(IDAHO FALLS, Idaho) – For the first time, researchers from Idaho National Laboratory, the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Purdue University used a geographically distributed control system to remotely and automatically adjust the power of a research reactor in real time, with the reactor’s own safety systems retaining full control throughout. Working with PUR1, a low-power research reactor at Purdue, the team first demonstrated remote power adjustments through an automatic adjustment system called a digital control loop, then made the loop further autonomous using a reinforcement learning model running in software that simulates how physical forces interact within the reactor. The demonstration linked three sites operating together in real time: high-performance computing systems in Idaho, the PUR1 reactor in Indiana, and a Microsoft Azure cloud environment in Virginia.

Virginia Tech researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model designed to help policymakers manage growing competition between agriculture and semiconductor manufacturing, as drough strains water supplies across the United States.

Consumers consistently perceive products designed by artificial intelligence as less sustainable than identical products designed by humans, according to new research published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. The findings suggest that consumers evaluate sustainability not only by a product's environmental performance, but also by whether they believe genuine human care went into its design.

Engineers at Penn State are blending art and science to create cute, paint-on tattoos capable of recording different electrical signals produced by the body. The ink, which can be pigmented with any desired color, uses materials that better bond with the skin, meaning they’re not just stylish, but more sensitive, durable and accurate than other wearable sensor designs.

Using computer simulations, a team led by engineers at Penn State found that adjusting subtle atomic arrangements — even in identical baseline chemical compositions — can affect the metal corrosion rate and extent caused by the extreme chemical environment in advanced nuclear reactors can start to corrode the metals comprising the reactor. 

As artificial intelligence accelerates demand for computing power across the U.S., a new study co-authored by Hon Chung Lau, adjunct professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Rice University and founder of Low Carbon Energies LLC, has found that carbon capture and storage could play a major role in limiting the climate impact of data centers.