The University of Michigan-led study predicts that the future value of residential rooftop solar panels across the United States will increase by up to 19% by the end of the century due to climate change. The study suggests that households should consider the long-term benefits when investing in solar installations, pointing out that the average
Technology
The recent development of a robotic suction cup at the University of Bristol has taken inspiration from the adaptive suction abilities of octopus biological suckers. These structures have the remarkable capability to anchor onto rough, curved, and heavy surfaces, such as rocks. The team at Bristol Robotics Laboratory delved deep into the structures of these
Off-road environment recognition technologies have taken a significant leap forward in Korea with the development of cutting-edge methods for detecting and eliminating extraneous substances in real-time. These groundbreaking technologies are set to revolutionize the off-road autonomous driving of construction machinery, agricultural equipment, unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), and more. Led by Senior Researcher Han-Min Lee at
Bipolar membranes play a crucial role in various technologies, such as electrolyzers and hydrogen fuel cells. These specialized ion-conductive polymers consist of two distinct layers – the cation-exchange and anion-exchange layer, each carrying an opposite charge. Despite the widespread use of bipolar membranes in energy-related applications, their underlying working mechanisms and ion solvation kinetics remain
Manufacturing nations in the Global North have been transferring energy-intensive industrial processes to countries in the Global South, leading to a significant stockpiling of energy and emission problems. This practice creates what researchers refer to as a ‘false decoupling’ of energy consumption from economic growth. While Global North countries benefit from this outsourcing by capitalizing
The recent reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by the US House of Representatives has sparked a lot of controversy among officials and critics alike. With a bipartisan vote of 273-147, the reauthorization of Section 702 of FISA, which allows for warrantless electronic surveillance of foreigners outside the United States, has raised concerns
In a world where data privacy and quality are of utmost importance, the use of synthetic data has been on the rise. However, a new study emphasizes the need for clear guidelines in the generation and processing of synthetic data to ensure transparency, accountability, and fairness. Synthetic data, generated through machine learning algorithms from original
Google has recently announced that it is conducting a test to remove links to California news sites for certain users in the western United States. This decision comes in response to the potential passage of the California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA), which aims to implement a “link tax” for connecting users in the state to
In a recent report conducted by UCL researchers and commissioned by UNESCO, it was revealed that popular artificial intelligence (AI) tools exhibit discriminatory behaviors towards women and individuals from diverse cultural and sexual backgrounds. The study focused on Large Language Models (LLMs), which are integral to leading generative AI platforms such as GPT-3.5, GPT-2, and
In a groundbreaking development, a team of computer scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has created an AI framework known as DISCount. This framework is designed to address two distinct challenges – the rapid detection of damaged buildings in crisis zones and the accurate estimation of bird flock sizes. By combining the power of