IEEE Spectrum Threads
Leading tech magazine delivering news on robotics innovations, engineering breakthroughs and trends.
Spot Gains Autonomy, Yet Surprising Design Choice Remains
Spot can now read gauges, spot hazards, and reason about tasks on its own, but one design choice may surprise you. https://spectrum.ieee.org/boston-dynamics-spot-google-deepmind?share_id=9376931
DIY Arduino Spray Paint Delivers 4,096 Colors for $150
With an Arduino Nano and custom rotary pinch valves, this DIY spray paint system brings a new palette of 4,096 colors to artists' fingertips. It only costs $150 U.S. to make. https://spectrum.ieee.org/spray-paint-color-creator
Scientists Map Light Cues for Optic Nerve Regeneration
Scientists are working on regenerating optic nerves for people who have lost their sight. The first step is done: A map of how changes in light, color, and frequency affect the visual axis. https://spectrum.ieee.org/optic-nerve-damage-electrical-stimulation
BCI Implants Grant Freedom, yet Reveal Real Limits
For people with paralysis, brain implants offer new independence—but also real limits. Early BCI users explain what the technology gives and what it takes. https://spectrum.ieee.org/bci-user-experience?share_id=9362216
Earbuds Soon Recognize Objects and Translate Using Tiny Visual Data
Your earbuds may soon read signs, identify objects, and translate on demand; the key is how little visual data the AI actually needs. https://spectrum.ieee.org/smart-earbuds-smart-glasses-privacy?share_id=9372713
Bourbon Byproduct Powers Next-Gen EV Energy Storage
Researchers have found a way to turn waste grain from making bourbon into high-performance energy-storage materials for EVs. https://spectrum.ieee.org/supercapacitor-electrodes-bourbon-waste
Auburn Coffee Shop Hosts Community AI Conversation
It was not a usual day at this coffee shop in Auburn, Alabama. University students, faculty, and members of the local community joined to discuss their experiences with AI. They voiced concerns, listened, and learned together. https://spectrum.ieee.org/ai-community-engagement
AI Compute, Emissions Surge; Index Uncovers Overlooked Trends
AI compute, emissions, and benchmarks are all surging, but the 2026 AI Index surfaces a few trends most people in tech are missing. https://spectrum.ieee.org/state-of-ai-index-2026?share_id=9359180
Data Centers Adopt Direct 800‑Volt DC for Efficiency
Most data centers use AC power, converting it to DC at the server level. But as demand rises for fast, efficient computing, there’s less room for power loss. New designs convert power from the grid directly to 800-volt DC power,...
Storeless Password Manager Creates, Never Stores Credentials
What happens when a password manager generates credentials on the fly and never saves them, anywhere, by design? https://spectrum.ieee.org/storeless-password-manager?share_id=9356368
Meta's 5GW Hyperion Forces Data Center Tech Overhaul
The quest to build @Meta’s 5GW Hyperion data center (the world's largest ever) is pushing engineers to rethink compute, cooling, and network technology. https://spectrum.ieee.org/5gw-data-center
Tenstorrent Launches $9,999 AI Workstation with 384 GB RAM
New Tenstorrent AI workstations are expected to cost US $9,999, with 384 GB of memory, designed to run cutting-edge AI models at your desk. @Nvidia has released its own AI workstation with 748 GB. https://spectrum.ieee.org/ai-workstation-looks-like-pcs
Too Easy AI Undermines Learning; Embrace Helpful Friction
Difficulty makes us learn better, so when AI agents make tasks too easy, it hurts the learning process. Is it worth creating AI agents that take more effort to use? https://spectrum.ieee.org/frictionless-ai-psychology
Invisibility‑Cloak Tech Boosts Optical Switching in Data Centers
The same technology that could be used to create “invisibility cloaks” has applications in data centers, speeding up optical switching. https://spectrum.ieee.org/optical-metamaterials-ai-data-centers
Silent EVs Need Artificial Sounds for Pedestrian Safety
EVs don’t have loud engines powered by gasoline, which has an unexpected side effect: it’s harder to hear them approaching. Michael Roan is a sound design expert who researches artificial sounds to make it easier for pedestrians to notice nearby...
Virtual Twins Guide Nearly 2,000 Surgeries and Growing
Nearly 2,000 procedures have been guided by virtual-twin modeling, where a dynamic digital replica is used for practice surgery, and it keeps getting better. https://spectrum.ieee.org/living-heart-project-virtual-twins
Affordable Autonomous Wheelchairs Aim for Everyday Reliability
Smart wheelchairs are being developed that can navigate their users through an environment. The focus remains on keeping them affordable and reliable for everyday users. https://spectrum.ieee.org/autonomous-smart-wheelchair
AI's Memory Crunch Drives Up Raspberry Pi Prices
AI is hogging memory chips and it’s rippling all the way down to Raspberry Pi prices. Our April issue has two pieces on this you'll want to read: one on the HBM shortage reshaping the chip market, one on what...
