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July 25^th 2025

💻 Technology

🇺🇸 US researchers and Google develop AI to detect deepfakes without relying on faces

A team from the University of California, Riverside, in collaboration with Google, has created a universal AI system called UNITE that can detect deepfakes even when faces aren’t visible. Unlike traditional tools that rely on facial cues, UNITE uses transformer-based models to analyze full video frames, background details, and motion inconsistencies, making it effective against fully synthetic content. Presented at the 2025 Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), this innovation could become essential for platforms combatting AI-generated disinformation.

🇭🇰 Hong Kong engineers unveil knee exoskeleton that boosts leg strength by 50% and eases joint strain

Robotics startup Dnsys, based in Hong Kong, has developed the Z1 knee exoskeleton, which uses two 450-watt motors to enhance calf and thigh strength by 50% and reduce knee pressure by up to 200%. Designed for activities like hiking, running, and skiing, the AI-powered device adapts in real time to user movements and can reportedly make users feel 44 lb lighter. Currently on Kickstarter, the Z1 offers a wearable strength boost that could benefit both recreational users and those with limited mobility.

🌎 Sustainability

🇪🇸 🇮🇹 🇨🇳 Spanish, Italian, and Chinese researchers turn e-cigarette waste into stronger, greener asphalt

Researchers from Spain’s University of Granada and Italy’s University of Bologna, with support from the Chinese government, have developed a new asphalt mixture using shredded electronic cigarette butts and recycled road material. The cellulose and PLA fibers in the filters act like miniature reinforcements, improving the asphalt's flexibility, strength, and resistance to cracking. Detailed in Construction and Building Materials, the innovation not only enhances road durability but also reduces energy consumption during production, offering a sustainable solution for waste reuse and infrastructure longevity.

🇺🇸 US engineers create 3,275°F brick battery to cut fossil fuels in steel and cement plants

MIT spinout Electrified Thermal Solutions has partnered with HarbisonWalker International to manufacture E-bricks - electrically conductive firebricks that store and release heat up to 3,275°F using renewable electricity. These bricks power the Joule Hive Thermal Battery, enabling high-temperature industrial processes like steel and cement production without fossil fuels. By leveraging existing U.S. manufacturing infrastructure, the technology offers a scalable path to decarbonizing heavy industry.

💊 Healthcare

🇺🇸 US surgeons perform world's first chest-free robotic heart valve replacement through neck incision

In a global first, American surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic have successfully replaced a heart valve using a robot-assisted transcervical approach, through a small neck incision, eliminating the need to open the chest. This new method, published via a Cleveland Clinic announcement, was used in four patients and led to significantly faster recoveries, with some returning to physical activity within days. The technique, adapted from robotic thymectomy and refined using cadaver trials, may mark a major step forward in minimizing trauma and recovery time for aortic valve replacement.

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Max

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