Engineering News

October 14, 2024

Top Headlines

Engineering Perovskite Materials at the Atomic Level Paves Way for New Lasers, LEDs

Oct. 11, 2024 — Researchers have developed and demonstrated a technique that allows them to engineer a class of materials called layered hybrid perovskites (LHPs) down to the atomic level, which dictates precisely ...

New Breakthrough Helps Free Up Space for Robots to 'Think', Say Scientists

Oct. 8, 2024 — Engineers have worked out how to give robots complex instructions without electricity, which could free up more space in the robotic 'brain' for them to 'think'. Mimicking how some parts of the human body work, researchers have transmitted a series ...

New Technique Could Unlock Potential of Quantum Materials

Oct. 9, 2024 — A research team has devised a unique method to observe changes in materials at the atomic level. The technique opens new avenues for understanding and developing advanced materials for quantum computing and ...

Ordered Defects May Be Key for Solution-Deposited Semiconductors, Enabling High-Speed Printable Circuits and Next-Generation Displays

Oct. 10, 2024 — A new solution deposition process for semiconductors yields high-performing transistors by introducing more defects, counterintuitively. Researchers used these devices to construct high- speed logic ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:40am EDT

AI Promises to Ramp Up PCR Tests for Faster DNA Diagnostics and Forensics

Sep. 30, 2024 — Promising new inroads into critical DNA testing has been forecast by experts who have applied machine learning to DNA profiling. From medical diagnostics to forensic tests and national security, PCR ...

No Bolts About It: New Technology Improves Structural Strength

Oct. 9, 2024 — Researchers have significantly improved a new joining technology, interlocking metasurfaces (ILMs), designed to increase the strength and stability of a structure in comparison to traditional ...

Inspired by Spider-Man, a Lab Recreates Web-Slinging Technology

Oct. 9, 2024 — Researchers took the imaginary scenes from Spider-Man seriously and created the first web-slinging technology in which a fluid material can shoot from a needle, immediately solidify as a string, and ...

A Matter of Taste: Electronic Tongue Reveals AI 'Inner Thoughts'

Oct. 9, 2024 — Researchers recently developed electronic tongue capable of identifying differences in similar liquids, such as milk with varying water content; diverse products, including soda types and coffee ...

Atomic-Level Mechanism in Polycrystalline Materials

Oct. 8, 2024 — Researchers show that for the first time they have achieved atomic-scale observations of grain rotation in polycrystalline materials. Using state-of-the-art microscopy tools, the scientists were able ...

AI and Quantum Mechanics Team Up to Accelerate Drug Discovery

Oct. 7, 2024 — SMU have created SmartCADD. This open-source virtual tool combines artificial intelligence, quantum mechanics and Computer Assisted Drug Design (CADD) techniques to speed up the screening of chemical ...

Researchers Restore the Performance of Quantum Dot Solar Cells as If 'Flattening Crumpled Paper'

Oct. 3, 2024 — Researchers adopt a new ligand to enhance the efficiency and stability of perovskite quantum dot solar cells. Solar cell efficiency increases to ...

Researchers Create Orientation-Independent Magnetic Field-Sensing Nanotube Spin Qubits

Oct. 2, 2024 — A team that has developed patent-pending one-dimensional boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) containing spin qubits, or spin defects. The BNNTs are more ...

deepSPACE Design Tool Takes a Concept to a Multitude of Configurations

Oct. 2, 2024 — deepSPACE isn't a futuristic film, a new videogame or the next season of a classic TV series. In fact, the new design software developed by an aerospace engineer isn't about outer space at all. This ...

New Design Overcomes Key Barrier to Safer, More Efficient EV Batteries

Oct. 2, 2024 — ...

Stronger Together: Miniature Robots in Convoy for Endoscopic Surgery

Oct. 1, 2024 — Miniature robots on the millimeter scale often lack the strength to transport instruments for endoscopic microsurgery through the body. Scientists are now combining several millimeter-sized TrainBots ...

Scientists Uncover Light Absorbing Properties of Achiral Materials

Sep. 30, 2024 — Researchers have made a discovery that changes what we know about light and materials. They found that engineered achiral (symmetric) materials, called achiral plasmonic metasurfaces, can absorb ...

Helping Robots Zero in on the Objects That Matter

Sep. 30, 2024 — Engineers developed a system that helps robots quickly map a scene and identify items they need to complete a set of ...

