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Light-programmed system projects 28-layer 3D images in single shot

Researchers at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and CNSI (California NanoSystems Institute), led by Professor Aydogan Ozcan, introduced a snapshot 3D image projection system that integrates a digital encoder with a passive diffractive optical decoder, jointly optimized end-to-end through deep learning. The hybrid architecture projects multiple distinct images onto closely spaced axial planes in a single shot, marking a significant step toward compact, high-fidelity volumetric display technologies. The research is published in the journal Light: Science & Applications.

3D image display technology is essential for next-generation holography, immersive visualization, and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) interfaces, where accurate focal cues across depth are critical for natural depth perception and visual comfort. However, dense depth multiplexing in conventional holographic displays remains a challenge: As the axial image planes approach one another in the output volume, diffraction-induced crosstalk rapidly degrades depth selectivity and image fidelity.

Waymo unveils virtual driver model to test autonomous car crash avoidance

Autonomous vehicles are already a reality on some of our streets and could become a major part of future transportation systems. Safety, of course, is the main concern, as with all vehicles. To help evaluate and improve its autonomous driving technology, U.S. driverless vehicle company Waymo has created a virtual representation of human driver behavior in near-crash situations.

Human drivers avoid collisions by instantly perceiving a hazard, deciding how to react and then executing the maneuver. It all happens in a split second thanks to the central and peripheral nervous systems working together harmoniously.

Currently, testing and training for collision avoidance involve several systems, and each often tests only a specific scenario or metric. For example, one system might only look at what happens when a lead vehicle brakes suddenly. They do not capture the whole sequence of events from detection to actual avoidance.

Eroding a virtue: AI trains people to expect instant answers — and that’s bad news for patience

Patience is a virtue that researchers have linked to many parts of well-being. But it’s also something that needs a bit of practice and training – and can be undermined by instant, easy gratification.

Claude is Self-Evolving?

In this episode, I break down Anthropic’s research on recursive self-improvement—AI systems that can design and train the next generation with less human help—and why the key battleground is “taste” (choosing goals and next steps). I compare this to evolutionary algorithms and newer examples like DeepMind’s AlphaEvolve, Sakana’s Darwin Gödel Machine, and Karpathy’s AutoResearch, then cover METR Task Horizon and how task length has been doubling. I go through Anthropic’s internal results (Claude writing most merged code, speedup experiments, bug fixes, and a study where models sometimes pick better research next steps), plus the main skepticism: bad productivity metrics, internal-only models, and Goodhart’s Law/reward hacking. I end with an open safety problem where Claude agents closed the gap far faster than humans, and what this means for specifying and checking work.

LINKS:
https://www.anthropic.com/institute/r… voice to text App: whryte.com Website: https://engineerprompt.ai/ RAG Beyond Basics Course: https://prompt-s-site.thinkific.com/c… Signup for Newsletter, localgpt: https://tally.so/r/3y9bb0 Let’s Connect: 🦾 Discord: / discord ☕ Buy me a Coffee: https://ko-fi.com/promptengineering |🔴 Patreon: / promptengineering 💼Consulting: https://calendly.com/engineerprompt/c… 📧 Business Contact: [email protected] Become Member: http://tinyurl.com/y5h28s6h 💻 Pre-configured localGPT VM: https://bit.ly/localGPT (use Code: PromptEngineering for 50% off). Signup for Newsletter, localgpt: https://tally.so/r/3y9bb0 TIMESTAMP: 00:00 Self Improvement Basics 01:30 Evolutionary Loops Today 03:50 Task Horizon Doubling 05:18 Claude Productivity Claims 08:11 Goodhart’s Law 10:30 Agents as Researchers 12:22 What It Means for You.

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Out-of-plane ice bridges reveal new way to suppress frost spreading

A research team led by Professor Nenad Miljkovic in The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has published a breakthrough study in Nature Physics. The work reports the first experimental discovery of a previously unknown frost propagation mechanism—a “suspended ice bridge”—offering new pathways for anti-frosting surface design.

Frost formation plays a critical role in many engineering systems, including air-source heat pumps, refrigeration systems and aerospace applications. At the microscopic level, frost mainly spreads through the formation of “ice bridges” that connect neighboring supercooled liquid droplets, enabling freezing to propagate rapidly across a surface. For decades, these ice bridges were widely assumed to grow along the solid surface.

This assumption, largely based on conventional top-view imaging, has shaped existing theoretical models and anti-frosting strategies. However, the Illinois team’s study reveals that this long-held view is incomplete.

100kW fully superconducting aviation motor developed for electrical aircraft

Researchers at a Scottish university have demonstrated a 100kW fully superconducting aviation motor that could help pave the way for an electric aircraft.

The prototype system, created by the Applied Superconductivity Laboratory (ASL) at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, represents one of the first attempts in the world to develop a fully superconducting axial-flux motor for aviation.

The motor uses high temperature superconducting (HTS) technology to carry very large electrical currents with almost no resistance when cooled to cryogenic temperatures: 20 Kelvin (K) or −253 °C.

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