Tag: Science

Plans to end global warming hinge on driving net greenhouse gas emissions to zero (plus or minus a few gigatonnes). It’s not going well. CO2 emissions hit an all-time high last year, and for the first time average temperatures on Earth rose 1.5 °C above preindustrial levels. To limit warming to 2 °C, massive amounts of carbon dioxide will have to be sucked out of the atmosphere and locked away, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).There are old and new ways to do this. The old m

There are plenty of labs working on solutions to Kessler Syndrome, where there’s so much debris in low Earth orbit that rockets are no longer capable of reaching it without being hit with hypersonic parts of defunct equipment. While we haven’t yet gotten to the point where we’ve lost access to space, there will come a day where that will happen if we don’t do something about it. A new paper from Kazunori Takahashi of Tohoku University in Japan looks at a novel solution that uses a type of magnetic field typically seen in

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion.ACTUATE 2025: 23–24 September 2025, SAN FRANCISCOCoRL 2025: 27–30 September 2025, SEOULIEEE Humanoids: 30 September–2 October 2025, SEOULWorld Robot Summit: 10�

This article is crossposted from IEEE Spectrum’s careers newsletter. Sign up now to get insider tips, expert advice, and practical strategies, written in partnership with tech career development company Taro and delivered to your inbox for free!During my first two years working at Meta, I was an individual contributor (IC) engineer. Then, after an encouraging review, my manager a

Every year IEEE members around the globe come together on IEEE Day to celebrate a shared legacy of innovation, collaboration, and service. First celebrated in 2009, the day commemorates the initial gathering of IEEE members to share their technical ideas in 1884.This year the event will be held on 7 October. It promises to be bigger, bolder, and more inspiring than ever.IEEE Day is not just a celebration of the past; it’s a rallying point for the future. The day honors the power that technology has to improve lives, as well as the volunteers who work to make it happen.From its humble beginnings as a grassroots ini

Over the next several years, humanoid robots will change the nature of work. Or at least, that’s what humanoid robotics companies have been consistently promising, enabling them to raise hundreds of millions of dollars at valuations that run into the billions.Delivering on these promises will require a

Natcast, the non-profit organization created to run the U.S. CHIPS & Science Act’s National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) told the majority of its staff they would be laid off this week, IEEE Spectrum has learned. A small core team will continue on to shut Natcast down over the next few weeks, a person familiar with the matter said.The organization was founded in 2023 to run NSTC, which the law established to conduct “research and prototyping of advanced semiconductor technology and grow the domestic semiconductor workforce to strengthen the economic competitiveness and security of the domestic supply chain.”However, on 25 August Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated th

The future of robotics is being shaped by powerful technologies like AI, edge computing, and high-speed connectivity, driving smarter, more responsive machines across industries. Robots are no longer confined to static environments—they are evolving to interact dynamically with humans and their surroundings.This eBook explores the impact of robotics in diverse fields, from home automation and medical technology to automotive, data centers, and industrial applications. It highlights challenges like power efficiency, miniaturization, and ruggedization, while showcasing Molex’s innovative solutions tailored for each domain.Additionally, the eBook covers:Ruggedized connectors for harsh industrial settingsAdvanced power management for home robotsMiniaturized systems for pre

The machine learning field is moving fast, and the yardsticks used measure progress in it are having to race to keep up. A case in point, MLPerf, the bi-annual machine learning competition sometimes termed “the Olympics of AI,” introduced three new benchmark tests, reflecting new directions in the field.“Lately, it has been very difficult trying to follow what happens in the field,” says Miro Hodak, AMD engineer and MLPerf Inference working group co-chair. “We see that the models are becoming progressively larger, and in the last two rounds we have introduced the largest models we’ve ever had.”The chips that tackled these new benchmar

AI is hot, capturing headlines, investments, and users. It also runs hot, literally: The data centers operating artificial intelligence (AI) models use large amounts of electricity and generate enormous heat. To keep servers from overheating, many facilities rely on cooling systems that use water.AI data centers’ water use comes in two forms. Beyond the water that cools the servers, data centers indirectly contribute to water use through the electricity generation needed to power their operations. That indirect use often makes up 80 percent or more of the overall water use.Reducing AI’s water footprint means tackling two very different issues—what happens inside the d