Vehicles could be affordably produced for a wide variety of specialized purposes using a sophisticated wheel unit developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo. The self-contained unit combines a wheel and an electric motor with braking, suspension, steering and a control system in a single module designed to be bolted to any vehicle frame.…
AI Technology Could Help Protect Water Supplies
Progress on new artificial intelligence (AI) technology could make monitoring at water treatment plants cheaper and easier and help safeguard public health. Researchers at the University of Waterloo have developed AI software capable of identifying and quantifying different kinds of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, a threat to shut down water systems when it suddenly proliferates.…
Cheaper And Easier Way Found To Make Plastic Semiconductors
Cheap, flexible and sustainable plastic semiconductors will soon be a reality thanks to a breakthrough by chemists at the University of Waterloo. Professor Derek Schipper and his team at Waterloo have developed a way to make conjugated polymers, plastics that conduct electricity like metals, using a simple dehydration reaction the only byproduct of which is…
AI Insights Could Help Reduce Injuries in Construction Industry
Artificial intelligence (AI) is giving researchers at the University of Waterloo new insights to help reduce wear-and-tear injuries and boost the productivity of skilled construction workers. Studies using motion sensors and AI software have revealed expert bricklayers use previously unidentified techniques to limit the loads on their joints, knowledge that can now be passed on…
Study Shows Big Smart Meter Investment Yielded ‘Very Small’ Electricity Savings
Smart meters and time-of-use electricity pricing have only modestly reduced residential energy demand during the most expensive peak periods, a new study suggests. Researchers at the University of Waterloo compared data for nine months before and nine months after time-of-use rates were introduced in November 2011 by an unidentified distribution company with more than 20,000…
Number Of Known Black Holes Expected To Double In Two Years With New Detection Method
Researchers from the University of Waterloo have developed a method that will detect roughly 10 black holes per year, doubling the number currently known within two years, and it will likely unlock the history of black holes in a little more than a decade. Avery Broderick, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy…
A New Look at the Galaxy-Shaping Power of Black Holes
Data from a now-defunct X-ray satellite is providing new insights into the complex tug-of-war between galaxies, the hot plasma that surrounds them, and the giant black holes that lurk in their centres. Launched from Japan on February 17, 2016, the Japanese space agency (JAXA) Hitomi X-ray Observatory functioned for just over a month before contact…
Computing a Secret, Unbreakable Key
What once took months by some of the world’s leading scientists can now be done in seconds by undergraduate students thanks to software developed at the University of Waterloo’s Institute for Quantum Computing, paving the way for fast, secure quantum communication. Researchers at the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo developed…
Pseudogap Theory Puts Researchers Closer to High Temperature Superconductors
Physicists are one step closer to developing the world’s first room-temperature superconductor thanks to a new theory from the University of Waterloo, Harvard and Perimeter Institute. The theory explains the transition phase to superconductivity, or “pseudogap” phase, which is one of the last obstacles to developing the next generation of superconductors and one of the…
Physicists Solve 20-Year-Old Debate Surrounding Glassy Surfaces
University of Waterloo physicists have succeeded in measuring how the surfaces of glassy materials flow like a liquid, even when they should be solid. A series of simple and elegant experiments were the solution to a problem that has been plaguing condensed matter physicists for the past 20 years. Understanding the mobility of glassy surfaces…