Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Light-powered evaporator robot

A sunlight-driven floating device combines photocatalysis, evaporation, and autonomous navigation for sustainable water purification

Chinese Society for Optical Engineering

Schematic of the robotic solar‑driven interfacial water purification — image:
Schematic mechanism of the light‑propelled photocatalytic evaporator
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Credit: Yong‑Lai Zhang https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s43074-025-00169-4

A research team from Jilin University has developed a solar-powered floating robot that purifies water and autonomously navigates on its surface, offering a new strategy for smart, energy-free water treatment in complex environments. Their findings, published in PhotoniX, are reported in a study titled "Light-propelled photocatalytic evaporator for robotic solar-driven water purification."

The system—designed as a lightweight, porous foam structure—integrates three critical functions: photocatalytic degradation, solar steam generation, and self-propulsion under light. It is composed of a hybrid material that combines reduced graphene oxide, Ti₃C₂Tₓ, and in situ grown TiO₂ nanoparticles, enabling the structure to respond efficiently to sunlight across a broad spectrum.

Unlike conventional solar-driven water purification devices, which are typically static and location-bound, this light-powered robot can move across the water surface by harnessing the Marangoni effect. When light is unevenly applied to one side of the device, it creates a surface tension gradient that propels the robot forward. This motion is entirely light-controlled—no batteries, wires, or motors are needed. By steering the light, researchers can direct the robot along programmable paths, enabling it to navigate obstacles or locate specific contaminated regions.

Simultaneously, the device purifies water through two mechanisms. The TiO₂ nanoparticles catalyze the breakdown of organic pollutants, while the foam structure efficiently converts sunlight into heat to drive evaporation. The dual-action approach enhances water purification capacity and energy utilization, all within a single, self-contained platform.

This study demonstrates the potential of integrating photonic materials, solar energy harvesting, and intelligent motion control into a compact, autonomous system. According to the authors, this work represents a breakthrough in combining light-driven propulsion and multifunctional purification, especially in remote or resource-limited areas where access to clean water and external power is restricted.

As water scarcity becomes an urgent global issue, the development of intelligent, self-powered systems like this robotic evaporator provides an innovative direction toward sustainable water treatment solutions.

Journal

PhotoniX

DOI

10.1186/s43074-025-00169-4

Method of Research

News article

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Light-propelled photocatalytic evaporator for robotic solar-driven water purification

Empowering robots with human-like perception to navigate unwieldy terrain

A new Duke-developed AI system fuses vision, vibrations, touch and its own body states to help robots understand and move through difficult in-the-wild environments

Duke University

WildFusion Navigates Terrain — video:
WildFusion uses a combination of sight, touch, sound and balance to help four-legged robots better navigate difficult terrain like dense forests.
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Credit: Boyuan Chen, Duke University

The wealth of information provided by our senses that allows our brain to navigate the world around us is remarkable. Touch, smell, hearing, and a strong sense of balance are crucial to making it through what to us seem like easy environments such as a relaxing hike on a weekend morning.

An innate understanding of the canopy overhead helps us figure out where the path leads. The sharp snap of branches or the soft cushion of moss informs us about the stability of our footing. The thunder of a tree falling or branches dancing in strong winds lets us know of potential dangers nearby.

Robots, in contrast, have long relied solely on visual information such as cameras or lidar to move through the world. Outside of Hollywood, multisensory navigation has long remained challenging for machines. The forest, with its beautiful chaos of dense undergrowth, fallen logs and ever-changing terrain, is a maze of uncertainty for traditional robots.

Now, researchers from Duke University have developed a novel framework named WildFusion that fuses vision, vibration and touch to enable robots to “sense” complex outdoor environments much like humans do. The work was recently accepted to the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2025), which will be held May 19-23, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia.

“WildFusion opens a new chapter in robotic navigation and 3D mapping,” said Boyuan Chen, the Dickinson Family Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Computer Science at Duke University. “It helps robots to operate more confidently in unstructured, unpredictable environments like forests, disaster zones and off-road terrain.”

"Typical robots rely heavily on vision or LiDAR alone, which often falter without clear paths or predictable landmarks," added Yanbaihui Liu, the lead student author and a second-year Ph.D. student in Chen’s lab. “Even advanced 3D mapping methods struggle to reconstruct a continuous map when sensor data is sparse, noisy or incomplete, which is a frequent problem in unstructured outdoor environments. That’s exactly the challenge WildFusion was designed to solve.”

