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Milano, 04 giugno 2026 - Users who participate in online communities linked to conspiracy theories show distinctive linguistic characteristics even when discussing apparently neutral topics, such as films, music, cooking or science, and even before they take part in conspiracy communities.

This is what emerges from a study by Politecnico di Milano, authored by Francesco Corso and Francesco Pierri, of the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering of Politecnico di Milano, together with Giuseppe Russo (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) and Gianmarco De Francisci Morales (CENTAI Institute).

The researchers used psycholinguistic analysis tools and Artificial Intelligence models on 500 million comments posted in more than 20 large Reddit communities. The aim was to verify whether it was possible to distinguish users active in the r/conspiracy community from other users of the platform, observing only their language in mainstream contexts.

The results show that these users display recognisable linguistic signals with an average accuracy of 87%, even years before their explicit participation in conspiracy communities. Among the most recurring linguistic elements are a greater presence of anger, anxiety, references to conflict, illness and death, as well as more frequent use of aggressive or emotionally charged language.

The study also shows, however, that there is no single “conspiratorial language”: users adapt their communicative style to different online social contexts. Models developed specifically for individual communities are in fact much more effective than a general model valid for the entire platform.

The research from the Politecnico di Milano has been accepted for presentation at ACL 2026 (Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics), one of the leading international conferences in the field of artificial intelligence and natural language processing.

“In this work, we wanted to understand whether involvement in conspiracy communities leaves recognisable linguistic traces even outside the spaces in which these theories are explicitly discussed,” explains Francesco Corso, a PhD candidate at the Data Science Lab of Politecnico di Milano and author of the study.

“The results suggest that there is no single conspiratorial language valid for the entire platform. Users adapt their way of expressing themselves to the norms of different online communities, and this makes it necessary to design analysis and moderation tools that are more sensitive to context,” adds Francesco Pierri, assistant professor at the Data Science Lab.

Building on this study, the research continued with a second paper, accepted at the 20th edition of the AAAI International Conference on Web and Social Media, on the Jeffrey Epstein case. In this study, the authors analyse the impact of a sudden increase in the visibility of the r/conspiracy community, showing that mainstream exposure can attract many new users, but does not necessarily produce their lasting integration into the community.

The research contributes to the understanding of radicalisation processes and the dynamics of the spread of conspiracy narratives online, highlighting the need to develop moderation and monitoring systems capable of taking into account the differences between different digital communities.

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Milano, 27^th May 2026 - FAO and Politecnico di Milano have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation in the fields of Geospatial Information Technology (Geospatial IT) and Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI). The agreement represents an important milestone in applying advanced digital approaches to accelerate agricultural transformation and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Harnessing Digital Tools for Food Security

Founded in 1863, Politecnico di Milano is the largest public technical university in Italy and one of the most respected institutions of its kind in Europe. With internationally recognized strengths in engineering, architecture, and industrial design, the university has long combined academic excellence with applied research. Through its Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano focuses on spatial information science and systems, providing expertise that is highly relevant to agriculture, environmental sustainability, and rural development.

“This partnership with Politecnico di Milano demonstrates FAO’s commitment to bringing advanced digital tools to the service of agriculture. By integrating geospatial IT and GeoAI into our work, we can better support countries in addressing food security, managing natural resources, and building resilient agrifood systems. Together, we are laying the foundations for a smarter, more sustainable future,” said Dejan Jakovljevic, Director and Chief Information Officer of Digital FAO.

Building the Future of Geospatial Collaboration

The MoU defines a framework for collaboration where the combined expertise of FAO and Politecnico di Milano can deliver lasting benefits. The Parties will work together on the development and application of geospatial IT and GeoAI to strengthen agricultural planning, monitoring, and decision-making. Particular attention will be given to capacity development, enabling countries to enhance their technical skills and knowledge in the field of geospatial systems.

The partnership also foresees joint efforts in outreach and advocacy to raise awareness about the importance of geospatial approaches for sustainable agrifood systems. In addition, the MoU highlights the importance of reinforcing FAO’s geospatial infrastructure to support digital transformation in agriculture, with a focus on initiatives such as the Hand-in-Hand Initiative, which identifies areas with high agricultural potential at the subnational level.

A Shared Commitment to Sustainable Agriculture

“At Politecnico di Milano, we believe that research and education in digital and spatial technologies must contribute to the well-being of society. This MoU with FAO is an important step in applying our expertise to support sustainable agricultural transformation. By joining forces, we aim to drive scientific and technological approaches that help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and deliver tangible benefits to communities worldwide,” said Prof. Donatella Sciuto, Rector of Politecnico di Milano.

The collaboration will be implemented through a jointly developed workplan that will be regularly reviewed and updated to respond to emerging challenges and opportunities. By combining FAO’s global mandate with Politecnico di Milano’s academic and research excellence, the partnership aims to deliver impactful solutions that contribute to hunger eradication, climate resilience, and inclusive rural development.

An international experiment that has already broken several records. The KATRIN project (KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino Experiment), led by KIT–Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany and involving 20 institutions from seven different countries, including the Politecnico di Milano, celebrated the achievement of 1,000 days of neutrino measurements with the inauguration of phase 2 of the project: the commissioning of a new and more sophisticated detector, TRISTAN. The RadLab group of the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering – DEIB at Politecnico di Milano, led by professors Carlo Fiorini and Marco Carminati (the latter being the national coordinator for the experiment), also supported by the National Institute for Nuclear Physics, made a significant contribution to the creation of the new detector by designing and developing the detection modules and the low-noise, highly compact readout electronics of the SDD detector.

The adoption of the new detector will allow KATRIN to address a second scientific challenge, namely the search for a hypothetical fourth type of neutrino, known as “sterile”, as it is even more elusive than the other three. The TRISTAN detector upgrade will in fact make it possible to explore a broader parameter space compared to what is currently achievable, as demonstrated by the publication of the project’s first results in the journal “Nature”. «In this way, it will be possible to search for traces of this hypothetical particle within a range of values (mass on the order of keV, i.e. one thousand electronvolts, and mixing angle of one part per million) that would make it a promising candidate for explaining dark matter – comments Professor Marco Carminati – Precisely identifying the neutrino mass, and finding the sterile neutrino, would be two fundamental objectives confirming that the current description of matter and standard interaction forces between particles is incomplete».

