New Chip May Lead to AI Computing at Light Speed

Penn Engineers have developed a new chip that uses light waves, rather than electricity, to perform the complex math essential to training AI. The chip has the potential to radically accelerate the processing speed of computers while also reducing their energy consumption. Read on to learn more.

Self-Powered Sensor for Harvesting Magnetic Energy

Because it requires no battery that must be recharged or replaced, and because it requires no special wiring, such a sensor could be embedded in a hard-to-reach place, like inside the inner workings of a ship’s engine. There, it could automatically gather data on the machine’s power consumption and operations for long periods of time.

Method Detects Defects in 2D Materials

To further shrink electronic devices and to lower energy consumption, the semiconductor industry is interested in using 2D materials but manufacturers need a quick and accurate method for detecting defects in these materials to determine if the material is suitable for device manufacture.

Power Converters with Edge Intelligence: Toward Greener, Resilient, and Sustainable Energy Systems

Recent advances in integrated circuits, machine learning, and computing have opened up several possibilities to make informed assessments and decisions regarding the health and operational performance of modern power conversion systems.

System for Flight Control of Hypersonic Aircraft

Researchers have designed an electrode-based system for guidance, navigation, and control of aircraft or spacecraft moving at hypersonic speeds in ionizing atmospheres.

Copper Catalyst Converts Carbon Dioxide into Liquid Fuels

A research team has gained new insight by capturing real-time movies of copper nanoparticles as they convert CO2 and water into renewable fuels and chemicals: ethylene, ethanol, and propanol, among others.

AV Computers Contribute to Global Carbon Emissions

MIT researchers recently explored the potential energy consumption and related carbon emissions if autonomous vehicles (AV) are widely adopted.

Wavelength-Multiplexed Diffractive Optical Processor Computes Hundreds of Linear Transformations in Parallel

Computing using light can potentially provide lower latency and reduced power consumption, benefiting from the parallelism of optical systems.

Room Temperature Oxygen Sensors

Traditional oxygen sensors have significant drawbacks and suffer from high power consumption.

Lighting the Way to Sustainability with PoE

Commercial buildings are responsible for roughly 18 percent of the total energy consumed in this country.

Faster Computation for Deep-Learning Applications

A new area of artificial intelligence called analog deep learning promises faster computation with a fraction of the energy usage.

Chipset-Specific IPDs Simplify Development of Next-Gen Wireless Medical IoT Applications

The design goal is to provide exceptional RF signal range and stability, while also reducing power consumption, in a miniaturized package.

Smart Design for Pneumatics Proves Vital

While the U.S. historically has had much lower energy costs than in other parts of the world, today’s volatile energy market combined with the initiatives of many corporations to reduce carbon...

Eliminating Vibration Emissions Aboard Satellites

How CSEM and its partners are using magnetic levitation to counter unwanted vibrations from components aboard satellites.

New Device Modulates Visible Light with the Smallest Footprint and Lowest Power Consumption

Columbia researchers are reducing both the size and the power consumption of a visible-spectrum phase modulator, from one millimeter to 10 microns.

Electronic Paper Displays Brilliant Colors

Using ambient light, the reflective screen keeps energy consumption to a minimum.

Autonomous HVAC System Measures Facial Temperature

The system turns faces into thermostats, providing more comfort with less energy.

“Racetrack Memory” Digital Data Storage

This technology offers the possibility to both bolster computer power and create smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient computer memory technologies.

Nature-Inspired Green Energy Technology

A new design enables artificial photosynthesis to generate fuel that can power homes and vehicles.

Enhancing Materials for High-Resolution Patterning

Hybrid organic-inorganic materials transfer ultra-small, high-aspect-ratio features into silicon for next-generation electronic devices.

Chip Converts Wasted Heat to Usable Energy

Car engines, laptop computers, cellphones, and refrigerators all heat up with overuse. That heat can be captured and turned into energy using a method that produces electricity from heat. The...

Rose-Inspired Device Collects and Purifies Water

A new device, inspired by a rose, inexpensively collects and purifies water. The device is a new approach to solar steaming for water production — a technique that uses energy from sunlight to...

Energy Harvesting for Smart Home Sensing

The key to acceptance and adoption of a "smart home" will be enhancing total ease of ownership.

See-Through Film Rejects 70 Percent of Incoming Solar Heat

A heat-rejecting film was developed that could be applied to a building’s windows to reflect up to 70 percent of the Sun’s incoming heat. The film remains highly transparent below...

Ancient Pigment Can Boost Energy Efficiency

Egyptian blue, derived from calcium copper silicate, was routinely used on ancient depictions of gods and royalty. Previous studies have shown that when Egyptian blue absorbs visible light, it then...

Photonic Communication Comes to Computer Chips

With novel optoelectronic chips and a new partnership with a top silicon-chip manufacturer, MIT spinout Ayar Labs aims to increase speed and reduce energy consumption in computing, starting with...

Water-Based Battery Stores Solar and Wind Energy

Wind and solar energy generation creates challenges, since the Sun only shines by day, and sometimes the wind doesn't blow. Another variability is surges of demand on the grid. On a hot day...