'Squeezing' Increased Accuracy of Quantum Measurements

Sep. 30, 2024 — Scientists have explored how quantum squeezing can improve measurement precision in complex quantum systems, with potential applications in quantum sensing, imaging, and radar technologies. These ...

Untapped Potential: Study Shows How Water Systems Can Help Accelerate Renewable Energy Adoption

Sep. 27, 2024 — As power grids rely more on renewable energy sources like wind and solar, balancing energy supply and demand becomes more challenging. A new analysis shows how water systems, such as desalination ...

New Continuous Reaction Process Can Help Turn Plant Waste Into Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Sep. 26, 2024 — Scientists successfully tested a new way to produce sustainable jet fuel from lignin-based agricultural waste. The team's research demonstrated a continuous process that directly converts lignin ...

Manganese Cathodes Could Boost Lithium-Ion Batteries

Sep. 25, 2024 — Manganese is earth-abundant and cheap. A new process could help make it a contender to replace nickel and cobalt in ...

New Origami-Inspired System Turns Flat-Pack Tubes Into Strong Building Materials

Sep. 23, 2024 — Engineers have designed an innovative tubular structural system that can be packed flat for easier transport and pop up into strong building materials. This breakthrough is made possible by a ...

Compact 'Gene Scissor' Enables Effective Genome Editing

Sep. 23, 2024 — CRISPR-Cas is used broadly in research and medicine to edit, insert, delete or regulate genes in organisms. TnpB is an ancestor of this well-known 'gene scissor' but is much smaller and ...

Researchers Discover How Enzymes 'Tie the Knot'

Sep. 20, 2024 — Lasso peptides are natural products made by bacteria. Their unusual lasso shape endows them with remarkable stability, protecting them from extreme conditions. In a new study, researchers have ...

Engineers 3D Print Sturdy Glass Bricks for Building Structures

Sep. 19, 2024 — Engineers developed a new kind of reconfigurable masonry made from 3D-printed, recycled glass. The bricks could be reused many times over in building facades and internal ...

Hexagonal Electrohydraulic Modules Shape-Shift Into Versatile Robots

Sep. 18, 2024 — Scientists at MPI-IS have developed electrically driven robotic components, called HEXEL modules, which can snap together into high-speed reconfigurable robots. Magnets embedded along the outside of ...

Researchers Simplify Design of Optical Atomic Clocks Without Compromising Performance

Sep. 18, 2024 — Researchers demonstrated a new optical atomic clock that uses a single laser and doesn't require cryogenic temperatures. By greatly reducing the size and complexity of atomic clocks without ...

Moving Particle Simulation-Aided Soil Plasticity Analysis for Earth Pressure Balance Shield Tunnelling

Sep. 17, 2024 — Understanding the relationship between plasticity of muddy soil and earth pressure can be crucial to maintaining tunnel stability and predicting ground behavior during earth pressure balance (EPB) ...

Tougher Concrete, Inspired by Bone

Sep. 16, 2024 — Researchers used robotics and additive manufacturing to toughen cement-based material with precisely placed hollow tubes. The result is more than 5 times tougher than ...

Technology Could Boost Renewable Energy Storage

Sep. 16, 2024 — Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are critical to sustaining our planet, but they come with a big challenge: they don't always generate power when it's needed. To make the most ...

New Research Solves Crystal Palace Mystery

Sep. 16, 2024 — New research has solved the mystery of how the Crystal Palace in London, which at the time was the world's largest building, was constructed in only 190 days and completed just in time for the ...

Breakthrough Is a Game Changer in Heart Valve Technology

Sep. 13, 2024 — When a patient needs a new heart valve, the current mechanical and tissue replacements each have strengths and weaknesses. Now, a team of researchers believe they have found a way to harness the ...

Urban Heating and Cooling to Play Substantial Role in Future Energy Demand Under Climate Change

Sep. 13, 2024 — Existing global energy projections underestimate the impact of climate change on urban heating and cooling systems by roughly 50% by 2099 if greenhouse gas emissions remain high, researchers report. ...

Towards the Realization of Compact and Portable Nuclear Clocks

Sep. 13, 2024 — The low-energy excited state of thorium-229 (229Th) isotope nucleus has recently gained much attention owing to it being an ideal candidate for ultra-precise nuclear clocks. Building such ...