ALL KATRIN’S RECORDS

The KATRIN project is an international scientific collaboration aimed at measuring the neutrino mass in the laboratory using a model-independent method. To date, it represents the most precise “scale” in the world designed to directly measure the neutrino mass. Several records have been achieved since measurements began in 2019, including the world record that established an upper limit of 8·10⁻³⁷ kg (corresponding to 0.45 eV/c²) for the neutrino mass after the first 269 days of data collection, and published in the journal “Science” last year.

Neutrinos are highly elusive particles, meaning that they interact weakly with matter and are therefore difficult to detect, yet they are fundamental for understanding the evolution of the cosmos. They influence the formation of large-scale galaxy structures, while in particle physics their extremely small mass serves as an indicator of previously unknown physical processes. The precise measurement of neutrino mass is therefore essential for a complete understanding of the fundamental laws of nature.

Although they are very abundant in the universe, they have an extremely small mass, less than one millionth of the electron mass. Measurement through KATRIN is carried out by studying the decay of tritium (a radioactive isotope of hydrogen). When tritium decays, it emits an electron and a neutrino: by measuring with extreme precision the maximum energy of the produced electrons, it is possible to deduce by difference how much energy (and therefore mass) has been carried away by the neutrino.

TRISTAN – Technical data:

The TRISTAN detector consists of an array of 9 detection modules, each composed of a monolithic array of 166 Silicon Drift Detectors, for a total of 1494 spectroscopic pixels. This type of detector, invented in the 1980s by Emilio Gatti, Professor Emeritus of the Politecnico di Milano (who passed away in 2016) and founder of the university’s school of Electronics, offers excellent low-noise performance and is well established for X-ray detection, particularly in spectroscopic applications. The novelty of this project is the use of SDD arrays for electron spectroscopy. Furthermore, it is the largest array of detectors of this type ever built, overcoming major challenges for the front-end electronics in terms of compactness, noise, signal integrity, and ultra-high vacuum and high magnetic and electric field operating conditions.

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A step forward towards reducing carbon dioxide emissions. POLICAP, the mobile pilot plant for CO₂ capture with solvents of the Politecnico di Milano, was inaugurated today in Piacenza. The project was presented during the fourth leg of the 2026 City Vision Roadshow, the Italian smart city community, an event dedicated to “Transformative Energies”. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, together with the Rector of the Politecnico di Milano Donatella Sciuto, were the Mayor of Piacenza, Katia Tarasconi, and Vincenzo Colla, Vice-President of the Emilia-Romagna Region.

POLICAP is an advanced research infrastructure, developed by the Department of Energy-DENG of the Politecnico di Milano, funded by the PNRR within the framework of the national ECCSELLENT project, whose laboratories are part of the European ECCSEL-ERIC network and aimed at developing CCUS technologies – that is Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage, which are essential for reducing industrial emissions. Specifically, POLICAP is an engineered pilot unit, designed for investigation in CO₂ capture through solvent-based absorption: in addition to state-of-the-art solvents and processes, the pilot is meant also to test new components, processes and solvents that are potentially more energy efficient, economically competitive and environmentally sustainable. The other innovative aspect is its mobility: the transportable configuration will allow installation at real industrial sites, making it possible to operate both with synthetic gases and with emission streams from existing production plants.

Among the objectives: demonstrating the possibility of achieving high CO₂ capture efficiencies; carrying out performance tests representative of existing industrial applications, thanks to a unit equipped with advanced scientific instrumentation; studying the scale-up and industrialisation of CO₂ capture also through advanced digital models. The pilot was conceived, designed and will be managed by a team from the Department of Energy of the Politecnico di Milano, led by Professors Manuele Gatti and Matteo Carmelo Romano, and including researchers Valeria Venturelli, Antonio Conversano and Riccardo Cremona. An important partnership was established with LEAP – Laboratorio Energia Ambiente Piacenza, an energy and environmental research centre founded and participated in by the Politecnico di Milano, which contributed to the installation of the unit.

«With POLICAP we strongly reaffirm that the green transition is no longer negotiable: it is a strategic priority, also supported by significant investments such as those of the PNRR, and represents a decisive lever for the competitiveness of one of the most advanced industrial systems in Europe – comments Donatella Sciuto, Rector of the Politecnico di Milano – The Politecnico di Milano, together with the Municipality of Piacenza and LEAP - Laboratorio Energia Ambiente Piacenza, constitutes a centre of excellence for energy and ecological transition. The city establishes itself as a place where research meets application: here technologies are developed, tested and transferred to companies, institutions and the local area».

«The opening of POLICAP – underline Mayor Katia Tarasconi and Councillor for University and Research Francesco Brianzi – stems from the joint work of multiple institutions. To all the partners who collaborated and to the professionals who made this project possible, we extend our thanks for bringing to our Technopole valuable expertise on a decisive issue: reducing emissions and supporting the ecological transition. For us, this confirms a clear direction: building a city, Piacenza, capable of bringing together universities, research, environmental sustainability and the production system, transforming national and European opportunities into projects useful for the local area and for new generations. This day also gives shape to a precise trajectory for “Piacenza City of Universities”. The City Vision Roadshow leg, within the framework of the Regional Law Talents, provided space for a national discussion on energy, environment, sustainability and young people; with POLICAP we see those same words translated into applied research. And the context adds further value: the Portaluppi pavilion of the former Centrale Elettrica Emilia will undergo redevelopment thanks to the Infrastructure Call of the Emilia-Romagna Region for the expansion of the Technopole. Public debate, PNRR investment and ERDF intervention come together in the same path: strengthening talents, skills, applied research and innovation in Piacenza, in line with the 2030 Agenda».

Domenico Lanzilotta, City Vision’s Director, while coordinating the morning event also highlighted how innovation and the local area find their connection in the solutions proposed by the Politecnico di Milano’s cutting-edge research, ready to be tested in the field, thus confirming how vital the dialogue among universities, institutions and companies is in accelerating the energy transition of cities.

ECCSELLENT – TECHNICAL DATA:

PNRR intervention area: Mission 4 – Education and Research, COMPONENT 2 “From research to business”, INVESTMENT 3.1 – Fund for the creation of an integrated system of research and innovation infrastructures (infrastructures and research). Partnership: National Research Council (CNR); ENEA; Politecnico di Milano; University of Bologna; National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics.

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Steel & recycled concrete composite slabs with equivalent, and in some cases superior, performances compared to traditional ones: this is the outcome of the SARCOS (Steel And Recycled COncrete Slab) project, conducted by a joint research team from the University of Cagliari and Politecnico di Milano, funded by the PRIN2022 call of the Italian Ministry of University and Research.

