news 2024

A groundbreaking navigation device can help people with visual impairment perform a location task as well as sighted people, new research shows. Researchers from Imperial College London, working with the company MakeSense Technology and the charity Bravo Victor, have developed a shape-changing device called Shape that helps people with visual impairment navigate through haptic perception - the way people understand information about objects through touch.

Microscopic, single cell differences found in the lungs of COVID-19 patients in Malawi demonstrate the value and importance of cutting-edge infectious disease research in Sub-Saharan Africa. The new study - the first of its kind in a Sub-Saharan population - is published in Nature Medicine and reveals previously unobserved differences in the inflammatory response to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in patients who live in Malawi, compared to those who live in western countries.

Scientists have taken inspiration from the way sunlight passes through clouds to discover an entirely new way of controlling and guiding light. The breakthrough research, led by physicists from the University of Glasgow, allows light waves to be guided around curved paths tunnelled through opaque materials which would normally scatter them in all directions.

We can use them to alter lighting, smooth out our complexion and even change our hair colour, but now researchers have found that AI facial filters, when used in real time, could even have the power to influence who we are attracted to. The latest research, led by the University of Glasgow and published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), used AI to create real time face transformations in order to investigate the social signals that influence the beginnings of romantic attraction.

Birmingham-led study finds AI-powered models match ophthalmologists in diagnosing infectious keratitis, offering promise for global eye care improvements Eye care specialists could see artificial intelligence help in diagnosing infectious keratitis (IK), a leading cause of corneal blindness worldwide, as a new study finds that deep learning models showed similar levels of accuracy in identifying infection.

Breakthrough research that eliminates the guesswork in developing advanced 3D printed materials could help accelerate the development of new forms of 'self-sensing' aeroplanes, robots, bridges and more. A team of engineers led by researchers from the University of Glasgow have developed the first system capable of modelling the complex physics of 3D-printed composites capable of detecting strain, load, and damage using nothing more than a measure of electrical current.

A new technology that uses light waves to measure activity in babies' brains has provided the most complete picture to date of functions like hearing, vision and cognitive processing outside a conventional brain scanner, in a new study led by researchers at UCL and Birkbeck.

Imperial has received a donation from high performance and adaptive computing company AMD to support research into machine learning. made the donation in recognition of the excellent research of Professor George Constantinides and Dr Aaron Zhao in Imperial's Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

Large language models like ChatGPT cannot learn independently or acquire new skills, meaning they pose no existential threat to humanity. ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) cannot learn independently or acquire new skills, meaning they pose no existential threat to humanity, according to new research from the University of Bath and the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany.

New research on 3D-printed materials could unlock benefits for industry A new analysis of the deformation mechanisms which cause 3D-printed materials to fail under strain could help create future generations of stronger, lighter plastics, unlocking transformative benefits for industry.

Stories written with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) have been deemed to be more creative, better written and more enjoyable, according to new research from UCL and the University of Exeter. The study, published in Science Advances , found that AI enhanced creativity by boosting the novelty of story ideas as well as the 'usefulness' of stories, which describes their ability to engage the target audience and their publication potential.

New study proposes a framework for "Child Safe AI" following recent incidents which revealed that many children see chatbots as quasi-human and trustworthy. When not designed with children's needs in mind, Artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots have an "empathy gap" that puts young users at particular risk of distress or harm, according to a study.

'Personalised' hip replacement surgery might be just what the doctor ordered for people with hip arthritis - according to new research. Using advanced technology from other industries such as automotive and manufacturing, researchers are driving medical advancement. The result is tailored hip replacements, as each person moves their hips in slightly different ways.

Researchers from the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) have published a new study of the effectiveness of AI tools like ChatGPT in targeting specific demographics with tailored political messaging. Recent advancements in large language models (LLMs) have raised the prospect of scalable, automated, and fine-grained political microtargeting on a scale previously unseen.

Researchers have developed a platform for the interactive evaluation of AI-powered chatbots such as ChatGPT. Anyone using an LLM, for any application, should always pay attention to the output and verify it themselves Albert Jiang A team of computer scientists, engineers, mathematicians and cognitive scientists, led by the University of Cambridge, developed an open-source evaluation platform called CheckMate, which allows human users to interact with and evaluate the performance of large language models (LLMs).

Scientists have discovered that a 'single atomic defect' in a layered 2D material can hold onto quantum information for microseconds at room temperature, underscoring the potential of 2D materials in advancing quantum technologies. The defect, found by researchers from the Universities of Manchester and Cambridge using a thin material called Hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN) , demonstrates spin coherence-a property where an electronic spin can retain quantum information- under ambient conditions.

A new advance in a developing form of wireless communications could help precisely pinpoint the locations of people and objects indoors, researchers say. Engineers from University of Glasgow and colleagues from the UK and Australia are behind the research breakthrough. Their work could have a wide range of future applications, from helping emergency services quickly find people trapped in smoke-filled buildings to offering device-assisted navigation through public spaces for blind and partially-sighted people.

Pet parrots given the choice to video-call each other or watch pre-recorded videos of other birds will flock to the opportunity for live chats, new research shows. The study, led by animal-computer interaction specialists at the University of Glasgow, gave tablet devices to nine parrots and their owners to explore the potential of the video chats to expand the birds' social lives.

Outsourcing energy-intensive industrial processes to Global South is creating problems for our planet Manufacturing nations in the Global North are stockpiling energy and emission problems by outsourcing energy-intensive industrial processes to countries in the Global South, a new study reveals. Global North countries use their advantages in capital and technology to grab a large amount of energy through outsourcing - creating a 'false decoupling' of energy consumption from economic growth.

Digital services, such as anonymous apps and texting services, could change how we engage with sexual health services but young people wouldn't trust them, finds new research by Cardiff University. Research has found that whilst digital sexual health services hold a lot of potential for helping young people feel more comfortable talking about sexual health, there are major issues with what young people expect and want from these services, and they currently wouldn't trust them.