AI tool for mapping smallholder crops proves itself in Senegal
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 27-Oct-2026 08:16 ET (27-Oct-2026 12:16 GMT/UTC)
A new analysis of Senegalese croplands using an artificial intelligence developed at the University of Cambridge shows how technological benefits enjoyed by industrial agriculture could be brought to smallholder farms in Senegal and other countries in the Global South.
Sultan Qaboos University researchers developed micro- and nanoscale surfaces that reduced bacterial and microalgal attachment under laboratory conditions. The findings offer a promising step toward developing more effective antifouling materials for marine and industrial applications.
In the era of artificial intelligence and machine learning, all-optical computing has garnered renewed attention for its intrinsic advantages in processing speed, energy efficiency, and parallelism. Scientists have developed a new class of metasurface optical differentiators capable of simultaneously performing arbitrary-order optical differentiation and high-resolution imaging in a standalone single-layer configuration. The technique provides a realistic path towards realization of ultracompact all-optical computing devices with potential applications in biological imaging, advanced information processing, and beyond.
- Researchers from KAIST, UNIST, and POSTECH vertically stack semiconductor devices with different response speeds to process fast and slow signal changes together
- The devices were fabricated on 4-inch wafers and flexible substrates and could be used in electronics that attach to the skin
Rutgers engineers have developed a smart shoe that automatically analyzes how a person walks, a technology that someday could help monitor people with Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and other movement disorders.
The prototype analyzes movement with 95.4% accuracy while counting steps and estimating calories burned.
The research, led by Simiao Niu, a biomedical engineer at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, was published in Science Advances.
UCF is leading the U.S. National Science Foundation’s (NSF) $20 million National Commercialization and Translation Institute (NCTI) initiative, a two-year pilot program designed to help promising federally funded technologies become successful companies.
The effort validates decades of impact UCF has created with helping researchers take discoveries from the lab into the marketplace — and allows the university to help enhance economic vitality across America.
Previously successful research commercialization efforts at the university include the UCF Business Incubation Program and three other NSF-funded programs: Accelerating Research Translation (ART), I-Corps and the Florida Semiconductor Engine.
Led by Professor Ivan Garibay ’00MS ’04PhD, NCTI will support developing businesses under the guidance of technology, business and research experts, including College of Engineering and Computer Science Dean Michael Georgiopoulos, and professors Thomas O’Neal ’96MS ’96MBA ’05PhD and Ron Piccolo.