The core idea behind the project is to replace natural aggregates in concrete with recycled materials, rubble from the demolition of abandoned buildings, thus reducing dependence on natural resources by applying a circular economy model. Construction sand is typically extracted from riverbeds and alluvial deposits: the development of new techniques that encourage recycling makes it possible to preserve natural environments by avoiding further excavation.

Recycled concrete is a material already used in several countries around the world, but the researchers took the innovative step of combining, in slabs, the properties of concrete with those of high-strength profiled steel sheeting, thus creating a quite innovative product.

The entire solution is designed to be fully recyclable: in addition to the concrete, the steel can also be melted down and reused on the next construction site.

«Concrete obtained from recycled material may offer lower performance than conventional concrete, also depending on how it is produced. With our project, however, we demonstrated, through full-scale tests, that in composite slabs the performance remains unchanged or in some cases it actually increases: we carried out tests using recycled concrete in various percentages, from 30% to 100%, and the results remained unchanged», explained Flavio Stochino, professor at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering of the University of Cagliari, lead institution of the project. Alongside Stochino, head of SARCOS, other colleagues from the Sardinian university joined the team: professor Monica Valdes and researchers Giovanna Concu and Marco Zucca.

«Few people realize it, but the sand used in construction doesn’t come from the desert, but from river or alluvial quarries; therefore, in this way it would be possible to avoid further excavation, helping to preserve the original natural environments. Sand is among the most widely used materials in construction, and its extensive use has contributed to what is now referred to as a global “sand crisis”», commented Marco Simoncelli, researcher at the Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering (DABC) and coordinator for the Politecnico di Milano within the project. «With our solution it would therefore be possible to replace sand in construction, and to use instead rubble deriving from the demolition of “ecomostri”, that is environmentally damaging buildings», Simoncelli concludes. For the Milanese university, professors Claudio Bernuzzi and Marco Andrea Pisani, both from DABC, also took part in the study.

The publication of several articles in specialized journals about the results of the research helped the team gain international recognition. The latest article was published in December 2025 in “Materials and Structures”, a magazine on the performance of construction materials belonging to the Springer Nature portfolio. Given the positive response, the researchers are working on new funding proposals, such as the one that will be submitted to the European programme RFCS–Research Fund for Coal and Steel in September 2026.

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Milan, April 28, 2026 – Two European research projects on the detection of deepfakes and on mitigating their spread have come to an end: FF4ALL and FUN-Media. The Image and Sound Processing Lab (ISPL) at Politecnico di Milano, funded by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) funds, analyzed emerging phenomena linked to the generation of synthetic images and videos for FF4ALL, while in FUN-Media the lab focused on the detection of vocal deepfakes, one of the most significant emerging threats in the digital security landscape. The results of the projects mark an important step towards the development of reliable technologies for the protection of digital information, the fight against disinformation and the protection of users in an increasingly complex and dynamic media ecosystem.

For several years, the Image and Sound Processing Lab (ISPL) of the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering of Politecnico di Milano has been engaged in the development of advanced techniques for multimedia forensic analysis. The activities in this field are coordinated by Professors Stefano Tubaro and Paolo Bestagini, with the contribution of assistant professors Sara Mandelli and Luca Comanducci.

FF4ALL

ISPL researchers investigated the ways in which fake images and videos are engineered and disseminated. For instance, ISPL explored techniques that make it possible to transform real images into extremely realistic synthetic versions, making verification of their authenticity more complex and masking traces that are paramount for forensic analysis. At the same time, the laboratory developed new tools for the detection of synthetic faces, combining three-dimensional geometric information and structural facial features. These solutions improve the generalization ability of forensic detectors and maintain good performance even in the presence of post-processing operations, such as compression or editing.

«A further contribution concerns the study of the systems used to detect deepfakes» explains Professor Stefano Tubaro. «Understanding which elements they base their decisions on is in fact crucial to increasing their reliability». Artificial-intelligence (AI)-based models, trained on large amounts of data, are often difficult to interpret and it is not always clear which characteristics are used to classify content. Along these lines, techniques were developed to identify the area of the face most relevant for classification, making the decision-making processes of detectors more transparent.

The project activities also included analysis of the impact of new AI-based compression technologies, which can generate artifacts that make it difficult to distinguish authentic images subjected to such compression from synthetic or manipulated data.

Lastly, in collaboration with the project’s partner universities, it was released the WILD dataset, collecting fake images generated by twenty state-of-the-art models: this is an important resource for identifying the generative technology used to synthesize an image.

FUN-MEDIA

With FUN-Media, the focus was on the detection of vocal deepfakes. To address this challenge, ISPL researchers developed new architectures based on the so-called Mixture of Experts models, capable of combining multiple specialized systems to improve deepfake detection performance even in the presence of generative techniques never seen during training. These approaches offer greater flexibility and adaptability than traditional detectors, proving particularly effective in complex and constantly evolving scenarios.

A further line of research explored the use of forensic detectors based on anomaly detection. In this case, the models are trained exclusively on authentic voice signals to learn their distinctive characteristics and are therefore able to identify synthetic data as deviations from the expected behaviour.

«Alongside detection, the project also addressed the problem of attribution, that is, the identification of the generative technology responsible for the creation of a piece of audio content» says Professor Paolo Bestagini. ISPL developed detectors that can establish whether two voice tracks were produced by the same generative model. Further contributions concern the development of techniques for detailed analysis of the voice signal, for instance at the phoneme level, and the use of models capable of highlighting the most relevant acoustic characteristics for detection.

THE BACKGROUND

In recent years, rapid advances in generative artificial intelligence models have profoundly transformed the way digital contents such as images, videos and audio are produced, shared and consumed. While on the one hand these technologies open up new creative opportunities and applications, on the other hand they introduce significant risks in terms of security, disinformation and content manipulation. In particular, they make it possible to impersonate individuals with increasing effectiveness and to generate extremely realistic content, often lacking obvious traces of alteration. This scenario amplifies the risk of social engineering attacks and the large-scale spread of fake news, making manipulated content increasingly credible and difficult to detect.

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A small European satellite will continuously observe meteoroid impacts on the far side of the Moon. This is the objective of the LUMIO (Lunar Meteoroid Impacts Observer) mission, an ESA mission led by Politecnico di Milano through the DART Lab of the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology.

The Kick-Off Meeting held on 2 March 2026 marked the start of Phase C of the mission, the implementation phase that will lead to the development of the satellite’s main subsystems and the detailed design of the mission. The project is part of ESA’s General Support Technology Programme (GSTP) and is primarily supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), with the participation of the space agencies of Norway (NOSA), the United Kingdom (UKSA) and Sweden (SNSA).

