A collaborative team led by Yougang Ke and Linzhou Zeng from Hunan Institute of Science and Technology and Xinxing Zhou from Hunan Normal University has proposed and constructed a reconfigurable optical computing platform based on a double-layer liquid crystal structure, with mechanical degrees of freedom as its core control mechanism. This work establishes a novel paradigm for multifunctional and switchable all-optical image processing, advancing the development of highly compact, low-power-consumption intelligent optical systems. It holds significant application potential in fields such as autonomous driving vision, biomedical imaging, augmented reality, and next-generation computer vision.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) launched a remote sensing experiment to sharpen artificial intelligence (AI) applications in hyperspectral imaging across the Department of the Navy and broader scientific community.

When oily plastic and glass, as well as rubber, washed onto Florida beaches in 2020, a community group shared the mystery online, attracting scientists’ attention. Working together, they linked the black residue-coated debris to a 2019 oil slick along Brazil’s coastline. Using ocean current models and chemical analysis, the team explains in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology how some of the oily material managed to travel over 5,200 miles (8,500 kilometers) by clinging to debris.

A low-cost, simple robotic apple picker arm developed by Washington State University researchers may someday help with fruit picking and other farm chores. The inflatable arm can see an apple, then extend and retract to pick a piece of fruit in about 25 seconds. Weighing less than 50 pounds with its metal base, the two-foot-long arm is made of a soft fabric filled with air that is similar to, but stronger than, the wacky inflatable arm-flailing tube men that are used in outdoor advertising. The researchers in WSU’s School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering recently published their work on the robotic arm in the journal, Smart Agricultural Technology.