IEEE SpectrumPub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-06-05DOI: 10.1109/MSPEC.2026.11553262
Steve Levine
{"title":"Your Virtual Twin Could One Day Save Your Life: Replicas of the Human Heart and Other Organs are Enabling Virtual Surgery and Clinical Trials","authors":"Steve Levine","doi":"10.1109/MSPEC.2026.11553262","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MSPEC.2026.11553262","url":null,"abstract":"One morning in May 2019, a cardiac surgeon stepped into the operating room at Boston Children's Hospital more prepared than ever before to perform a high-risk procedure to rebuild a child's heart. The surgeon was experienced, but he had an additional advantage: He had already performed the procedure on this child dozens of times—virtually. He knew exactly what to do before the first cut was made. Even more important, he knew which strategies would provide the best possible outcome for the child whose life was in his hands.","PeriodicalId":13249,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Spectrum","volume":"63 6","pages":"34-39"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148171989","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IEEE SpectrumPub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-06-05DOI: 10.1109/MSPEC.2026.11553256
Gwendolyn Rak
{"title":"5 Questions: Leontien Talboom: What it Takes to Preserve Floppy Disk Data","authors":"Gwendolyn Rak","doi":"10.1109/MSPEC.2026.11553256","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MSPEC.2026.11553256","url":null,"abstract":"Floppy disks are several decades old—many of the disks are degrading, and the data stored on them is at risk of being lost. In response, Leontien Talboom, a technical analyst at Cambridge University Libraries and Archives, led a project preserving floppy disks and their data called “Future Nostalgia,” which concluded in January.","PeriodicalId":13249,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Spectrum","volume":"63 6","pages":"19-19"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=11553256","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148171914","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IEEE SpectrumPub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-06-05DOI: 10.1109/MSPEC.2026.11553271
Emily Waltz
{"title":"Sardinia's Energy Future Hinges on its Past: Ancient and Recent History Keep the Island Stuck on Coal","authors":"Emily Waltz","doi":"10.1109/MSPEC.2026.11553271","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MSPEC.2026.11553271","url":null,"abstract":"“Why are you here?” Fabrizio Pilo, an electrical engineer, asks me as we sit in an outdoor café near his home in Cagliari, an ancient city on the island of Sardinia. It's a fair question. I'm a journalist from the United States. I'd just stepped off my flight 2 hours prior and come straight to this meeting, suitcase still stowed in my rental car.","PeriodicalId":13249,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Spectrum","volume":"63 6","pages":"20-50"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148171950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IEEE SpectrumPub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-06-05DOI: 10.1109/MSPEC.2026.11553277
Allison Marsh
{"title":"Past Forward: Learning to Walk","authors":"Allison Marsh","doi":"10.1109/MSPEC.2026.11553277","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MSPEC.2026.11553277","url":null,"abstract":"On a Wednesday night in November 1987, a British photographer named Richard Greenhill invited a group of robot enthusiasts to his attic to tinker with scavenged electronics. Their main objective: to build a two-legged walking robot. Designed by Greenhill's friend David Buckley, a robotics and animatronics expert, the robot used compressed air to extend and contract its 28 “air-muscles.” The robot's bones were made of wood, with joints at the hips, knees, ankles, and toes, providing 12 degrees of freedom. The group called itself the Shadow Group, and they soon managed to get the Shadow Walker to stand up reliably and balance itself. But mastering the art of walking proved to be a far bigger challenge.","PeriodicalId":13249,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Spectrum","volume":"63 6","pages":"68-68"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=11553277","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148171988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IEEE SpectrumPub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-06-05DOI: 10.1109/MSPEC.2026.11553257
Nils Janßen
{"title":"The Soft Clock: This Timepiece Merges Electronics and Millifluidics","authors":"Nils Janßen","doi":"10.1109/MSPEC.2026.11553257","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MSPEC.2026.11553257","url":null,"abstract":"Electrons are great. We use them to move vehicles, illuminate cities, and, of course, compute. But computation is not confined to the world of electronics. And shifting to alternative nonelectronic realms can unlock unique advantages: Photonic chips, for instance, process information with light while generating little heat. Another compelling alternative is fluidics, which uses pressurized gases or liquids to build logic circuits. Pioneered in the 1960s but sidelined by microchips, the field reemerged in the 1990s as “micro-fluidics.” This approach aims to shrink laboratories onto a single chip by creating microscopic fluid channels with integrated micropneumatic control systems.","PeriodicalId":13249,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Spectrum","volume":"63 6","pages":"14-16"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148171940","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
IEEE SpectrumPub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-06-05DOI: 10.1109/MSPEC.2026.11553254
Maysam Ghovanloo
{"title":"Careers: Finding Success in Industry as a Chip Designer: Academe and Industry Require Different Approaches","authors":"Maysam Ghovanloo","doi":"10.1109/MSPEC.2026.11553254","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MSPEC.2026.11553254","url":null,"abstract":"I have been an application-specific IC (ASIC) designer for almost three decades. Over that time, I've moved through the full academic trajectory, from graduate student to full professor; later, I transitioned to industry after an unsuccessful stint at entrepreneurship. When I made the switch to the private sector in 2019, I began focusing on a critically important aspect of the electronic industry: silicon intellectual property.","PeriodicalId":13249,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Spectrum","volume":"63 6","pages":"17-18"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=11553254","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148171968","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}