The LUMIO mission will use a 12U CubeSat, a satellite weighing about 30 kilograms, which will operate in a halo orbit around the Earth-Moon L2 Lagrangian point. From this privileged position, it will be able to continuously observe the far side of the Moon, detecting the flashes generated by meteoroid impacts on the lunar surface. These observations will complement those carried out from Earth on the visible side of the Moon and will contribute to improving models of meteoroid distribution in the cislunar environment -an important aspect also for future lunar exploration missions.

The satellite will be equipped with LUMIO-Cam, an optical instrument operating in the visible and near-infrared capable of detecting impact flashes. The system will process the data directly on board, transmitting to Earth only the scientifically relevant information.

The European mission consortium is led by Politecnico di Milano and includes Argotec, responsible for the design, integration and testing of the satellite platform; Leonardo, developer of the LUMIO-Cam instrument; IMT for the transponder and solar panels; Nautilus for flight dynamics; S&T Norway for scientific data processing; Lift Me Off for the propulsion system; and ECAPS for the thrusters.

“Through LUMIO, Politecnico di Milano coordinates a European consortium in the development of a deep-space mission” comments Francesco Topputo, Principal Investigator of the mission. “It recognises the capability of the university to work with scientific and industrial partners in developing innovative technologies for lunar exploration.”

During Phase C, the mission’s main subsystems will be developed in detail - including the satellite platform, scientific payload, propulsion system, ground segment and navigation - in preparation for the Critical Design Review scheduled for 2027.

LUMIO mission at a glance

Objective
To observe and characterise meteoroid impacts on the far side of the Moon, improving meteoroid flux models and contributing to knowledge of the cislunar environment.

Satellite
12U CubeSat (about 30 kg) equipped with LUMIO-Cam, on-board data processing system, X-band transponder, deployable solar panels and miniaturised chemical propulsion.

Orbit
Halo orbit around the Earth-Moon L2 Lagrangian point, enabling continuous observation of the lunar surface.

Programme
ESA mission within the GSTP - Fly Element programme, supported by ASI with participation from the space agencies of Norway, the United Kingdom and Sweden.

The DOUBTS project has shown that green urban areas,artificial light at night and traffic-related air pollution play a part in the risk of early-onset dementia and the evolution of symptoms in patients already diagnosed with it.

The project is coordinated by Andrea Rebecchi of the Politecnico di Milano and involves an interdisciplinary team consisting of Stefano Capolongo and Silvia Mangili (the Politecnico di Milano – DABC), Tommaso Filippini and Marco Vinceti (the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), and Anna Odone and Paola Bertuccio (the University of Pavia). The study has drawn upon high-resolution environmental data – particularly in the province of Modena – including satellite datasets and advanced statistical models.

Andrea Rebecchi of the Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano, said: “Overall, the results of the DOUBTS project indicate that an integrated approach is required to create dementia-friendly environments. Green urban areas need to be designed to avoid social isolation, and air and light pollution must be reduced through urban planning policies.”

AIR POLLUTION

Exposure to benzene, used as an indicator of pollution from vehicular traffic, is associated with an increased risk of early-onset dementia, and Alzheimer’s in particular, with an almost linear increase in risk beyond the threshold of 1.2 μg/m³.

Tommaso Filippini and Marco Vinceti, professors at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, explained: “The presence of a threshold effect of traffic pollution levels due to the increased risk of this disease is very important from the point of view of public health for setting exposure limits, especially for vulnerable groups. It is worth pointing out, too, that the average exposure levels of the population are in fact much lower than this threshold, indicating the effectiveness of the measures to reduce emissions taken in the past and in place to this day.” 

GREEN URBAN AREAS

Green urban areas can help to protect against cognitive impairment and, in particular, early-onset dementia, notably Alzheimer’s. The presence of quality green urban areas is associated with a significant reduction in risk due to the promotion of physical activity and the reduction of stress and oxidative processes. 

A counterintuitive result shows that extensive green urban areas are associated with an increased risk of apathy in patients already diagnosed with dementia, social isolation typical of less urban areas.

ARTIFICIAL LIGHT AT NIGHT (ALAN)

There are two sides to ALAN. On one side, high levels of artificial light at night are associated with a lower risk of early-onset dementia, probably because people most exposed to light at night are also those with more active social lives, and therefore with greater cognitive stimulation. On the flipside, high exposure makes subjects with mild cognitive impairment over three times more likely to go on to develop dementia.

In patients already diagnosed with dementia, artificial light at night is one of the main aggravating factors of neuropsychiatric symptoms. Above-average exposure doubles the risk of delusions, hallucinations and sleep disorders, with a particularly marked impact on Circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders.

The results of the project will be presented today, 12 March 2026, during a seminar at the "Trifoglio" building of the Politecnico di Milano, from 4.45 pm to 5.30 pm. 

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The future for our computers will literally be at the speed of light. Extremely short light pulses can perform ultrafast logical operations: these are the findings of a study recently published in the prestigious journal Nature Photonics. The study was carried out by a group of researchers from the Department of Physics at the Politecnico di Milano, in collaboration with the Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie (IFN) - Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) - National Research Council, and with international research centres. The project coordinator was Giulio Cerullo, Professor of Physics at the Politecnico di Milano. He headed a team from the Department consisting of professors Stefano Dal Conte and Margherita Maiuri, and researchers Francesco Gucci (lead author of the article) and Mattia Russo. Researcher Franco Camargo also took part in the study on behalf of the IFN-CNR. 

The study represents an important step towards developing a new generation of information processing technologies, potentially hundreds of times faster than what we have at present. Today's computers rely on the movement of electrical charges inside transistors; however, these can only achieve a maximum frequency whose physical limits are hard to overcome. Unlike traditional electronics, based on the movement of electric charges, this innovative approach manipulates the state of electrons in matter by the use of oscillating light. As Giulio Cerullo of the Politecnico di Milano explained: "We have shown that light can be used not only to transmit information, but also to process it. With the use of ultra-short laser pulses, we can control the quantum states of matter on time scales of a few millionths of a billionth of a second: i.e. at the same frequencies as light oscillations, speeds previously unknown in electronics". These operations are performed at rates above 10 terahertz, over a hundred times faster than the best modern electronic devices.

