Technology

Tactile sensors are widely used in robotics, prosthetics, wearable devices, and health care monitoring. These devices detect and convert external stimuli such as pressure and force into electrical signals, facilitating effective environmental detection.... Read more

From creating art and writing code to drafting emails and designing new drugs, generative AI tools are becoming increasingly indispensable for both business and personal use. As demand increases, they will require even more computing power, memory and, therefore, energy. That's got scientists looking for ways to reduce their energy... Read more

Able to undergo repeated compressions without losing their shape, woven materials could form robots, exoskeletons, car parts, architectural components and more.... Read more

Research conducted at the University of Vaasa paves the way for smart packaging that indicates product condition through color-changing printing inks. Doctoral researcher Jari Isohanni investigated how machine learning could be most effectively utilized in color recognition for smart packaging.... Read more

EU researchers are cultivating fungi on agricultural waste to create smarter and greener construction materials able to adapt and react to their environment, and even repair themselves.... Read more

Pressure sensors are crucial in many emerging applications, but traditional designs are often bulky or inflexible. In a recent study, researchers from Japan developed a fiber-shaped pressure sensor that overcomes this limitation by increasing—rather than decreasing—its resistance when compressed. Owing to a unique multi-walled conductive core made from graphene nanoplatelets,... Read more

Over the past decades, engineers have introduced a wide range of computing systems inspired by the human brain or designed to emulate some of its functions. These include devices that artificially reproduce the behavior of brain cells (e.g., neurons), by processing and transmitting signals in the form of electrical pulses.... Read more

Researchers at the University of Waterloo have developed an inexpensive device that generates enough electricity to power a calculator using only waste walnut shells and drops of water. Their work is published in the journal Energy & Environmental Materials.... Read more

Computer scientists at Princeton are working to bring virtual reality into the physical world, with the potential to enhance a variety of experiences, including remote collaboration, education, entertainment and gaming.... Read more

Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Peregrine software, used to monitor and analyze parts created through powder bed additive manufacturing, has released its most advanced dataset to date.... Read more

Meta has developed a new flat ultra-thin panel laser display that could lead to lighter, more immersive augmented reality (AR) glasses and improve the picture quality of smartphones, tablets and televisions. The new display is only two millimeters thick and produces bright, high-resolution images.... Read more

In rapidly aging societies like Japan, the simple act of swallowing meals can be challenging for many. This condition, known as dysphagia, affects millions of people worldwide and can significantly deteriorate a person's quality of life. While texture-modified foods like purées can make swallowing safer, it is difficult to tailor... Read more

In a major step toward intelligent and collaborative microrobotic systems, researchers at the Research Center for Materials, Architectures and Integration of Nanomembranes (MAIN) at Chemnitz University of Technology have developed a new generation of autonomous microrobots—termed smartlets—that can communicate, respond, and work together in aqueous environments.... Read more

When the court lights flicker on at the U.S. Open, tennis stars shine under illumination designed to cut light pollution.... Read more

In a towering aquarium in a darkened laboratory, moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) hover as if floating in space. The glow of neon lights illuminates their translucent, bell-shaped bodies as they expand and contract rhythmically, their graceful tentacles flowing in wavelike patterns.... Read more

A team of materials scientists at Rice University has developed a new way to grow ultrathin semiconductors directly onto electronic components.... Read more

With the right technology, solar energy has the potential to meet all of the world's electricity needs, but we are still a long way off from that point. Still, governments around the world are setting high objectives for renewable energy. Many world leaders have set commitments to phase out coal... Read more

Silicon semiconductors used in existing photodetectors have low light responsivity, and the two-dimensional semiconductor MoS₂ (molybdenum disulfide) is so thin that doping processes to control its electrical properties are difficult, limiting the realization of high-performance photodetectors.... Read more

3D printing is a simple way to create custom tools, replacement pieces and other helpful objects, but it is also being used to create untraceable firearms, such as ghost guns, like the one implicated in the late 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.... Read more

A new ultra-thin, transparent film, developed by researchers at UNIST can generate electrical signals solely through mechanical peeling or pressing actions. This technology paves the way for smart sensors that operate without batteries, with potential applications in safety, security, and industrial monitoring.... Read more

From electric cars to artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, the technologies people use every day require a growing need for electricity. In theory, nuclear fusion—a process that fuses atoms together, releasing heat to turn generators—could provide vast energy supplies with minimal emissions. But nuclear fusion is an expensive prospect because... Read more

Lithium metal (Li-metal) batteries are among the most promising alternatives to widely employed rechargeable lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, as they could store more energy and thus extend the battery life of many electronic devices. Despite their potential, existing Li-metal batteries have been found to be less stable than Li-ion batteries, while... Read more

When we are out in cold weather, we wear warm clothes to stay comfortable. But there is a snag. Regular warm clothing can't adjust to changes in our body temperature. If we start to sweat, we get too hot and sticky, which makes us want to remove layers. This defeats... Read more

Swiss pilot Raphael Domjan beat the altitude record for a solar-powered electric plane in a flight that took him soaring to 9,521 meters, his team announced Wednesday.... Read more

Animals like bats, whales and insects have long used acoustic signals for communication and navigation. Now, an international team of scientists has taken a page from nature's playbook to model micro-sized robots that use sound waves to coordinate into large swarms that exhibit intelligent-like behavior.... Read more

Advances in technology have led to the miniaturization of many mechanical, electronic, chemical and biomedical products, and with that, an evolution in the way these tiny components and parts are transported is necessary to follow. Transport systems, such as those based on conveyor belts, suffer from the challenge of friction,... Read more

