Engineering news

Engineering

Pagoda-inspired floors reduce tower sway while cutting material needs

Imperial and Arup pioneer a new approach to designing tall buildings that uses the building's own weight to reduce movement in high winds and earthquakes. Inspired by traditional Japanese pagodas, it makes towers safer while ...

Engineering

Generative AI: Modeling a proper cuppa from a proper pot

The Yixing Zisha teapot sits neatly at the intersection of art, engineering and heritage. As such, it makes for an intriguing test case for a technology increasingly taking on creative tasks across almost every field of human ...

Engineering

Neutron imaging peers inside iron redox flow batteries

A renewable energy future will rely on cheap and scalable battery technologies. A promising option is an all-iron redox flow battery, which uses iron—an abundant, low-cost, and safe material. Battery performance depends on ...

Engineering

Waste heat becomes cooling energy: Research team develops next-generation heat pump system

A next-generation heat pump system that can provide cooling using low-temperature waste heat of approximately 40°C (104°F) from factories and data centers has been developed. Unlike conventional air conditioning systems, ...

Engineering

A cooling ceramic wall to combat urban heat

In light of rising temperatures and more frequent heat waves, the Institute of Architecture and Media at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) is presenting an energy-efficient solution to urban heat islands: 3D-printed ...

Engineering

New system detects small defects for packaging seals

Every year, billions of products are sealed in film packaging. This packaging must be reliably leakproof, especially in regulated sectors such as in the medical and food industry. In the OCTInline project, researchers at ...

Engineering

Scientists map moon regolith to aid lunar bases

A strong foundation is key to any building, and this doesn't apply only to construction on Earth. As humanity slowly expands throughout the many worlds of our solar system, and possibly beyond, understanding planetary surfaces ...

Robotics

Porous 3D-printed feet cut quadruped robot power use

Quadruped robots, which walk on four legs, are increasingly used for tasks such as inspection, transportation and search-and-rescue operations. However, their repeated leg movements consume far more energy than the rolling ...

Engineering

Study advances solar desalination with multifunctional membrane

As the world's population grows and industry expands, many countries in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia are facing a freshwater scarcity crisis. Finding sustainable ways to produce clean water has become an urgent ...

Engineering

Why making lighter and better batteries takes time

Lithium-ion batteries have revolutionized our lives since they first came onto the market in the early 1990s. They are now used in all sorts of devices, such as cellphones, laptops and electric vehicles.

Engineering

Charging drones mid-flight with lasers

Wireless charging is nothing new for our phones, watches, earbuds and other tech. Now, researchers want to bring wireless power to the skies—recharging drones in flight by beaming a laser under their wings.

Engineering

Solar-powered gel pulls drinking water from the air

Scientists in recent years have sought to efficiently draw moisture from ambient air and condense it into potable water using materials made of salt and absorbent polymers. But these materials, known as hydrogels, until now ...

Engineering

Cooling without pumps: New measurement data for modular reactors

Passive cooling systems for nuclear power plants operate without pumps or electricity: They rely solely on physical effects such as density differences to dissipate heat. Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have ...

Engineering

Scientists program materials just by spinning them

There is something universally appealing about the slap bracelet, and the way a simple tap causes it to switch between a straight shape and a curled one. What you probably didn't know is that a slap bracelet's satisfying ...

Engineering

Tactile sensor transforms tool wear detection in machining

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed a tool condition monitoring system that can detect the wear of cutting tools used in machining. On-machine feedback helps manufacturers ...