To achieve this aim, the researchers used the physical properties of a new two-dimensional semiconductor, tungsten disulfide (WS₂), which is only three atomic layers thick. Because of the quantum phenomena associated with this nanometric film, electrons can occupy two distinct quantum states within it, known as "valleys". These valleys can be used as a new unit of information, similar to zero and one for traditional computers, but much quicker to control.

Using a precise sequence of laser pulses only a few femtoseconds (millionths of a billionth of a second) long, the researchers were able to selectively turn on, turn off and expand the information, so performing proper logical operations just like those in electronic circuits, but at immensely higher speeds. All this was done at room temperature, and using pulses of light already routinely available in laboratories. The study also makes it possible to measure how long such quantum information remains stable in the material, a critical aspect for future technological applications.

As Franco Camargo (IFN-CNR) pointed out: "Looking to the future, this proof of principle indicates a number of new scientific and technological challenges we need to overcome in order to produce competitive devices based on this principle: from creating ever more complex sequences of pulses to the possibility of increasing the number of bits in feasible devices." Overcoming these barriers will pave the way for a new class of ultra-fast logic devices, transforming this proof of principle into real technology for the computers of the future.

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The first mapping of data centres in the area of the Metropolitan City of Milan provides some clear data: most of those in Lombardy are located here. And Lombardy hosts almost half the data centres present on Italian soil. These and other data were presented this morning by the ProdAction project, an initiative by CRAFT – the Centre of Competence for Anti-fragile Territories – at the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU) of the Politecnico di Milano. The presentation took place during an international conference at the CRAFT centre, entitled "Datascapes. Exploring the Spatiality of Digital Infrastructures". The project coordinator, Professor Eugenio Morello, plus researcher Cristiana Mattioli and assistant Alice Franchina, outlined the initial results of their research for mapping data centres in the area of the Metropolitan City of Milan. The research involved facilities that are either already active, under construction or being planned, and included their location, electrical power and land use, with reference to the current situation and the coming years. 

This project was partly made necessary by a lack of public databases, and this also slowed down ProdAction's efforts to build up a picture of the situation, especially from the viewpoint of its local impact (at the regional, and particularly the metropolitan level) in relation to various aspects: the need for electricity, the use of land, and environmental and urban planning processes. Many stakeholders have been involved in this research, in various working groups: the Municipalities and Metropolitan City of Milan, architectural firms and engineering companies, developers and operators of data centres. 

The Milan area is now home to 33 active data centres out of a total of 49 in Lombardy (i.e. 67%), spread over the 32 municipalities that form part of the Metropolitan City; another 10 are under construction (with a view to opening between 2028 and 2029), while another 23 are currently being assessed by the relevant local bodies. These figures are of some importance, when we consider that there are about 200 data centres throughout Italy, and that those in the Milan area account for 68% of the nominal power consumption for such facilities nationwide (about 414 MegaWatts). In contrast to the active data centres with an average power capacity below 10 MW, those now under construction have a capacity of between 20 and 60 MW with an average of about 30 MW, while those undergoing assessment have a capacity of between 24 and 300 MW, with an average of about 80 MW. As Eugenio Morello explained:"This confirms a trend that is already evident on the international scene of building Campus Data Centres, large complexes of many buildings with very high power capacity. And with regard to this capacity: if we take into account all the data centres currently being built and due to open in 2028, we're looking at an increase of 318 MW, about double what we have at present ". 

And if we also consider those that are currently undergoing a ministerial Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), these could create an additional power capacity of about 600 MW by 2030, resulting in a total of almost 1GW more than today. The result would be an increased concentration of these centres in and around Milan. As Alice Franchina pointed out: "Something is also changing around Rome, with the opening of about twenty data centres, but these are still much lower numbers than we have here. And more importantly, there are entire areas in the rest of the country that have almost none at all. This also highlights a certain technological disparity at regional level, with certain areas experiencing slower development".

With regard to land use: many data centres are either being planned or built on disused land, both throughout Italy and in particular in the Milan area, where there are about twenty (6 under construction and 14 under assessment). However, there are still some plans for building centres on virgin land, i.e. land that has never been built on or used for agricultural purposes; there are 13 projects under construction or assessment on greenfield sites (39% of the projects), but they occupy 53% of the total area planned to be used for data centres, covering a total of 120 hectares (about 160 football fields). As Cristiana Mattioli pointed out: "This means that the larger centres are generally being built on greenfield sites. Most of these projects, because of their increasing size, are subject to EIAs, and because of their environmental impact they therefore result in major environmental compensation measures. However, the following have an important effect: an absence of coherent regulations about methods and quantifications, an imbalance in negotiations between individuals and local authorities, and the problems for local authorities in using the budgets allocated to them for projects with a supra-local and ecological-environmental value, which favour the reclamation of degraded areas”.

The aim of ProdAction is also to develop, on the basis of scientific evidence and by listening to stakeholders, knowledge and tools that can help legislators and local administrations make future decisions in the public interest, and in a well-informed and fully aware manner. Indeed, the research contains policy recommendations – aimed at policy makers – which are designed for the purpose of regulating the sector, with more attention on the protection and development of local areas and a greater focus on efficiency and sustainability. 

In addition to ProdAction, there are other working groups at DAStU that are already examining the issue of data centres, looking at it from different points of view; they have also taken part in discussions during the two-day event "Datascapes. Exploring the Spatiality of Digital Infrastructures ", held yesterday and today at CRAFT, and organised in collaboration with the Datascapes Honours Programme, with a contribution by Techbau.

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Circular economy can be combined with the automotive and mass electronics sectors. This was confirmed by the European CIRC-UITS project, which has just been completed. It was launched in 2023 with funds amounting to 6 million euro given by the Horizon Europe programme. The project’s team of international academic and industrial partners was coordinated by the DIG-Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering at Politecnico di Milano. The aim is to adopt processes that reduce electronic waste, improve efficiency, and reuse components through eco-design, besides showing how circular economy can be an applicable lever for industrial competitiveness.

Four pilot projects have been carried out to implement an eco-design approach to electronic control units (ECUs) in cars, tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS), integrated micro-electronic components (IMEs) in products, and for sorting obsolete printed circuit boards (PCBs), particularly from washing machines, at the end of their life cycle. The entire life cycle of electronic components was taken into account, allowing partner companies to experiment with advanced technologies and circular economy solutions directly in actual industrial contexts.

Results achieved include the development of an advanced technological process for removing chips from the electronic control units of cars. This was carried out using COBOTS, collaborative robots that help operators dismantle said components. The aim is to automate repairs, speed up the procedure, and enhance sustainability. 

