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Tech & Engineering

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 3-Apr-2026 01:15 ET (3-Apr-2026 05:15 GMT/UTC)

A robust new telecom qubit in silicon

University of California - Santa Barbara
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Quantum technologies are anticipated to transform computing, communication and sensing by harnessing the unusual behavior of matter at the atomic scale. Translating quantum’s promise into practical devices will require physical systems that have desirable quantum properties and can be easily manufactured. Silicon, the material behind today’s computer chips, is highly attractive as a platform because it plays to the strengths of the trillion-dollar semiconductor industry that has already been built. Identifying quantum building blocks — qubits —in silicon is, therefore, an important frontier research area.

Journal: Physical Review B

Don’t Panic: ‘Humanity’s Last Exam’ has begun

Texas A&M University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An enormous team of researchers from around the globe has designed an exam to show what AI can’t do, yet.

Journal: Nature
Funder: The Center for AI Safety and Scale AI consortia

Worldwide radiation dose in coronary artery disease diagnostic imaging

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: Given increasing rates of coronary artery disease (CAD) worldwide, the findings of this study of marked variation in radiation dose to patients from diagnostic testing identify a critical need for training, standardized protocols, and updated equipment to reduce radiation worldwide. This especially affects patients in low- and middle-income countries and patients undergoing coronary computed tomography angiograph. There are therefore important opportunities to improve the quality of CAD diagnosis for patients across the globe.

Journal: JAMA

Small models, big insights into vision

College of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

By using advanced machine learning, Carnegie Mellon researchers have created compact, yet highly accurate models to better understand the visual system, offering potential breakthroughs for neuroscience and artificial intelligence.

Journal: Nature

New Virginia Tech/University of Vermont study reveals what crop advisors really want from AI tools

University of Vermont
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New Study shows: What crop advisors really want from AI tech and how precision ag producers will decide on AI adoption.

Research Highlights:

Discrete choice experiments quantify trade-offs in crop advisors’ preferred AI-DSS features.

Advisors favor simplicity and satellite inputs over ultra-accurate or precision-heavy AI-DSS.

AI attitudes moderate acceptance: techno-optimists are more open to data-intensive AI-DSS.

Implications: built trust, ensure cost transparency, and align AI-DSS with user autonomy to boost adoption.

Journal: Technological Forecasting
Funder: USDA Rural Development

Smarter shelf strategy can boost retail profits and cut food waste by more than 20%, new study finds

Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Grocery retailers may not need new technology—or behavior change from shoppers—to meaningfully reduce food waste. New research in the INFORMS journal Management Science finds that small operational decisions already under a retailer’s control, including how perishable items are displayed and when (and how much) they’re discounted, can increase profits while reducing spoilage.

Journal: Management Science

UT Arlington appoints Lal to lead precision health, informatics

University of Texas at Arlington
Business Announcement

Dennis Lal, an internationally recognized genomic scientist and health informatics leader, has been appointed as a professor with The University of Texas at Arlington and the new executive director of the Center for Innovation in Health Informatics (CIHI), where he will lead health care-scale informatics, precision health, and clinical AI initiatives.