Wireless Oxygen Implant Powers Engineered Cells Inside Body
What happens when you give engineered cells their own wireless oxygen supply inside a thumb-drive-sized implant? https://spectrum.ieee.org/biologic-drugs-implant-bioelectronics-medicine?share_id=9322774
AI Trained on Birds Surprisingly Decodes Whale Calls
Scientists at @googledeepmind trained an AI algorithm to identify bird calls. They tried reusing the model for whale calls and found the model’s training carried over into a whole new species. https://spectrum.ieee.org/foundation-models-google-birds-whales
Apple’s “Failures” Birthed Modern Phones and Media
From Newton to QuickTime, Apple’s “failed” experiments seeded today’s phones, media formats, and more in ways that are easy to miss. https://spectrum.ieee.org/apple-50th-anniversary?share_id=9322047
Polymer Blend Capacitor Stores 4× Energy at 250 °C
Engineers created a capacitor crafted from a polymer blend that can operate at temperatures up to 250 °C while storing roughly four times as much energy as conventional polymer capacitors. This new material could be used in EVs and to...
Nvidia Groq 3 LPU Boosts AI Inference with Integrated SRAM
The @Nvidia Groq 3 language processing unit is designed specifically to handle AI inference. The chip uses SRAM memory integrated within the processor itself to speed up the flow of data. https://spectrum.ieee.org/nvidia-groq-3
Humanoids: Real Reasoning or Just Pattern Matching?
Humanoids look impressive, but are they reasoning or just pattern matching? Gill Pratt’s take might change how you see current demos. https://spectrum.ieee.org/humanoid-robots-gill-pratt-darpa?share_id=9330907
Rising Physical Grid Attacks Prompt AI‑Powered Defense Surge
Physical attacks on the energy grid are rising in the US, Canada, and all over the world. Companies and research institutes are using cameras, radar, and AI to boost their defenses. https://spectrum.ieee.org/power-grid-attack-security-gridex
DWDM Multiplies Fiber Capacity, Accelerating Data Center Speeds
Dense wavelength division multiplexing can transmit multiple optical signals over a single fiber, greatly speeding up information transfer in data centers. https://spectrum.ieee.org/ai-data-centers-dwdm-optics
From 1G to 5G: The Road to 6G
Let Mallik Tatipamula and Vint Cerf take you on the journey of our mobile devices from 1G to 5G, and see what's coming with 6G in the near future: https://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom-history-1g-to-6g
Innovation Starts Solo, Thrives Through Collective Effort
Robert Goddard's tale illustrates that while innovation begins with one, its success often lies with many. Don’t fall into the alpha trap. https://spectrum.ieee.org/robert-goddard-leadership
Deep Rover Enables Kilometer-Deep Ocean Exploration
What if you could dive a kilometer underwater, gaze into the abyss, and unravel the ocean's mysteries? Deep Rover made it possible. https://spectrum.ieee.org/deep-sea-submersible?share_id=9311646
Scientists Uncover Ways to Counter Dangerous AI Sycophancy
Many AI agents are trained to tell you what you want to hear. That can be dangerous, and even lead to psychosis. Scientists have found several strategies to deal with AI sychophancy. https://spectrum.ieee.org/ai-sycophancy
Orbital Lasers Aim for 100+ Gbps, Cloud Cover Challenges
Lasers promise 100+ Gbps from orbit, but can ground station cost and cloud cover be engineered into non-issues? https://spectrum.ieee.org/satellite-communication-laser-radio-transcelestial?share_id=9303370
LLMs Can Design Games, yet Can’t Play Them
If an LLM can write a game but can’t play it, what does that say about how it “understands” environments and rules? https://spectrum.ieee.org/ai-video-games-llms-togelius?share_id=9307932
Intel's Heracles Chip Accelerates FHE 5,000‑Fold
Fully homomorphic encryption allows you to get information without revealing your personal data, but it’s currently a slow, intensive process. But @Intel’s new Heracles chip speeds up FHE computing 5,000-fold compared to a CPU. https://spectrum.ieee.org/fhe-intel
Stratospheric Airship Tested to Extend Mobile Coverage
Could cell towers 20 km in the sky expand mobile coverage? Sceye is testing its airship later this year, in the latest step toward a future network up in the stratosphere. https://spectrum.ieee.org/sceye-high-altitude-platform-station?share_id=9306593
Offshore Wind Now Enhances Military Radar, Not Hinders
The reasoning given by the Trump administration for shutting down wind farms was due to concerns about interrupting military radar and sonar. But now offshore wind farms can be integrated into national defense programs, boosting sensing technologies. https://spectrum.ieee.org/offshore-wind-military-radar
Deciding Who Controls Military AI: DoD vs Industry
The negotiations between the United States Department of Defense and Anthropic have highlighted who gets to make choices about AI in the military. Who should get to make these choices? https://spectrum.ieee.org/military-ai-governance
Battery‑free 20‑mg Tag Lets Scientists Track Wasps
Engineers developed a tiny 20-milligram tag to track wasp movements. To meet weight constraints, they couldn’t afford to put a battery on the tag and had to resort to a capacitor to send a radio pulse. https://spectrum.ieee.org/rf-tags
Honda's Walking Robot Foreshadows First Lady's Humanoid Teachers
Robots in the classroom? 🤖 🏫 The first lady believes “humanoid educators” should help teach the next generation. One potential candidate walked alongside her at the White House, but did you know Honda paved the way 30 years ago...