In addition, an artificial intelligence-based tool was used to recognise electronic components. It was applicable to both ECUs and so-called IME (In-Mould Electronics) modules, i.e., flexible electronic elements found, for example, in foldable smartphones or curved computer screens. «We have developed software that, using an advanced camera and artificial intelligence, can identify the type of components on electronic boards, and determine whether they are present, missing or damaged», said Paolo Rosa at DIG, project coordinator for Politecnico di Milano. «This is very important in the case of flexible boards as the components are microscopic and invisible to the human eye». It is the first time this type of electronic cards can be repaired, thus reducing the production of electronic waste, and facilitating its reuse, consistently with the project’s spirit.

To support the pilot projects, digital platforms and concrete technologies were developed to promote circularity. The Electronics Circularity Toolbox stands out among these, a set of digital tools including augmented reality (AR), recycling process simulation software, EOL management analysis software and a digital twin for virtual product simulations. It will support companies in adopting a circular approach to product design from the outset, spanning material selection, assembly, repairs and end-of-life. CIRC-UITS has also generated circular business models, which can be applied by future start-ups for a new concept of industry. 

CIRC-UITS also participated as a partner in defining the ISO/AWI 24961 standard, which aims to ensure greater sustainability in the management and procurement of rare earth elements for electronic components. Moreover, the project contributed to defining new European and international standards promoting product repair and innovative design procedures for electronic boards.

LINK TO THE PROJECT WEBSITE 

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Project partners: OOFFIS, SAT, SUPSI, INNOVALIA, Holst Centre by TNO, TXT E-Tech Srl, Fiat Research Centre CRF, BOSCH GmbH, MacDermid Alpha – Electronic Solutions, AUMOVIO, MARAS (Material Recycling and Sustainability) BV, Beko Europe, BESU solutions GmbH, Autodemolizione Pollini, TRACXON BV, ERION, DIN EV, MADE competence centre of the POLITECNICO DI MILANO, PBKIK.

Milan, 2 March 2026 - In a week when attention is focused on runways, collections and creative direction, a group of students from the High-End and Luxury Industries Management Master’s programme at Politecnico di Milano proposes shifting the focus to what lies behind the product: supply chains, artisanal skills and relationships between brands and suppliers.

The manifesto, entitled “Future of Luxury: Resilient, Sustainable and Human-Centric Supply Chains”, was developed during a workshop coordinated by Professor Hakan Karaosman, Professor Jinou Xu and PhD candidate Lyven Mariana Leal Chagas and brings together eleven principles for rethinking the luxury industry in a more equitable, transparent and people-centred way.

According to the students, the value of luxury does not lie exclusively in the final product, but in the processes that make it possible: in intergenerational know-how, in dignity of work across the supply chain and in the ability to redistribute value more evenly among all the parties involved. The document proposes moving beyond purely transactional models and encouraging more collaborative relationships between brands and suppliers, placing fairness in decision-making and incentives at the centre.

Considerable space is also dedicated to the relationship between technology and creativity. Artificial intelligence is described as a tool capable of optimising processes and freeing up time for high-value creative work, provided that it does not replace but rather supports the human contribution. Likewise, digital traceability is envisaged not only as a compliance tool, but as an opportunity for transparent communication of the stories of the people and local areas that contribute to creating a luxury product.

The manifesto also addresses the tension between environmental sustainability and social sustainability, highlighting how the two dimensions are deeply interconnected and cannot be treated separately. For the younger generations preparing to enter the sector, the competitive future of luxury will depend on the ability to build resilient, inclusive supply chains genuinely oriented towards the long term.

“The younger generations do not see luxury only as an object, but as a system of relationships, responsibilities and skills,” comments Professor Hakan Karaosman of the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering at Politecnico di Milano. “This work reflects a growing sensitivity towards more collaborative and human models.”

The document was produced as part of the course’s teaching activities and represents the vision of a generation observing the luxury industry at a time of profound transformation.

A study published in Nature Food by researchers from the Politecnico di Milano and the University of California at Berkeley provides forward-thinking answers to the debate on the role of environmental stresses on migration processes.

The analysis, conducted on a dataset of 40,000 cases of environmental migration in Somalia and led by Professor Maria Cristina Rulli, coordinator of the Glob3ScienCE (Global Studies on Sustainable Security in a Changing Environment) Lab, shows that the main reasons for these displacements can be attributed to water scarcity. Drought, the insufficient water content of the soil with respect to the needs of agriculture, and food insecurity caused as a result, directly affect Somalia's agricultural and pastoral communities, which represent about 80% of the national population. Sinafekesh Wolde, first author of the article, explained: "The results show an exodus from areas characterised by drought, food insecurity and scarcity of water for agricultural uses: between 76% and 91% of environmental migrations have originated in these hotspots."

Previous studies analysed the roles of climate change in migration processes, but lacked a precise understanding of migrations directly associated with extreme hydroclimatic events, whether sudden or slow-developing in nature. The study, based on field observations, interviews, operational data of first responders and multivariate spatial analyses, systematically covered the interaction between hydroclimatic factors and migration dynamics. The aim was to identify the main environmental factors contributing to the displacements of people. A study was then carried out on how combinations of environmental stresses influence the migratory decisions of agricultural and agro-pastoral communities. Extreme hydroclimatic events, including droughts, floods and storms, accounted for 98% of the 32.6 million internal migrations recorded globally in 2022. Somalia, a country highly vulnerable to droughts and famines, is a case in point. 

With a population of more than 19 million, Somalia has a socio-economic structure that depends on subsistence agropastoralism. This dependence is intertwined with socio-cultural structures in which access to land and productive resources is influenced by gender dynamics, and with the legacy of three decades of civil war, political instability and humanitarian crises. Maria Cristina Rulli said: "Even in regions that have overcome the most critical phases of the conflict and are starting to rebuild, the frequency and increasing intensity of hydroclimatic events continue to represent the most significant threat." Somalia, in fact, is exposed to recurrent and prolonged droughts that compromise the livelihoods of rural communities by undermining food security and causing farmers to look elsewhere for other means of subsistence. High or critical levels of water scarcity for agriculture have often forced entire communities to abandon their traditional systems of livelihood, making them dependent on humanitarian aid. This cycle of environmental stress, loss of livelihood, displacement and dependence on subsidies further fuels economic migration to industrialised cities, neighbouring countries or destinations abroad. 

