South Korea and Italy will expand science and technology cooperation centred on three areas: artificial intelligence, climate change and bio, South Korea\'s Ministry of Science and ICT said. The two countries held the 13th Korea-Italy Joint Committee on Science and Technology in Rome with Italy\'s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. They reviewed outcomes from joint bio and chemistry research, discussed future agendas including physical AI semiconductors and climate-response crops, and explored broader cooperation on brain disease research. The next meeting will be held in Seoul.

Researchers have developed a next-generation magnetic memory material that can write information using light rather than electric current. The team expects the technology to enable data writing up to 1,000 times faster than existing magnetic memory while using less power. The material uses an optical switching phenomenon that flips electron spins with laser pulses. The group combined layered materials to achieve both optical switching and stability, and sees potential uses in AI, data centres and next-generation information processing systems.