Computer Science & Technology

Graphene is a fascinating and relatively novel material that may have a whole range of applications in the areas of electronics and engineering in the near future. It is a superconductor that has recently demonstrated the ability to co-exist with silicon to enhance the capabilities of this complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS).

Some of us may think of robots as machines we’ve created to mimic human or animal motion, gait, gestures and forms. They are also very often designed to manipulate things in a way that approximates the human ability to do so, in order to complete tasks and automated processes. However, there are engineers and scientists who assert that robots would be more effective, adaptable and useful if they conformed to more unique or interchangeable form factors.

Voice activation is becoming an increasingly popular form of computer interface, thanks to the availability and uptake of systems such as Google Home and Amazon Alexa. These are AI assistants housed in devices that don’t need buttons or keyboards to operate them, and can organise things, complete online orders and give information on different things in response to different commands.

FinFET-based computer processors are one of the great breakthroughs of this age. Their form factors and architectures have allowed for the development of nearly every chip in nearly every device that enhance and sometimes define our lives today. Without these silicon microstructures, computerised gadgets as we know them might not have progressed to the relative power and portability they demonstrate as productivity and media-consumption tools.

Picture this: you’ve somehow come across a super-advanced, sophisticated crafting station from the far future. You can take components, including state-of-the-art semiconductors, and integrate them into devices to make fantastic high-tech equipment. Now imagine you’ve made a selection of quantum dots, silicon wafers and graphene to do just that.

Hacking a computer using a strand of DNA sounds like something out of a science-fiction movie, but believe it or not, this isn’t taken from the script of the latest Hollywood blockbuster, but instead from the laboratories of the University of Washington.

Disasters in ‘safety-critical’ industries like the military, nuclear power, shipping, energy extraction and mining are a cause of concern as they can be life-changing and endanger individuals and the environment as a whole.

Back in 2014, Intel signed a deal with Oakley’s parent company, Luxottica, to create an innovative, personal training device for athletes, based on Oakley’s famous sunglasses. In January 2016, Craig Alexander, the three-time Ironman Hawaii champion, tested the result of this collaboration, called the Radar Pace, in the streets of Las Vegas.

How would it feel to be able to participate in research against Alzheimer’s? A new online game allows the general public to contribute to the scientific community and help them search for a cure. Anyone, with zero knowledge on the subject, can now help scientists spot clogged capillaries, or stalls, where blood is no longer flowing.

Cognitive Computing is a new and evolving research area, which broadly refers to both hardware and software technologies that attempt to mimic the capabilities and functioning of the human brain. While at its base is the major disciplines of Artificial Intelligence and Signal Processing, this new discipline exhibits certain features common to the human brain model:

Often, due to reasons such as driving, being stuck in meetings, causing disturbances to those around us or simply seeming rude, we find it difficult to pick up our phones or laptops to type out our memos to communicate. The post-millennial generation has discovered a solution to this dilemma where it will now be possible to send messages just with the use of tactile senses on spaces. Wouldn’t that be convenient?

We are currently in a shortage crisis. When you say this, many people think of oil and coal, but they can be replaced with renewable resources like wind and solar power.