Engineering news

Engineering

Field demonstration advances on-site recycling for end-of-life railway concrete sleepers

The Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI) conducted a field demonstration May 13 at a concrete sleeper storage site near Gimyujeong Station in Chuncheon for railway industry officials and other stakeholders, showcasing ...

Engineering

Small modular reactor potential lies in industry, not grid power

A technoeconomic assessment of small modular reactor (SMR) development across the United States suggests stakeholders should shift focus from the power sector to industry, according to a University of Michigan Engineering ...

Engineering

Ultrathin film blocks electromagnetic waves while masking infrared heat

A research team led by Dr. Taehoon Kim of the Composites & Convergence Materials Research Division at the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), collaborated with research teams led by Dr. Seon Joon Kim and Dr. Jaewoo ...

Engineering

Insect-inspired corrugations could help drones fly in Mars-like thin air

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have used an evolutionary algorithm to identify optimal shapes for ultra-thin, bio-inspired corrugated airfoils, the two-dimensional cut-throughs of wings. Lightweight membrane-like ...

Engineering

Using smartphones to improve disaster search and rescue

When a natural disaster strikes, time is of the essence if people are trapped under rubble. Conventional search-and-rescue methods use radar-based detection or employ acoustics that rely on sounds made by victims.

Engineering

Space shuttle lessons: Backtracks can create breakthroughs

What does the space shuttle have in common with the original iPhone? According to Francisco Polidoro Jr., professor of management of Texas McCombs, they're both breakthrough inventions that integrate webs of interdependent ...

Engineering

Aluminum nitride transistor advances next-gen RF electronics

Cornell researchers have developed a new transistor architecture that could reshape how high-power wireless electronics are engineered, while also addressing supply chain vulnerabilities for a critical semiconductor material.

Robotics

Aerial microrobot can fly as fast as a bumblebee

In the future, tiny flying robots could be deployed to aid in the search for survivors trapped beneath the rubble after a devastating earthquake. Like real insects, these robots could flit through tight spaces larger robots ...

Engineering

Energy-efficient process delivers rare-earth element for magnets

Neodymium is a rare-earth element essential for producing the strongest permanent magnets, which are widespread in defense technologies, hard drives, medical imaging devices, electric vehicle motors, wind turbines and more. ...

Engineering

A metamaterial that bridges air and water

Have you ever tried yelling underwater? Not only is it difficult to make the noise, but it is rarely audible to those outside of the water. Sound travels differently in mediums of different densities, and that causes a high ...

Robotics

Artificial tendons give muscle-powered robots a boost

Our muscles are nature's actuators. The sinewy tissue is what generates the forces that make our bodies move. In recent years, engineers have used real muscle tissue to actuate "biohybrid robots" made from both living tissue ...