WildFusion, built on a quadruped robot, integrates multiple sensing modalities, including an RGB camera, LiDAR, inertial sensors, and, notably, contact microphones and tactile sensors. As in traditional approaches, the camera and the LiDAR capture the environment’s geometry, color, distance and other visual details. What makes WildFusion special is its use of acoustic vibrations and touch.

As the robot walks, contact microphones record the unique vibrations generated by each step, capturing subtle differences, such as the crunch of dry leaves versus the soft squish of mud. Meanwhile, the tactile sensors measure how much force is applied to each foot, helping the robot sense stability or slipperiness in real time. These added senses are also complemented by the inertial sensor that collects acceleration data to assess how much the robot is wobbling, pitching or rolling as it traverses uneven ground.

Each type of sensory data is then processed through specialized encoders and fused into a single, rich representation. At the heart of WildFusion is a deep learning model based on the idea of implicit neural representations. Unlike traditional methods that treat the environment as a collection of discrete points, this approach models complex surfaces and features continuously, allowing the robot to make smarter, more intuitive decisions about where to step, even when its vision is blocked or ambiguous.

“Think of it like solving a puzzle where some pieces are missing, yet you're able to intuitively imagine the complete picture,” explained Chen. “WildFusion’s multimodal approach lets the robot ‘fill in the blanks’ when sensor data is sparse or noisy, much like what humans do.”

WildFusion was tested at the Eno River State Park in North Carolina near Duke’s campus, successfully helping a robot navigate dense forests, grasslands and gravel paths. “Watching the robot confidently navigate terrain was incredibly rewarding,” Liu shared. “These real-world tests proved WildFusion’s remarkable ability to accurately predict traversability, significantly improving the robot’s decision-making on safe paths through challenging terrain.”

Looking ahead, the team plans to expand the system by incorporating additional sensors, such as thermal or humidity detectors, to further enhance a robot’s ability to understand and adapt to complex environments. With its flexible modular design, WildFusion provides vast potential applications beyond forest trails, including disaster response across unpredictable terrains, inspection of remote infrastructure and autonomous exploration.

“One of the key challenges for robotics today is developing systems that not only perform well in the lab but that reliably function in real-world settings,” said Chen. “That means robots that can adapt, make decisions and keep moving even when the world gets messy.”

This research was supported by DARPA (HR00112490419, HR00112490372) and the Army Research Laboratory (W911NF2320182, W911NF2220113).

“WildFusion: Multimodal Implicit3DReconstructions in the Wild.” Yanbaihui Liu and Boyuan Chen. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2025)

Project Website: http://generalroboticslab.com/WildFusion

General Robotics Lab Website: http://generalroboticslab.com

Picking Through Grass [VIDEO] |

WildFusion helps robots identify safe paths through challenging terrain, such as tall foliage that might otherwise look unnavigable.

Credit

Boyuan Chen, Duke University

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

WildFusion: Multimodal Implicit3DReconstructions in the Wild

Article Publication Date

19-May-2025

Helping noisy data centers fit into residential neighborhoods #ASA188

Noise ordinances can protect residents and guide developers toward quieter designs

Acoustical Society of America

NEW ORLEANS, May 19, 2025 – The past few years have seen an explosion in data centers built across the country, as developers try to keep up with demand created by artificial intelligence, cloud storage, and e-commerce. Many of these data centers are being built near residential areas, and the people who live there keep complaining about the noise.

Gregory Miller and his colleagues at Trinity Consultants will present their work on noise control strategies for data centers on Monday, May 19, at 8:05 a.m. CT as part of the joint 188th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and 25th International Congress on Acoustics, running May 18-23.

A key protection communities have from excessive noise is a well-crafted noise code. Local governments can pass laws or regulations limiting the amount of noise facilities like data centers can produce, along with more detailed rules regarding the types of noise, how often those noises occur, and how far away that noise can be perceived. Unfortunately, many jurisdictions lack detailed noise ordinances for data centers.

“Over the course of our work on noise control for data centers, one of the greatest challenges we kept facing was the lack of reliable noise codes that our clients could use, with conflicting noise requirements between local, county, and state authorities,” said Miller.

The absence of explicit noise ordinances means residents cannot be protected from extreme noise and developers have no clear guidance when designing new data centers. This problem is exacerbated by the addition of dedicated power plants and transformer stations.

“Having exhausted many of the sites that readily have enough power to run a data center, many new data centers are accompanied by power generation stations,” said Miller. “In many cases, the power generation is at least as noisy — if not noisier — than the data center it serves.”

To help develop proper guidance, Miller and his colleagues identified many of the worst sources of data center noise, along with the most effective means of controlling that noise. Some of the potential solutions include sound barriers, thick walls around power plants, and low-frequency resonators on some of the biggest sources of noise.

