ITU’s AI Skills Coalition and the Giga Initiative work to bridge the digital skills gap in African schools

The 12th Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) has come to a close. This year’s HLF took place from September 14 to 19 and brought together 28 Laureates of the most prestigious prizes in mathematics and computer science as well as 200 of those disciplines’ brightest Young Researchers of the next generation.

 

Global electricity use is increasing rapidly and must be addressed sustainably. Developing new materials could give us much more efficient solar cell materials than at present; materials so thin and flexible that they could encase anything from mobile phones or entire buildings. Using computer simulation and machine learning, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have now taken an important step towards understanding and handling halide perovskites, among the most promising but notoriously enigmatic materials.

Heriot-Watt University has launched its Professional Academy, a comprehensive online learning platform that will be offering over 50 university-credited courses designed specifically for busy professionals seeking to upskill rapidly in their current roles. The innovative platform addresses the growing demand for flexible, accessible professional development in an increasingly competitive job market. Users can start anytime, study anywhere and learn at their own pace.

The Shockley–Queisser (S-Q) model sets a theoretical limit on the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of single-junction solar cells at around 33%. Recently, a PCE of 50%-60% was achieved for the first time in n-type single-junction Si solar cells by inhibiting light conversion to heat at low temperatures. Understanding these new observations opens tremendous opportunities for designing solar cells with even higher PCE to provide efficient and powerful energy sources for cryogenic devices and outer and deep space explorations.

Using magnetic cameras, researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have examined blood flow in an artificial heart in real time. The results make it possible to design the heart in a way to reduce the risk of blood clots and red blood cells breakdown, a common problem in today’s artificial hearts. The study, published in Scientific Reports, was done in collaboration with the company Scandinavian Real Heart AB, which is developing an artificial heart.