GM's AI Drives 50,000× Faster for Unpredictable Scenarios
@generalmotors is working on systems to ensure its autonomous vehicles behave even in the most unexpected scenarios. Its scalable driving AI operates 50,000 times faster than real-time. https://spectrum.ieee.org/gm-scalable-driving-ai
CERN's FLASH Therapy Promises Faster, Safer Cancer Radiation
FLASH therapy at CERN harnesses particle accelerator technology to deliver ultra-fast, high-dose radiation treatment, potentially transforming cancer care with fewer side effects. https://spectrum.ieee.org/flash-radiotherapy
Particle Accelerators Map Ant Anatomy in New 3D Atlas
Entomologists and particle accelerator physicists have collaborated to produce a new 3D atlas of what makes up an ant, including muscles, nerves, digestive tracts, and exoskeletons. The images are free to access. https://spectrum.ieee.org/3d-scanning-particle-accelerator-antscan
Cyborg Organoids Sense Glucose, Release Hormones for Diabetes
Bioengineers embedded soft, stretchable electronics into the tiny clusters to create “cyborg” organoids. These can mimic the pancreas, sensing glucose levels and releasing hormones. They could help build replacement cells for people with type 1 diabetes. https://spectrum.ieee.org/cyborg-stem-cell-therapy-for-diabetes
Photon‑propelled Probes Could Reach Tau Ceti in 60 Years
While we don't have access to the astrophage from ProjectHailMary in real life, scientists are designing space probes that rely on the same basic principle it uses to travel between the stars: very low mass objects accelerated to very high...
U.S. Swaps Offshore Wind Lease for Oil, Cites Security
In an effort to halt new offshore wind development, the U.S. announced today a deal with TotalEnergies to redirect the $1 billion the energy giant paid for an offshore wind lease and put it toward U.S. oil and gas projects....
Offshore Wind Farms Could Host Future Data Centers
Where will we find the space for new data centers? Startup Aikido Technologies points to offshore wind farms as the answer. https://spectrum.ieee.org/data-center-floating-wind-turbine
AI's Speed May Undermine Deep Learning Through Lost Friction
Could AI's efficiency be eroding our learning experiences? Explore the debate on the value of friction in cognitive tasks. https://spectrum.ieee.org/frictionless-ai-psychology?share_id=9275818
Human Teleoperators Still Essential for Autonomous Cars, Drone Research Shows
Many self-driving cars still have human teleoperators to prevent catastrophe. Humans operating tech remotely isn’t new; drone research from the 1990s can provide guidance on supervisory control. https://spectrum.ieee.org/military-drones-self-driving-cars
Ukrainian Power Engineers Brave Grid Destruction, Innovate Solutions
Being a power engineer is a high-risk job in Ukraine, as Russia is intent on destroying the electrical grid. It's now about finding new solutions, working on backups, and bravery. https://spectrum.ieee.org/repair-ukraine-power-grid
Quantum Simulations Feed Classical AI with Electron Data
Chi Chen and Matthias Troyer at @Microsoft propose using quantum computers to generate data on electrons, which can then be used to train AI models on classical machines. https://spectrum.ieee.org/quantum-chemistry
Sandia Labs Tests Reconfigurable Accelerators for Adaptive Supercomputing
@SandiaLabs is testing supercomputers with reconfigurable accelerators, similar to FPGAs, that optimize their hardware for specific computations that are being run. https://spectrum.ieee.org/reconfigurable-supercomputer