During the conference, Miller will also discuss his team’s efforts to help both data center developers and residential communities find solutions that work.

“We are continuing to work with data center developers on strategies for interacting with communities and demonstrating their interest in being reliable neighbors,” said Miller. “We are also working with communities to try to help them understand the types of information they need to develop robust noise ordinances.”

By encouraging a spirit of collaboration between both groups, Miller hopes that everyone can benefit from a quieter breed of data center.

“Ultimately, we want to help foster an environment in which residents are protected from excessive noise, and in which developers can reliably build new data centers within parameters that are reliable and reasonable,” said Miller.

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----------------------- MORE MEETING INFORMATION -----------------------

ASA PRESS ROOM

In the coming weeks, ASA’s Press Room will be updated with newsworthy stories and the press conference schedule at https://acoustics.org/asa-press-room/.

LAY LANGUAGE PAPERS

ASA will also share dozens of lay language papers about topics covered at the conference. Lay language papers are summaries (300-500 words) of presentations written by scientists for a general audience. They will be accompanied by photos, audio, and video. Learn more at https://acoustics.org/lay-language-papers/.

PRESS REGISTRATION

ASA will grant free registration to credentialed and professional freelance journalists. If you are a reporter and would like to attend the in-person meeting or virtual press conferences, contact AIP Media Services at media@aip.org. For urgent requests, AIP staff can also help with setting up interviews and obtaining images, sound clips, or background information.

ABOUT THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

The Acoustical Society of America is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7,000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (the world’s leading journal on acoustics), JASA Express Letters, Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Acoustics Today magazine, books, and standards on acoustics. The society also holds two major scientific meetings each year. See https://acousticalsociety.org/.

ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR ACOUSTICS

The purpose of the International Commission for Acoustics (ICA) is to promote international development and collaboration in all fields of acoustics including research, development, education, and standardization. ICA’s mission is to be the reference point for the acoustic community, becoming more inclusive and proactive in our global outreach, increasing coordination and support for the growing international interest and activity in acoustics. Learn more at https://www.icacommission.org/.

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Here comes the boom! Studying the effects of rocket launch sonic booms on neighboring communities #ASA188

Lower-frequency sonic booms from Falcon 9 launches can feel like mini-earthquakes

Acoustical Society of America

View of the Falcon 9 rocket launch from a park in Ventura County — image:
A view of the Falcon 9 rocket launch from a park in Ventura County.
view more
Credit: Kent Gee

NEW ORLEANS, May 19, 2025 – Rocket launches are amazing spectacles, but close-up viewers know to bring a set of earplugs or earmuffs to protect their hearing. However, the boom of a launch isn’t reserved for those who sign up to watch it – it can also be heard and felt in surrounding communities.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is a rocket used for both human and nonhuman space missions. Since 2010, the rocket has been launched over 400 times, and one of the launch sites for Falcon 9 is the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

“Although Ventura County is 60-100 miles from the Vandenberg Space Force Base, sonic booms and other noise from rockets launched over the ocean are sometimes heard on land,” said Brigham Young University physics professor Kent Gee. “As the number of launches with satellite orbits requiring trajectories along the California coastline increases, these booms are being heard more frequently.”

Motivated by noise concerns from residents in Ventura County, a team of researchers from BYU and California State University, Bakersfield collected 132 measurements from sonic booms over an area of 200 square miles during the summer of 2024.

Makayle Kellison, a BYU graduate student, and Gee will present their group’s work Monday, May 19, at 2:20 p.m. CT as part of the joint 188th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and 25th International Congress on Acoustics, running May 18-23.

“Right now, residents may hear a sonic boom up to five times per month, or not at all,” Gee said.

In 2024, the Falcon 9 rocket was launched 46 times out of the Vandenberg base, averaging almost one launch per week. But not every launch makes an audible boom, and not every launch sound is created equal.

“The magnitude of these sonic booms is not uniform across the county and can vary greatly with weather conditions, launch time, vehicle trajectory, and time of year,” Kellison said. “Communities near Edwards Air Force Base, a hub for supersonic aircraft testing, are familiar with occasional sonic booms; however, an aircraft sonic boom differs significantly from a rocket ascent sonic boom.”

Rocket ascent sonic booms are much lower in frequency and can, indoors, sound — and feel — like an earthquake. The boom’s dominant energy is at a frequency of less than 1 hertz, below the range of human hearing, meaning that the booms rattle homes rather than bursting eardrums.

