Oct. 16 is World Food Day, a global campaign to celebrate the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization 80 years ago, and to work toward a healthy, sustainable, food-secure future. More than 670 million people in the world are facing hunger. Millions of others are facing rising obesity rates [...]

Manufacturing better batteries, faster electronics, and more effective pharmaceuticals depends on the discovery of new materials and the verification of their quality. Artificial intelligence is helping with the former, with tools that comb through catalogs of materials to quickly tag promising candidates.But once a material is made, verifying its quality [...]

As costs for diagnostic and sequencing technologies have plummeted in recent years, researchers have collected an unprecedented amount of data around disease and biology. Unfortunately, scientists hoping to go from data to new cures often require help from someone with experience in software engineering.Now, Watershed Bio is helping scientists and [...]

From addictive algorithms to exploitative apps, data mining to misinformation, the internet today can be a hazardous place. Books by three influential figures—the intellect behind “net neutrality,” a former Meta executive, and the web’s own inventor—propose radical approaches to fixing it. But are these luminaries the right people for the [...]

UMass Amherst engineers have built an artificial neuron powered by bacterial protein nanowires that functions like a real one, but at extremely low voltage. This allows for seamless communication with biological cells and drastically improved energy efficiency. The discovery could lead to bio-inspired computers and wearable electronics that no longer [...]

Amid the turbulence of the wider global economy in recent years, the pharmaceuticals industry is weathering its own storms. The rising cost of raw materials and supply chain disruptions are squeezing margins as pharma companies face intense pressure—including from countries like the US—to control drug costs. At the same time, a [...]

Vast amounts of valuable research data remain unused, trapped in labs or lost to time. Frontiers aims to change that with FAIR² Data Management, a groundbreaking AI-driven system that makes datasets reusable, verifiable, and citable. By uniting curation, compliance, peer review, and interactive visualization in one platform, FAIR² empowers scientists [...]

Innovator, futurist, and author Ray Kurzweil ’70 emphasized his optimism about artificial intelligence, and technological progress generally, in a lecture on Wednesday while accepting MIT’s Robert A. Muh Alumni Award from the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS).Kurzweil offered his signature high-profile forecasts about how AI and computing will [...]

Our everyday GPS struggles in “urban canyons,” where skyscrapers bounce satellite signals, confusing even advanced navigation systems. NTNU scientists created SmartNav, combining satellite corrections, wave analysis, and Google’s 3D building data for remarkable precision. Their method achieved accuracy within 10 centimeters during testing. The breakthrough could make reliable urban navigation [...]

Kids have always played with and talked to stuffed animals. But now their toys can talk back, thanks to a wave of companies that are fitting children’s playthings with chatbots and voice assistants.  It’s a trend that has particularly taken off in China: A recent report by the Shenzhen Toy Industry [...]

HydroSpread, a breakthrough fabrication method, lets scientists build ultrathin soft robots directly on water. These tiny, insect-inspired machines could transform robotics, healthcare, and environmental monitoring. [...]