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Future Tech
Robots for gender balance: helping women conquer the construction sector Robots for gender balance: helping women conquer the construction sector

Women have conquered space, but still struggle to break the glass ceiling of the construction sector. How robots will tackle gender imbalances, foster safety and save the industry from the “ticking bomb” of labour force shortage

March 2023
Cover poto by XR Expo on Unsplash Touching the air may be possible with new research on haptics

The sense of touch has been mostly neglected so far in technology. However, research in haptics applied to virtual and augmented realities is opening up new possibilities in endless fields, from surgery to gaming. With a touch of Star Trek science

March 2021
Future and emerging technologies grow young talents Future and emerging technologies grow young talents

Current and former early-career scientists share their stories and tell how Europe has bet on them, making their high-risk research possible: from intelligent wireless sensors with vision abilities to RNA-based techniques to fight viruses, from the mathematical formulas of the MRI waves to optoceutics, the new technique that uses light to repair the heart after a stroke

December 2020
Nano level microscopy goes into the field Nano level microscopy goes into the field

Could your smartphone detect the coronavirus on surfaces? European researchers are developing a new generation of optical microscopes for mobile phones where LEDs and tiny detectors in the camera can analyse very small structures

 

November 2020
A portable device to treat major brain disorders remotely A portable device to treat major brain disorders remotely

Spanish innovator Ana Maiques has developed a wireless device to treat brain diseases at patients’ homes. Her research has had a considerable boost during the Covid-19 emergency

September 2020
Light-emitting silicon: no longer a “holy grail” for computing Light-emitting silicon: no longer a “holy grail” for computing

If computers transmitted data using photons instead of electrons, they would perform better and devour less power. European researchers are now studying a new light-emitting alloy of silicon and germanium to obtain photonic chips, which can revolutionise computing

May 2020
A spray to fight depression A spray to fight depression

Researchers are trying to investigate whether the human body has specific odours a person feels happy or sad. The aim is to develop a dispenser that can spray substances able to help patients suffering from phobias and depression

March 2020
The bionic hand: how a crazy idea has become a medical breakthrough The bionic hand: how a crazy idea has become a medical breakthrough

More than two decades ago, a hand prosthesis able to give back a sense of touch to amputees would have been dubbed as science fiction. Today this has been proved possible, and now the goal is to make this technology available for as many patients as possible

January 2020
Changing the paradigm of heart transplants Changing the paradigm of heart transplants

An ambitious study is trying to restore the neural connections that are lost during heart transplants, thus improving the life expectancy of patients

November 2019
Exploring the unexpected. A chat with Paolo Dario, world-renowned pioneer of biorobotics Exploring the unexpected. A chat with Paolo Dario, world-renowned pioneer of biorobotics

From the bionic hand to a Fantastic Voyage-inspired capsule in the human body: Paolo Dario, founder of The BioRobotics Institute of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, shares the most important achievements over the last 20 years in their revolutionary integration of robotics with biology and medicine

November 2019
Programming the forces of evolution Programming the forces of evolution

Robots can utilise computational natural selection to boost experimental power and avoid hours of trial and error

May 2019
Soft robotics: what the octopus has taught us Soft robotics: what the octopus has taught us

Ten years ago the octopus inspired the world's first entirely soft robot, made with silicone. The artificial octopus allowed researchers to simplify control and sensory-motor behaviour of robots, enabling them to be more efficient than rigid-linked hard machines. Everything started from a dream of researcher Cecilia Laschi

May 2019
The revolution of plantoids The revolution of plantoids

Robots are usually inspired by humans and animals. But the very last frontier is the ‘plantoids’ – plant robots able to move and explore the environment with their smart sensors. Their ‘mother’ is researcher Barbara Mazzolai

April 2019
Plant roots inspire 3D-printed automotive sensors Plant roots inspire 3D-printed automotive sensors

As NASA’s Mars InSight is set to burrow into Martian soil, roboticists on Earth are still developing devices for soil monitoring and exploration

December 2018
Superfast all-RAM processors could bring high-performance computers to the masses Superfast all-RAM processors could bring high-performance computers to the masses

European researchers are designing a computer using very large and non-volatile high-speed RAM (NVRAM). Such memory will be used first in data centers, but later should appear in phones and tablets

November 2018
Levitation becomes a reality Levitation becomes a reality

One day we may not only see, hear and touch devices, but also feel the objects shown on them at the tip of our fingers. Thanks to levitation, 3D items will be created using floating pixels

October 2018
Lizard skins and bark bugs inspire energy saving materials Lizard skins and bark bugs inspire energy saving materials

Imitating nature’s engineering secrets at the nanoscale could lead to a host of useful applications

July 2018
Meet the skyrmions: exotic quasiparticles could revolutionise computing Meet the skyrmions: exotic quasiparticles could revolutionise computing

Unique physical properties of these “magic knots” might help to satisfy demand for IT power and storage using a fraction of the energy

June 2018
How machines can learn from human behaviour How machines can learn from human behaviour

Designing intelligent machines that can resemble and model human behaviour is closer than we think. And you can join in

May 2018
Science-based civic projects Science-based civic projects

Can policy making be improved using sophisticated mathematical models?

April 2018
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