How your air conditioner can help the power grid, rather than overloading it

Rather than feeling guilty about cooling down in extreme heat, homeowners could boost power reliability and lay a welcome mat for more renewables.

Johanna Mathieu, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, University of Michigan • conversation
June 11, 2025 • ~9 min

ChatGPT-powered Wall Street: The benefits and perils of using artificial intelligence to trade stocks and other financial instruments

Wall Street’s history of embracing high-speed algorithmic trading suggests ChatGPT will pose similar – if bigger – risks to financial markets.

Pawan Jain, Assistant Professor of Finance, West Virginia University • conversation
May 18, 2023 • ~11 min

Pairing lasers with microwaves makes mind-bogglingly accurate electronic clocks – a potential boon for GPS, cell phones and radar

Researchers have made some of the most accurate clocks imaginable in recent years, but the trick is harnessing those clocks to electronics. Using lasers to tune microwaves bridges the gap.

Franklyn Quinlan, Physicist, National Institute of Standards and Technology • conversation
May 22, 2020 • ~7 min

New laser hits mark on cancer imaging to airport security

Harvard researchers have developed a totally new type of laser that can reach terahertz frequencies offering short-range, high-bandwidth wireless communications, very-high-resolution radar, and spectroscopy.

Leah Burrows • harvard
Nov. 15, 2019 • ~7 min

Harvard: Sound transmitted by laser is ultra-high-speed Wi-Fi breakthrough

In a breakthrough on the road toward ultra-high-speed Wi-Fi, Harvard researchers have demonstrated for the first time a laser that can emit microwaves wirelessly, modulate them, and receive external radio frequency signals.

Leah Burrows • harvard
April 25, 2019 • ~5 min

Shape-shifting origami could lead to better radio antennas

A special kind of origami folding called Miura Ori could help make antennas that can block out certain radio frequencies or next-gen cloaking tech.

Josh Brown-Georgia Tech • futurity
Dec. 18, 2018 • ~5 min

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