By collecting data on multiple qualities of the Falcon 9 sonic booms, researchers can help discern how different launch-day variables affect a boom’s impact.

“With a better understanding of the underlying rocket sonic boom physics, we hope to inform Base operations and policy makers, allowing for the space launch industry to sustainably grow,” Kellison said.

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----------------------- MORE MEETING INFORMATION -----------------------

ASA PRESS ROOM

In the coming weeks, ASA’s Press Room will be updated with newsworthy stories and the press conference schedule at https://acoustics.org/asa-press-room/.

LAY LANGUAGE PAPERS

PRESS REGISTRATION

ABOUT THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR ACOUSTICS

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DISARM, DEMILITARIZE, DEFUND

Can police be trained to be fairer? A groundbreaking study says yes

Officers trained in procedural justice are more respectful, transparent and trusted by the communities they serve

Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences

BALTIMORE, MD, May 19, 2025 – Can a few days of training transform how police interact with communities? A new study in the INFORMS journal Management Science says yes – and the results could reshape law enforcement training around the globe.

Researchers from Boston University and The World Bank conducted one of the largest-ever randomized controlled trials on police behavior, training nearly 1,000 officers in Mexico City on principles of procedural justice – the idea that how people are treated matters as much as the outcome of their interactions with law enforcement.

The results? Big improvements in how officers engaged with the public.

Trained officers showed greater respect, clearer communication and reduced escalation.
Negative behaviors – including dismissiveness or bias – significantly dropped.
These changes endured for months after training.

“At a time when public trust in police is under intense scrutiny worldwide, this research offers hard evidence that targeted training can make a measurable difference,” says Rodrigo Canales, lead researcher and professor at Boston University.

Training Translates to the Streets

The study, “Shaping Police Officer Mindsets and Behaviors: Experimental Evidence of Procedural Justice Training,” tested a simple but powerful question: Can we train officers to be fairer and more just in their interactions?

The answer? Yes – and it shows up in real-world policing.

The research team, consisting of Canales, alongside Juan Francisco Santini of The World Bank and Marina González Magaña and Alexis Cherem (the three of whom were part of Innovations for Poverty Action at the time of the study), used mystery shoppers – trained actors posing as citizens who needed police assistance – to assess how officers handled routine interactions. Those who received procedural justice training were noticeably more patient, neutral and transparent.

Four key principles drove these changes:

Voice – Officers listened before making decisions.
Neutrality – They treated people fairly, avoiding bias.
Respect – Every citizen was treated with dignity.
Trustworthiness – Officers explained their actions, building credibility.

“We found clear and consistent improvements in how officers approached their work,” says Canales, a professor in the Questrom School of Business at Boston University. “This isn’t just about policy – it’s about human interactions. When officers treat people fairly, trust increases and police work becomes more effective.”

Why This Matters for Law Enforcement

In an era in which police accountability and public trust are under the microscope, this study offers rare, hard evidence: well-designed, short-term training can create lasting behavioral change. Unlike many programs that fail to move the needle, procedural justice training showed sustained, measurable impact.

Even in higher-crime areas – where improvements were smaller – officers still benefited, pointing to the importance of leadership support and ongoing reinforcement.

Could This Be a Model for U.S. Policing?

With police departments across the U.S. and around the world looking for ways to improve public trust and community relationships, this study suggests that integrating procedural justice training into standard law enforcement education could be a high-impact, low-cost strategy.

“This research proves that we can train officers to be more just and effective,” says Canales. “When police approach every interaction with fairness, they’re not just following best practices, they’re making communities safer.”

Link to full study.

About INFORMS and Management Science

INFORMS is the world’s largest association for professionals and students in operations research, AI, analytics, data science and related disciplines, serving as a global authority in advancing cutting-edge practices and fostering an interdisciplinary community of innovation. Management Science, a leading journal published by INFORMS, publishes quantitative research on management practices across organizations. INFORMS empowers its community to improve organizational performance and drive data-driven decision-making through its journals, conferences and resources. Learn more at www.informs.org or @informs.

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Journal

Management Science

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Shaping Police Officer Mindsets and Behaviors: Experimental Evidence of Procedural Justice Training

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

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Empowering robots with human-like perception to navigate unwieldy terrain

Credit

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Helping noisy data centers fit into residential neighborhoods #ASA188

Here comes the boom! Studying the effects of rocket launch sonic booms on neighboring communities #ASA188

DISARM, DEMILITARIZE, DEFUND

Can police be trained to be fairer? A groundbreaking study says yes

Journal

Method of Research

Subject of Research

Article Title

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