Somalia is seeking to improve its climate resilience, for example through better management of water resources and pastures. Maria Cristina Rulli concluded: "The study highlights how these measures must be adopted together with community solutions, coordinated policies and international collaboration to effectively address the growing impacts of global changes in hydroclimate on the most vulnerable populations."

Glob3science – Global Studies on Sustainable Security in a Changing Environment – is a multidisciplinary research group based at the Politecnico di Milano which has dedicated itself to global studies on the interdependencies and teleconnections between the hydrological cycle and human activities. The group focuses in particular on water security, food security and the water-energy-food nexus both under current conditions and in relation to global changes.

Link to the study

Artificial intelligence becomes a predictive tool that can provide assistance in defining a nutritional plan for preterm infants. This is the concept of an innovative study recently published in the Journal of Perinatology, part of the Nature portfolio. It is the joint work of researchers from the IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori Foundation (FSGT) and the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering (DEIB) of the Politecnico di Milano.

Neonatologists Maria Luisa Ventura, Valentina Bozzetti, Valeria Cavalleri, Lucia Iozzi and engineers Emanuela Zannin and Paola Coglianese participated for the FSGT. Professor Simona Ferrante with engineers Linda Greta Dui and Silvia Riccò contributed for the DEIB, Politecnico di Milano.

The paper addresses one of the most delicate moments in the care of the extremely preterm infant, precisely the transition from intravenous (parenteral) to oral (enteral) feeding. This is a crucial phase of “nutritional transition” for growth and development. Today it is managed without standard procedures supported by robust scientific evidence. During this phase, an excessive, insufficient or unbalanced intake of nutrients can lead to complications, thus contributing to slowing down extrauterine growth, a condition known as Extrauterine Growth Restriction (EUGR).

The results of the research show that adequate protein and lipid intake in the early days of life, together with the growth rate in the first week, are key factors for predicting EUGR. The study also significantly improved the approach to this condition by dividing patients according to different preterm profiles. Indeed, it emerged that needs and nutritional intakes differ in the various groups, paving the way for greater personalisation of care.

«Growth is not just a numerical indicator in large preterm infants. A drop in the rate of extrauterine growth can have long-term consequences with possible repercussions even on neurocognitive development», says neonatologist Valentina Bozzetti. «This is why studying the nutritional transition means focusing on “enhancing growth”, while also supporting the overall quality of development. However, to achieve this, we need to understand what happens in the most delicate days of life, when every choice can make a difference».

«This is where the power of data comes into play. We had the opportunity to draw on a wealth of data for this study», says Maria Luisa Ventura. «Indeed, we analysed over a thousand electronic medical records of large preterm infants followed in a single centre. Each record provided extensive clinical and nutritional information. Placing this resource in the hands of artificial intelligence means being in a position to address a complex issue that traditional studies are unable to explore with the same degree of attention to detail».

«Artificial intelligence enables us to integrate large volumes of heterogeneous clinical data in order to convert them into useful tools for research, and to gradually support clinical decisions», says Simona Ferrante. «The value comes from the convergence of skills, such as a strong methodological approach and the ability to interpret complex data, besides possessing the clinical know-how required to understand numbers, thus leading to the right questions. This is how models become accurate, can be interpreted, and potentially transferred into practice».

«The research translated this integration into models capable of predicting EUGR during the nutritional transition by recognising patterns and combinations of clinical-nutritional variables that help to describe a particularly critical phase in greater detail», concludes Linda Greta Dui. «The aim is not to replace clinical judgement, but to offer an additional tool, which helps to anticipate the needs of the individual patient, and to guide increasingly custom-designed strategies studied for the different preterm severity profiles».

LINK TO THE STUDY HERE

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How do the different parts of an adult plant communicate with each other when it suffers an injury, is waterlogged, burnt or exposed to environmental stress?

Today we can answer this question thanks to an innovative optical imaging system developed by the Università degli Studi di Milano (University of Milan) together with the Politecnico di Milano. The study was published in Science Advances.

The system, called MAPPI (MAcro Plant Projection Imaging), allows simultaneous observation of leaves, stem and roots as the plant reacts to stimuli such as wounds, submergence, burns or other environmental stress. Perpendicular double vision is an innovative feature. It allows to observe what is happening throughout the plant at the same time, overcoming the limitations of traditional instruments designed for small laboratory plants. Hence the opportunity to study plants of a size comparable to those grown in greenhouses, which was previously very difficult.

Unlike conventional imaging systems, MAPPI is modular, inexpensive and open source, which makes it easily replicable in many laboratories. Through the use of fluorescence, the platform allows real time visualisation of signals that are crucial for internal plant communication, e.g., changes in the concentration of calcium ions and the accumulation of glutamate, which act as cellular messengers. With this technology, researchers have shown that signals do not only travel between leaves, but also bi-directionally between leaves and roots, revealing a much more complex communication network than expected. 

«MAPPI allows us to observe how these signals run through the entire adult plant, dynamics we could only guess until now», says Alex Costa, plant physiologist and professor in the Department of Biosciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, and lead author of the paper.

«MAPPI allows to overcome the limitations of traditional microscopy. It paves the way for new research into the physiology of adult plants», explains Andrea Bassi, professor in the Department of Physics at the Politecnico di Milano, and coordinator of the study together with Costa. «The aim is to make this technology accessible to the scientific community, facilitating studies on species of agricultural interest in conditions closely resembling natural ones».

The system is also designed to be expanded with additional sensors in order to simultaneously monitor multiple molecular signals. Hence, MAPPI is a decisive step forward in understanding how plants react to stress, a key issue for agriculture in the future in a context of climate change.

LINK TO IMAGES HERE 

LINK TO THE PUBLICATION HERE

MAIRE, Politecnico di Milano and POLIMI Graduate School of Management (GSoM) signed today a four-year Joint Research Platform (JRP) Agreement with that will guide a strategic collaboration in joint research, innovation and advanced training, a new step of an on-going relationship between MAIRE and POLIMI.

This agreement establishes a structured collaboration with joint projects dedicated to cutting‑edge technologies for energy transition, chemicals and catalytic processes, and participation in thematic observatories and sector studies, professional orientation initiatives, and a broad scholarship program. The partnership also includes the design of workshops and master programs, as well as internship opportunities within MAIRE Group companies and innovation initiatives to encourage the exchange of expertise and the development of new technological solutions.

The collaboration with POLIMI GSoM aims to strengthen managerial capabilities through customized executive programs on leadership, sustainability, innovation and data‑driven management. The agreement also provides for the creation of a dedicated Corporate Joint Academy, people development and career‑management initiatives. Thanks to POLIMI GSoM, MAIRE Group people will also have facilitated access to “Open Programs” and the POLIMI’s digital learning platforms, along with scholarships for executive programs, MBA/EMBA courses and specialized master programs. 

