Engineering news

Engineering

Turning pulp mills into next-generation biorefineries

Georgia's $41 billion forest products industry needs a transformation, and a Georgia Tech research team is reimagining how pulp mills use energy and what they can make from their byproduct streams. For nearly a decade, Sankar ...

Engineering

Scientists create interactive screens that can appear on demand

Imagine reaching for a record or glancing at a map and seeing a display bloom from a small box, offering interactive guidance—and then vanishing moments later. A new device, inspired by science fiction and designed by computer ...

Engineering

Snapping knits turn fabric into switches that count steps and light LEDs

Knitting has come a long way from sweaters and blankets. Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have turned everyday knitting into a powerful platform for making shape-shifting ...

Engineering

Human-machine learning boosts noninvasive brain-computer control in untrained users

Implantable devices in the brain have been used for about 30 years to assist people with disabilities in completing motor tasks. However, the devices are simply not accessible to the vast majority of people who need help. ...

Engineering

Smaller homes could cut Europe's CO₂ building emissions

Buildings are responsible for around 40% of CO2 emissions in the European Union. This means the building sector has a central role to play in achieving the EU's climate targets by 2050. An EU research project involving Graz ...

Engineering

Sand could be key to safer, stronger structures

Engineers have been working for centuries to protect buildings, bridges and other structures from damage caused by severe weather and natural hazards, but one of the best methods may begin with sand, according to a newly ...

Engineering

Eco-friendly plastic plates could replace steel bars in concrete

Researchers at the University of Sharjah have demonstrated that concrete can be reinforced using polymer plates instead of steel bars, with the new material showing superior strength, ductility, and energy dissipation. The ...

Engineering

Smart yarn tracks muscle activity in the body

Created from noise-resistant, conductive threads, a high-tech new smart fabric could find uses in health monitoring, sports performance and rehabilitation. The work is published in the journal Science Advances.

Engineering

Strengthening wood with needle and thread

Wood laminates are used in many different ways, for example, in the manufacture of skis and snowboards or in components for vehicle interiors. However, their weight advantages for lightweight construction also have disadvantages. ...

Engineering

What 100,000 simulations reveal about the US power grid

On August 13, 2003, a single transmission line near Cleveland, Ohio, sags into an overgrown tree limb and short circuits. Within minutes, nearby lines overload and trip one after another, triggering cascading failures across ...

Engineering

Why solid-state batteries keep short-circuiting

Batteries that use solid metal as their charge-carrying electrolyte could potentially be a safer and far more energy-dense alternative to lithium-ion batteries. Unfortunately, these solid-state batteries have been plagued ...

Engineering

Harvesting heat and electricity from the sun, when you need it

Solar energy is abundant and frustratingly ill-timed. A sunbeam can become either electricity (useful for running modern life) or heat (useful for keeping spaces warm). But conventional solar hardware is single-minded: Photovoltaic ...