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Advanced 3D printing creates origami-inspired structures

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have introduced an innovation in additive manufacturing by integrating origami-inspired 3D printing techniques with hybrid compositesβ€”materials made from mixed reinforcing components. By eliminating the need for molds to fabricate a part, this process produces lightweight, cost-efficient structures with faster build times and greater adaptability.

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Researchers propose 'copyleft' rules for generative AI

The rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) poses challenges for the free and open-source software (FOSS) community, a global network committed to creating and maintaining publicly available software that anyone can use, modify and share. Many AI models have been built on open-source software but do not reciprocate the transparency that the FOSS community's principles require, leaving open-source developers uncertain about how these AI tools are using their code.

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AR-assisted Japanese flower arrangement helps beginners learn at home while preserving mindfulness

Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, is an important form of Japan's Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) that fosters creativity, mindfulness and aesthetic sensitivity. Also known as "Kado," or way of the flower, ikebana offers people living in metropolitan areas a way to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and connect with nature, which significantly benefits mental well-being.

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Floating solar panels keep working through icy Canadian winters

To accommodate the increasing demand for clean energy, researchers have been developing floating solar panels for rivers, reservoirs and other waterways in recent years. While there is, of course, plenty of land for solar farms, problems arise when these projects clash with farming and nature conservation.

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Nanoengineered wood sets new record for transformer insulation

The world's power grid is straining under the surge in electricity demand from data centers, electric vehicles and renewable energy. And a century-old technology, the power transformer, must support this dramatic increase. A particularly weak link in this is the potential for insulation breakdown, the most frequent indicator of power transformer failures.

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Administration's AI security order acknowledges risks but stops short of regulating industry

Some technology and policy watchers were surprised when President Donald Trump signed an executive order on June 2, 2026, establishing a framework for AI security. It seemed to move in a different direction from a December 2025 executive order that sought to create a "minimally burdensome" national framework for artificial intelligence and supersede state laws the administration saw as restrictive.

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Love at first prompt? How AI-assisted courtship is rewriting the rules of online dating

In the famous French play Cyrano de Bergerac, the brilliant but insecure Cyrano lends his eloquence to the handsome, tongue-tied Christian to help him woo his lover. Today, a remarkably similar scene is playing out among millions of dating app users, with the role of the lovelorn poet played not by a human but by AI. New research from Constructor University professor Dr. Lennart Ante analyzes the growing impact of dating app users outsourcing the delicate work of courtshipβ€”from the witty opening line to the flirtatious replyβ€”to AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini or even specialized "wingman" apps like Rizz and Winggg.

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Going up against the heat: Vertical greenery keeps cities cool

Climate change and urbanization have intensified the urban heat island (UHI) effect, where urban areas are significantly warmer than rural areas. This has, in turn, increased the frequency of extreme heat events, such as heat waves, and deteriorated both outdoor environments and indoor thermal conditions in buildings, leading to higher cooling energy demands, greater strain on power grids and an elevated risk of power outages.

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Vehicle miles traveled: An improved, but imperfect, traffic metric

Opponents of new developments often argue that more construction will bring more traffic, frequently convincing developers to reduce the scale of their projects or seek out less densely populated areas to build. Although such compromises may lead to less congestion on the road, they don't necessarily reduce driving and driving's associated environmental effects. But what if how much a community actually drives provides a better measure of how a new development stands to affect a neighborhood?

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Robotic rabbit learns users' voices on first greeting, enabling personalized elder care

The Social Robotics Group of the Robotics Lab at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) has developed an AI-based methodology that allows a pet-type assistive robot to recognize the people it interacts with. The prototype, named MΓ­a, is being tested in Madrid City Council day centers for the personalized affective stimulation of elderly people with cognitive decline.

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