News by Subject Technology & Engineering

'Precision agriculture' where farmers respond in real time to changes in crop growth using nanotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI) could offer a practical solution to the challenges threatening global food security, a new study reveals.

Asymmetric three-component 1,2-oxytrifluoromethylations of styrenes were explored by using N-oxyphthalimide (NOPI) as the resulting benzylic radical anchor after cross-coupling by a CF3 radical under the catalyses of chiral N-salicylidene-derived oxovanadium(V) complexes. Unprecedented, four-component, and asymmetric radical 1,4-oxy-trifluoromethylation to olefins was also achieved. DFT calculations were performed to explain the enantioselectivity. The enantioselectivity profile was dominated by several noncovalent interactions between the intermediary vanadium(NOPI) complex and the resulting benzylic radical.

Cardiac surgeons may be able to better plan operations and improve their surgical field view with the help of a robot. Controlled through a virtual reality parallel system as a digital twin, the robot can accurately image a patient through ultrasound without the hand cramping or radiation exposure that hinder human operators.

Massive heavy-lift crane vessels, capable of hauling thousands of tons, navigate the rough waves and strong winds offshore to construct wind turbines and oil fields in the ocean. An international team of researchers has developed a new modeling system to help improve the control, and ultimately the safety, of such vessels.

Quantum computers could outperform classical computers at many tasks, but only if the errors that are an inevitable part of computational tasks are isolated rather than widespread events. Now, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found evidence that errors are correlated across an entire superconducting quantum computing chip -- highlighting a problem that must be acknowledged and addressed in the quest for fault-tolerant quantum computers.

Researchers have discovered a new and more efficient computing method for pairing the reliability of a classical computer with the strength of a quantum system.

Social media and other forms of communication technology restructure these interactions in ways that have consequences. Unfortunately, we have little insight into whether these changes will bring about a healthy, sustainable and equitable world. As a result, researchers now say that the study of collective behavior must rise to a "crisis discipline," just like medicine, conservation and climate science have done, according to a new paper published June 14 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers from Skoltech have designed and conducted experiments measuring gas permeability under various conditions for ice-containing sediments mimicking permafrost. Their results can be useful both in tracing methane emission in high latitudes and in modeling and testing techniques for gas production from Arctic reservoirs. The study also showed that the dissociation of gas hydrates can lead to permeability increase. This, in turn, will lead to methane emissions into the atmosphere, causing a variety of environmental and technological impacts.