouse embryo fibroblast cells with patterns of gold nanodots and nanowires. This, they say, is

Scientists at Stanford University have designed a new paint that could help reduce our growing reliance on air conditioners and heaters. It comes in an array of colors, and if used properly, it could seriously slash electricity bills and emissions. The paint is capable of reflecting up to 80 percent of mid-infrared light from the

When a magician tells you there’s nothing up their sleeve, you’re invited to look past the arm sweat and stale air for cards or rabbits lurking within. But when a manufacturer of high-quality microchips says there’s nothing in their vacuum chamber, you really need to trust them. Hairs, dust motes, or even molecules of pollutants

We’re seeing major advancements in tech that can decode brain signals, interpreting neural activity to reveal what’s on someone’s mind, what they want to say, or – in the case of a new study – which song they’re listening to. US researchers have been able to reconstruct a “recognizable version” of a Pink Floyd song

The idea of space-based solar power (SBSP) – using satellites to collect energy from the Sun and “beam” it to collection points on Earth – has been around since at least the late 1960s. Despite its huge potential, the concept has not gained sufficient traction due to cost and technological hurdles. Can some of these

The soothing sounds of binaural beats are thought to sharpen focus when cramming information into our chock-a-block heads. But a new study has found that binaural beats might actually hinder learning, not help it. Michał Klichowski, a cognitive neuroscientist at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland, and colleagues wanted to see whether listening to binaural beats

Amidst the excitement surrounding ChatGPT and the impressive power and potential of artificial intelligence (AI), the impact on the environment has been somewhat overlooked. Analysts predict that AI’s carbon footprint could be as bad – if not worse – than bitcoin mining, which currently generates more greenhouse gases than entire countries. Record-shattering heat across land,

Vast arrays of solar panels floating on calm seas near the Equator could provide effectively unlimited solar energy to densely populated countries in Southeast Asia and West Africa. Our new research shows offshore solar in Indonesia alone could generate about 35,000 terawatt-hours (TWh) of solar energy a year, which is similar to current global electricity

Scientists are constantly searching for better ways to store renewable energy, and MIT researchers have now found a way to turn cement and an ancient material into a giant supercapacitor. Potentially, this electrified cement could turn building foundations and roads into almost limitless batteries. To create the new substance, a team from the Massachusetts Institute

Cicada wings can kill and remove bacteria, and now researchers have used simulations to study the functions of blunt spikes on their surface, with some surprising findings. Understanding this natural process could solve a significant healthcare challenge. Medical devices like catheters enable microbial colonization and biofilm formation by providing a surface for bacteria to cling

Say hello to ionocaloric cooling. It’s a new way to lower temperatures with the potential to replace existing methods of chilling things with a process that is safer and better for the planet. Typical refrigeration systems transport heat away from a space via a gas that cools as it expands some distance away. As effective

What happens to the body when a human gets heatstroke? How can we protect ourselves in a warming planet? To answer these burning questions, Arizona researchers have deployed a robot that can breathe, shiver and sweat. The southwestern state’s capital Phoenix is currently enduring its longest heat wave in history: on Friday, the mercury exceeded