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Engineering
Controlled crumples give inflatable membranes multiple stable shapes for adaptable designs
Inflatable structures are all around us, from pool floaties and archways at the Tour de France to life-saving emergency resuscitators and vehicle airbags. As useful as these structures are, they are limited to only two stable ...
12 hours ago
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Robotics
Light-powered soft robots that can keep jumping forever
Researchers from North Carolina State University have created teardrop-shaped soft robots that leap upward or forward when exposed to infrared light—and will keep jumping as long as the light is present. The work demonstrates ...
Aug 28, 2026
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A humanoid robot's social expressiveness may backfire when it makes mistakes
For robots to be successfully deployed in real-world environments, humans should trust them enough to cooperate with them. Some roboticists have been trying to determine whether users perceive robots that exhibit socially ...
New transistor brings high voltage to microchip scale
Inside every electronic device, the flow of electricity is controlled by a switch called a transistor. For decades, these switches were made from silicon. More recently, engineers have turned to a material called gallium ...
Aug 28, 2026
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Two ultrathin films turn low-grade heat into cooling without an electric motor
Refrigerators, air-conditioning systems and data centers consume enormous amounts of electricity, and cooling demand is constantly rising. A research team from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the University ...
Aug 28, 2026
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Hardware
Magnetic memory could make edge AI faster while reducing energy use
Texas engineers teamed up with the world's largest semiconductor foundry to fabricate and test an emerging memory technology that could help meet the increasing energy demand of artificial intelligence.
Aug 28, 2026
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Hi Tech & Innovation
Shared-memory AI system lets microscope components coordinate in real time
Arco Bast studies how neurons communicate. Earlier this year, the Janelia postdoc encountered a more mechanical version of the same problem: The components of his custom microscope could not easily communicate with one another.
Aug 28, 2026
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Technology news
Consumer & Gadgets
Brain-reading earbuds are already here, prompting urgent questions about children and neurodata
While it may sound like science fiction, earbuds that read brain activity are already on sale. Wearable technology company Neurable claims that its headphones, equipped with electroencephalography (EEG) sensors, can track ...
Aug 28, 2026
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Engineering
Giving solid-state batteries a squeeze keeps them from short-circuiting
Lithium-ion batteries power transportation and grid storage and enable our digital lives, but these ubiquitous batteries require frequent recharging and can fail over time. To make batteries more reliable and longer-lasting, ...
Aug 28, 2026
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Computer Sciences
Multiple cameras can better track a person's identity using geometry and appearance
By combining two complementary clues—camera geometry and visual appearance—researchers at the Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, developed a new approach for preserving identities across multiple cameras. The method uses ...
Aug 28, 2026
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Energy & Green Tech
Single-step process could overcome key challenge in recycling of spent EV batteries
As the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) continues to grow, the disposal of spent EV batteries is emerging as a major social and environmental challenge. Wastewater generated during conventional battery recycling processes ...
Aug 28, 2026
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Machine learning & AI
How AI could uncover the hidden ways people work together
Yankai Wang, a Ph.D. student in organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business, was reading a paper about how transformers—the architecture behind large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Claude—might ...
Aug 28, 2026
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Robotics
From cartwheels to backflips, motion-imitation framework teaches three robots dynamic movements
Legged robots, robotic systems with legs that typically resemble those of animals or humans, could be advantageous for completing tasks in home environments or populated, dynamic spaces. These robots may look like humans ...
Electronics & Semiconductors
Beyond the gold standard: An ultrathin chromium layer makes durable perovskite solar cells more affordable
Gold has been the safe choice for perovskite solar cells. We found a way to stop needing it.
Electronics & Semiconductors
Nanoscale transistors achieve lower contact resistance with stepwise evaporation method
Metals, semiconductors and insulators are fundamental components of modern electronics. However, efforts to improve device performance have largely focused on semiconductor quality, while metal crystallinity has received ...
Aug 27, 2026
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Computer Sciences
AI doesn't just play better chess—it manages complexity differently
For decades, chess has served as a laboratory for studying intelligence and decision-making. It is well established that today's chess engines can outperform even the strongest grandmasters. But far less is understood about ...
Aug 27, 2026
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Robotics
Six-legged robot learns to walk from a stick insect
Do you ever see an ant skittering across your kitchen counter and wonder how this little bug overcame all the obstacles in your home just to get there? Insects use their tiny nervous systems to walk with surprising dexterity—a ...
Aug 27, 2026
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