A Joint Management Committee will oversee the collaboration, ensuring continuity, strategic alignment and the identification of new opportunities over the coming years.

Fabrizio Di Amato, Chairman and Founder of MAIRE, commented: “This partnership marks an important step in our journey to shape the future of innovation and talent development, generating high-impact ideas and giving a contribution to the technological and sustainable transformation of industry. By combining MAIRE’s industrial vision with the scientific excellence of Politecnico di Milano and the managerial expertise of POLIMI GSoM, we are creating a powerful platform capable of accelerating technological and intellectual property development and nurturing the next generation of leaders who will drive the energy transition”.

Donatella Sciuto, Rector of the Politecnico di Milano, added: “The relationship with MAIRE is a long-standing one that confirms an alliance in constant evolution between education, innovation and industrial vision. The JRP consolidates this understanding which, over the next four years, will take shape by including targeted pathways aimed at innovation leadership. Technological progress and the challenges of sustainability must be addressed with expertise, guided with responsibility and designed with vision. These are the premises of the agreement.”

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Little is still known in Italy, a country presenting a high hydrogeological risk, about the extent of this issue’s effects on property valuation. The study carried out by Marco Rossitti, Researcher at the Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering - DABC of the Politecnico di Milano, attempts to fill the gap with a working paper by the title: "Flood risk assessment and resilience features in the Italian real estate market", published on the SSRN platform as part of the Working Paper Series of the Center for Real Estate - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston, USA.

Indeed, the research was partly carried out at the MIT's Center for Real Estate, where Rossitti spent a visiting period thanks to the Rocca Project - an international partnership between the Politecnico and the MIT. During this initiative, he had the opportunity to work closely with Professor Siqi Zheng, a globally renowned authority in the real estate scene. Using the econometric model developed at the MIT, and making the most of a data supply agreement with the specialised Web portal Idealista, signed with the support of Professor Francesca Torrieri from the DABC, the study commenced by analysing a data set of around three million property listings. The research addressed the impact of flood risk and resilience features on house prices, particularly focusing on the Lombardy region. Following an initial screening phase, the real estate ads analysed, including all useful data and information taken into account, finally reached a total of barely over one million. 

"We decided to focus on flats, starting from the offer price, then estimating the market value of the property based on its intrinsic characteristics, such as surface area and floor number. We also considered its extrinsic features defined by adopting a GIS system, namely distances from public transport or the city centre, besides those specifically considered by the research, such as the distance from a river or a lake. The real estate market might actually appreciate this information, which could, however, increase the risk conditions,” says Rossitti. The geolocation was compared with the flood hazard reported in the official maps of the ISPRA, Institute for Environmental Protection and Research. The result clearly indicates a minor but significant drop in the price of real estate located in ‘risk’ areas. The depreciation is variable, being higher for building units located on lower floors, and diminishing as the floor height (“vertical” resilience) increases. Moreover, properties in a good state of preservation are perceived as more resilient and, therefore, record a lower price decline. 

The study could become a tool for a different approach to construction design by avoiding the use of the ground floor - which is the most affected - for living purposes, and leaving it free, instead. "An interesting outcome, from a planning perspective, is that public investments in hydrogeological risk mitigation works actually reduce the negative impact on prices," comments Rossitti. "Furthermore, if market values fall too low, only people with limited financial resources will decide to live in certain areas. This would also generate an issue of social injustice."

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Dramatically reducing energy consumption while accelerating the processing of large amounts of data. This is the aim of the new chip developed by a group of researchers from the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering – DEIB at the Politecnico di Milano, led by Professor Daniele Ielmini, and presented in the study published in the prestigious journal Nature Electronics, with the researcher Piergiulio Mannocci as the first author. 

The work originated as part of the ANIMATE (ANalogue In-Memory computing with Advanced device TEchnology) project, which was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant in 2022 and drew on Daniele Ielmini's preliminary research into CL-IMC (Closed-Loop In-Memory Computing) and the opportunities it could offer, i.e. faster solving of calculations and use of up to 5,000 times less energy than digital computers. The goal of the ANIMATE project was to develop the technology for the device, the circuits and system architectures, and the set of applications to validate the CL-IMC. 

The resulting chip makes use of in-memory computing, which aims to overcome a limitation of computers: the need to continuously move data between the memory and the processor. By eliminating this internal 'traffic', the systems become faster and more energy efficient. In the recently published study, the DEIB team presented a fully integrated analogue accelerator for solving linear and non-linear systems of equations designed with CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) technology, implemented as standard for the production of silicon integrated circuits.

The device uses two 64×64 arrays of programmable resistive memories: an array is a kind of 'ordered grid' made up of identical parts arranged in rows and columns, similar to graph paper, where each intersection between a row and a column represents a memory cell. The cells are based on SRAM (Static Random-Access Memory) technology, a type of fast and stable memory which in this case is combined with integrated resistors for programming different levels of resistance. The architecture is complemented by an innovative model of analogue processing that utilises components integrated in the chip such as operational amplifiers and analogue-to-digital converters. 

The set allows the system to handle complex calculations directly in the structure of the memory, avoiding the need to move data to an external processor, thereby reducing calculation times to a significant extent. In tests, the chip achieved similar accuracy to conventional digital systems, but with lower power consumption, less computing latency and a smaller footprint on the silicon. 

Daniele Ielmini, a member of DEIB and head of the research group, explained: "The integrated chip demonstrates the feasibility on an industrial scale of a revolutionary concept such as analogue computation in memory. We are already working on putting this innovation into use in real-world applications to reduce the energy costs of computation, especially in the field of artificial intelligence”.

Piergiulio Mannocci, a researcher for DEIB and first author, commented: "This work is the result of an international collaboration between academia and industry that has also involved Peking University, a diverse team involving professors, researchers, PhD Candidates and students, and demonstrates the potential of analogue in-memory computation for high-performance, energy-efficient applications."

The study represents an important step towards more compact, faster and sustainable devices, opening up new perspectives for research and industry. In-memory computing is an ideal solution, in fact, in contexts requiring high performance and high energy efficiency such as artificial intelligence, the processing of large volumes of data, and next-generation wireless communication systems. Applications range from robotics to data centres and from navigation systems to advanced telecommunications networks, such as 5G and the 6G technologies of the future.

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