Shrinking ferroelectric tunnel junctions can significantly boost their performance in memory devices, as reported by researchers from Science Tokyo. The team fabricated nanoscale junctions directly on silicon substrates and analyzed conduction mechanisms across a wide temperature range and multiple device scales. They found that smaller junction areas produced much larger resistance contrasts between the ‘ON’ and ‘OFF’ states, demonstrating that miniaturization could directly improve both efficiency and reliability in future non-volatile memory technologies.

When we learn a new motor skill—whether mastering a piano passage or refining balance while walking—the brain must reorganize the circuits that control movement. For decades, this process of synaptic remodeling has been attributed primarily to neurons strengthening or weakening their connections. However, the new study reveals that another cell type in the brain called astrocytes actively participates in this rewiring process.

A research team led by CHUNG Won-Suk (KAIST Department of Biological Sciences), Associate Director of the Center for Vascular Research within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), and Professor KIM Jae-Ick at UNIST has demonstrated that astrocytes actively eliminate synapses in the striatum, a brain region that plays a central role in controlling voluntary movement and learning. This process is regulated by dopamine signaling and neural activity and is critical for proper motor skill acquisition.

Researchers have developed DBAL-YOLO, a novel deep learning-based framework that automatically converts non-digital engineering drawings into 3D Building Information Models (BIM). Achieving 98.8% detection precision and complete geometric reconstruction without manual intervention, this technology resolves a challenging issue in creating digital twins for existing buildings.

Artificial intelligence can be used to provide a more precise time of death, which can be crucial in e.g. murder investigations. The method was developed by researchers at Linköping University and the Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine who have trained the AI model on so-called metabolites in thousands of blood samples from real deaths.

Deep in our cells, a wide range of processes are occurring constantly. These cellular processes rely on enzymes to act as catalysts and set off a series of molecular interactions. There are still many processes within the body that are not fully understood. Discovering exactly how these cellular pathways work can help researchers better understand how some diseases proliferate and develop new treatments that target part of these processes.

University of Tennessee, Knoxville researchers led by Electrical Engineering and Computer Science professor Fnu Suya identified HAMLOCKs—compound attacks where harmless-looking hardware flaws interact with AI/ML software vulnerabilities to create undetectable backdoors. Accepted to USENIX Security 2026, the work drew Cisco’s partnership and a $60,000 AI TechX grant to study and defend against these combined hardware-model threats.