Delivery drones are so fast they can zip a pint of ice cream to a customer's driveway before it melts.... Read more

Researchers have demonstrated that brain cells learn faster and carry out complex networking more effectively than machine learning by comparing how both a Synthetic Biological Intelligence (SBI) system known as "DishBrain" and state-of-the-art RL (reinforcement learning) algorithms react to certain stimuli.... Read more

Aerospace engineering and materials science researchers at Texas A&M University have uncovered new properties of an ultra-durable, recyclable, smart plastic—paving the way for transformative applications in the defense, aerospace and automotive industries.... Read more

The University of Cincinnati is working with Ohio's Bureau of Workers' Compensation to use digital-twin technology to make workplaces safer.... Read more

Consumer devices may soon be able to directly access and interfere with the human brain—but this raises unprecedented ethical and legal questions. How can we leverage the benefits of this technology for therapeutic purposes while preventing its misuse?... Read more

Picture this: You work in a warehouse and need to bring a part to the other side of the building. The floor of the warehouse is marked with pedestrian pathways for safety, but you see a shortcut and decide to take it—without looking both ways.... Read more

Scientists at La Trobe University have produced a new, powerful electricity-conducting material in research which could revolutionize smartphones and wearable technologies like medical devices.... Read more

What if windows could clean themselves at the flick of a switch? We're not quite there yet, but we are getting closer. Researchers in China have developed a transparent, easy-to-produce self-cleaning glass that can remove particles in just 10 seconds using an electric field.... Read more

Airline ANA said Thursday that, together with a US start-up, it hopes to have electric "air taxis" whizzing over Japan from as early as 2027.... Read more

A new breakthrough from the Zhang Lab at Boston University is making waves in the world of sound control.... Read more

NIBIO has contributed to developing a method for turning greenhouse gases like CO2 or CO into biomethane—a renewable energy source. Using thin layers of microorganisms, so-called biofilms, greenhouse gases can be transformed into clean-burning fuel.... Read more

M.C. Escher's artwork is a gateway into a world of depth-defying optical illusions, featuring "impossible objects" that break the laws of physics with convoluted geometries. What you perceive his illustrations to be depends on your point of view—for example, a person seemingly walking upstairs may be heading down the steps... Read more

Engineers at the University of Maine are developing a new method to more accurately predict the strength of lightweight 3D-printed objects. This research, conducted at the university's Advanced Structures and Composites Center (ASCC), will enable designers to create more robust and reliable components by controlling strength when lightweighting virtually any... Read more

An interdisciplinary research team has engineered a new class of organic photoelectrochemical transistors (OPECTs). These tiny devices can convert light into electrical signals and mimic the behavior of synapses in the brain. The research results have now been published in the research journal Advanced Science.... Read more

Communication is a fundamental human right, and many individuals need augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) approaches or tools, such as a notebook or electronic tablet with symbols the user can select to create messages, to communicate effectively.... Read more

Anyone who has slipped on a polished floor or felt their tires spinning in the snow knows instinctively the importance of surfaces. Certainly those in manufacturing—be it of robots, running shoes, or semiconductors—understand that they are vital. Yet for all the importance of surfaces, attempts to accurately measure and describe... Read more

To further reduce the size of electronic devices, while also improving their performance and energy efficiency, electronics engineers have been trying to identify alternative materials that outperform silicon and other conventional semiconductors. Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors, materials that are just a few atoms thick and have a tunable electrical conductivity, are... Read more

A tool developed at Texas A&M University is set to transform how emergency responders assess damage after disasters. The technology, known as CLARKE (Computer vision and Learning for Analysis of Roads and Key Edifices), uses artificial intelligence and drone imagery to evaluate damage to buildings, roads and other infrastructure in... Read more

In an advancement for next-generation electronics, researchers from the International Center for Quantum Materials at Peking University in collaboration with Renmin University of China have successfully fabricated wafer-scale two-dimensional indium selenide (InSe) semiconductors. Led by Professor Liu Kaihui, the team developed a novel "solid–liquid–solid" growth strategy that overcomes long-standing barriers... Read more

A mechanical artwork designed in 1775 to depict the eruption of Italy's Mount Vesuvius has been brought to life for the first time—250 years after it was conceived—thanks to modern technology and the ingenuity of two University of Melbourne engineering students.... Read more

Cornell researchers have uncovered a nearly invisible culprit hindering the development of next-generation, high-power electronics: a microscopic layer of carbon contamination, often left behind by air exposure and fabrication techniques, that impairs electrical flow in devices made with gallium oxide. They have also found a solution.... Read more

In an office at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), a soft robotic hand carefully curls its fingers to grasp a small object. The intriguing part isn't the mechanical design or embedded sensors—in fact, the hand contains none. Instead, the entire system relies on a single camera that... Read more

The process of cleaning the water that flows down our drains and toilets can drastically raise carbon dioxide levels in nearby waterways. Two Johns Hopkins University scientists have found an innovative way to reduce levels of this common greenhouse gas by running wastewater effluent through a process that uses an... Read more

Researchers at Guangdong University of Technology have developed a new method to build powerful, compact energy storage devices—called thin-film supercapacitors (TFSCs)—without using metal parts or traditional separators. Their tiny 3.8 cm³ device is even capable of outputting 200 volts—enough to light 100 LEDs for 30 seconds or a 3-watt bulb... Read more