Smart AI gives electric vehicle batteries 23 per cent longer life – without increasing the charging time
Peer-Reviewed Publication
This month, we’re focusing on artificial intelligence (AI), a topic that continues to capture attention everywhere. Here, you’ll find the latest research news, insights, and discoveries shaping how AI is being developed and used across the world.
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 15-Jun-2026 04:16 ET (15-Jun-2026 08:16 GMT/UTC)
Fast charging shortens the life of vehicle batteries, but is necessary on longer journeys with electric vehicles. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have now developed a new AI method that adapts fast charging to the health of the battery. Their study shows that battery life can be increased by almost 23 per cent without extending the charging time. All that is required is an update of the vehicle’s software.
Language education plays a key role in helping foreign residents settle into society. However, Japan heavily relies on volunteers for it. New research conducted at Doshisha University investigates how volunteer-led Japanese classes function within national policies and local realities. Using policy analysis and on-field research, the study reveals that this reliance results in a “semi-professional” teaching environment that not only influences learning outcomes but may also limit the potential of volunteers and foreign residents.
Researchers at the National University of Singapore have developed a high-throughput method to identify gold nanoparticles capable of delivering therapies directly to mitochondria (the energy centres inside cancer cells). By tagging nanoparticles with unique DNA “barcodes”, the team was able to track and compare dozens of designs simultaneously in living tumour models, rapidly identifying those most effective at reaching this critical subcellular target.
Researchers from the School of Electronic Science and Engineering at Southeast University, led by Prof. Zhenhua Ni and Prof. Junpeng Lu, have developed a pioneering computational spectrometer recently published in PhotoniX. The device utilizes a silicon photonic "Vernier Caliper" concept to overcome the fundamental trade-off between device footprint, bandwidth, and resolution. Operating within an ultra-compact footprint of only 55*35 µm2, the spectrometer achieves an expansive bandwidth exceeding 160 nm and an average algorithm-enhanced spectral resolution of 1.35 pm. This performance establishes a record-breaking bandwidth-to-resolution-to-footprint ratio of over 61.5 µm-2, demonstrating a significant advance for integrated spectrometers.
This breakthrough is achieved through a deep co-design of photonic hardware and computational science, moving beyond simple algorithmic compensation. The hardware architecture features cascaded Trapezoidal Subwavelength Grating Microring Resonators (TSWG-MRRs) that utilize dispersion engineering to suppress resonant periodicity. This deterministic design allows the device to scan a working window over 16 times larger than a standard microring's free spectral range. The system treats the intrinsic resonance peaks as orthogonal measurement bases and integrates an Nvidia Jetson GPU-accelerated unit to achieve real-time reconstruction. The team successfully resolved 49 absorption lines of hydrogen cyanide (H13C14N) with an accuracy exceeding commercial benchtop optical spectrum analyzers, validating its potential for gas sensing, chemical analysis, and lab-on-a-chip applications.