Imperial College London and Empa researchers have created a fleet of bee-inspired flying 3D printers that build and repair structures while flying.

While artificial intelligence (AI) may conjure up visions of a daunting dystopian future for some, new research has emerged which highlights the role technology can play for good.

The Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery at Imperial College London has announced the key programme highlights of its Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics 2019 (#HSMR19) which returns this June for its 12th consecutive year. The Symposium is an annual international conference on medical robotics, current clinical practice and emerging technologies in robotic surgery.

Machine learning has detected one of the commonest causes of dementia and stroke, in brain scans (CT), more accurately than current methods. A software, created by scientists at Imperial College London and the University of Edinburgh, has been able to identify and measure the severity of small vessel disease, one of the commonest causes of stroke and dementia. The study, published in Radiology, took place at Charing Cross Hospital, part of I...

The Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery at Imperial College London has announced the key workshops of the Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics 2018, plus the launch of a new CEO and Founders Forum. The interactive and hands-on workshops - spanning deep-learning for medical robotics to wearable and assisted robots - will take place on 24th June and 27th June 2018 (from 9am-1pm, and 2-5.30pm), and the new CEO and Founders Forum will be held on June 2...

Researchers have shown how to write any magnetic pattern desired onto nanowires, which could help computers mimic how the brain processes information. Much current computer hardware, such as hard drives, use magnetic memory devices. These rely on magnetic states – the direction microscopic magnets are pointing – to encode and read information.

In a move that may ultimately improve dialysis for patients, artificial intelligence (AI) has been trained to use aerospace simulation software to design a device. The team from Imperial College London and their colleagues have used computer modelling techniques - normally employed to simulate how unsteady air pockets flow over a plane - to model how unsteady currents in blood flows in the veins of patients undergoing dialysis.

A technique borrowed from neuroscience to see through brain tissue is helping scientists to see the fine structure of the heart. Using an existing approach, a team from Imperial has been able to turn samples of heart tissue transparent, revealing the complex networks of tiny blood vessels which supply the tissue as well as the scaffold of collagen which holds everything in place.

In order to give local authorities the ability to implement dynamic road charging based on actual vehicle emissions in a smarter, cheaper and fairer way, Tantalum and Imperial College London have begun work to develop real-time NOx emissions estimation capability. “It is our belief that companies, local authorities and citizens all want to help clean up the air we breathe,” said Ozgur Tohumcu, Tantalum’s CEO.

Using sunlight to drive chemical reactions, such as artificial photosynthesis, could soon become much more efficient thanks to nanomaterials. This is the conclusion of a study published today led by researchers in the Department of Physics at Imperial College London, which could ultimately help improve solar energy technologies and be used for new applications, such as using sunlight to break down harmful chemicals.

Scientists have uncovered a method for improving short-term working memory, by stimulating the brain with electricity to synchronise brain waves. Researchers at Imperial College London found that applying a low voltage current can bring different areas of the brain in sync with one another, enabling people to perform better on tasks involving working memory.

Until wireless power becomes mainstream, it is widely believed that the potential offered by the Internet of Things, and indeed the Industrial Internet of Things, cannot be fully realised. Scientists at Imperial College London have brought that breakthrough a step closer after demonstrating an efficient method for transferring power wirelessly to a drone while it is flying.  

Scientists have developed sensor technology for a robotic prosthetic arm that detects signals from nerves in the spinal cord. To control the prosthetic, the patient has to think like they are controlling a phantom arm and imagine some simple manoeuvres, such as pinching two fingers together. The sensor technology interprets the electrical signals sent from spinal motor neurons and uses them as commands.

Imperial researchers are designing cheaper and more flexible solar energy materials, set to rival traditional rigid silicon panels. Solar cells are formed of light-absorbing materials that convert sunlight into electricity. The panels we are used to seeing covering fields or roofs of houses are made primarily from silicon. However, silicon panels are energy-intensive to produce, heavy and inflexible.

Researchers have discovered how to control molecules attached to graphene, paving the way for tiny biological sensors and devices to hold information. Graphene is a material made of a single sheet of carbon atoms in a honeycomb arrangement. Because of its unique electrical conductivity, graphene has the potential to be a base for electronic devices that are only nanometres (billionths of a metre) in size.

Researchers have created a 3D printed cosmic microwave background - a map of the oldest light in the universe - and provided the files for download. The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is a glow that the universe has in the microwave range that maps the oldest light in the universe. It was imprinted when the universe first became transparent, instead of an opaque fog of plasma and radiation.

European Circuits is delighted to announce its sponsorship of the Imperial College Robotics Society’s Eurobot entry for 2016/17! European Circuits’ Marketing Manager, Neil Johnston, explains the reasoning behind the move “We hope this initial sponsorship may be the beginning of a longer term relationship with the Imperial College Robotics Society.

  Scientists have created a material that could make reading biological signals, from heartbeats to brainwaves, much more sensitive. Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) are designed to measure signals created by electrical impulses in the body, such as heartbeats or brainwaves. However, they are currently only able to measure certain signals.

Researchers have created an interactive web tool to estimate the amount of energy that could be generated by wind or solar farms at any location. The tool, called Renewables.ninja, aims to make the task of predicting renewable output easier for both academics and industry. The creators, from Imperial College London and ETH Zürich, have already used it to estimate current Europe-wide solar and wind output, and companies such as the ...

Research suggests that it is possible to create a new form of light by binding light to a single electron, combining the properties of both. According to the scientists behind the study, from Imperial College London, the coupled light and electron would have properties that could lead to circuits that work with packages of light - photons - instead of electrons. It would also allow researchers to study quantum physical phenomena, which ...