Engineering news
Engineering
One-step coating keeps fabrics superhydrophobic after tens of thousands of abrasion cycles
Developing robust water-repellent textiles is critical for outdoor, protective, and industrial applications. However, achieving long-lasting water repellency under mechanical stress has been a major challenge.
11 hours ago
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Engineering
New device and method detect percentage of recycled plastic in plastic products
Recycled plastics are promoted on everything from water bottles and fleece jackets to shopping bags and yogurt cups: "This product is made with XX% recycled plastic." Verifying such claims, however, is another matter because ...
12 hours ago
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Bird‑like robots promise greater flexibility and control than drones
A bird banking in a crosswind doesn't rely on spinning blades. Its wings flex, twist and respond instantly to its environment. Engineers at Rutgers University have taken a major step toward building bird-like drones that ...
15 hours ago
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Insect-inspired robot tracks odors even with only one working 'antenna'
A collaborative research group has developed a bio-inspired robotic system based on insect behavior which can locate odor sources both indoors and outdoors with consistent accuracy, even if one of its two sensors fails. The ...
16 hours ago
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Safety method for testing diffusion welds could clear path for compact nuclear reactors
Compact heat exchangers could enable advanced nuclear reactors that are smaller, more efficient and more affordable—but a critical step in their adoption is verifying they can withstand the high temperatures and possibly ...
11 hours ago
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Engineering
Elders' stories are bringing digital models of lost communities to life
Some of the 3D digital models created by researchers to depict lost neighborhoods in Columbus, Ohio, tell a clear story by placing the "ghosts" of houses that were demolished for freeway construction atop the roadways now ...
18 hours ago
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Engineering
Sound waves could be used to remotely reprogram material stiffness, from implants to robotic muscles
A team of researchers co-led by the University of California San Diego, University of Michigan, and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) at Laboratory of Acoustics of Le Mans University has demonstrated ...
Mar 22, 2026
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Robotics
Simple motor networks mimic human muscle behavior under increasing load
Scientists have developed a network of mechanical motors that mimic the molecular machinery underpinning human muscle contraction. The University of Bristol-led findings, published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface ...
Mar 21, 2026
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Engineering
Magnets turn random snapping in soft metamaterials into repeatable sequences
Cutting patterns into elastic materials allows you to unfold those materials into new shapes, and researchers have now demonstrated the ability to control the sequence in which that unfolding happens by magnetizing the materials. ...
Mar 20, 2026
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Engineering
Engineers devise a way to prevent manufacturing shutdowns during cyberattacks
A professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and a team of Rutgers students are proposing a means to defend manufacturers from cyberattacks—and ensure the uninterrupted production of mission-critical national security ...
Mar 20, 2026
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Engineering
Space-grade perovskite solar cells can survive extreme temperature fluctuations
The Aydin Group at LMU Munich has unveiled a novel strategy for making perovskite solar cells more robust against extreme temperature fluctuations. To this end, the researchers led by Dr. Erkan Aydin, group leader at LMU's ...
Mar 19, 2026
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Engineering
LED method blocks ambient light to keep projection images sharp in bright environments
Projection mapping has the potential to create shared immersive experiences in exhibitions, commercial facilities, and public spaces. However, the technique is highly sensitive to ambient lighting, meaning that clear projected ...
Mar 19, 2026
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Robotics
Wind-powered robot could enable long-term exploration of hostile environments
Researchers at Cranfield University have created WANDER-bot, a low-cost, 3D-printed robot that is powered by wind energy. Designed to spend long durations in hostile, windy environments such as certain deserts, polar regions ...
Mar 19, 2026
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Engineering
Light becomes matter: Shadowless projection mapping makes images indistinguishable from print
Projection mapping is widely known as a lighting technique that overlays images onto buildings or objects to create visual effects. In fields such as extended reality (XR) and vision science, however, researchers have suggested ...
Mar 18, 2026
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Engineering
Wearable thermoelectric technology uses thin films to generate electricity from body heat
Seoul National University College of Engineering has announced that a research team led by Prof. Jeonghun Kwak of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, with co-first authors Dr. Juhyung Park and Dr. Sun Hong ...
Mar 18, 2026
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Engineering
Engineers fabricate inch-scale, ultrahard diamond wafers exceeding 200 GPa hardness
A research team co-led by Professor Yang Lu from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), and Professor Chengming Li from the Institute for Advanced Materials and ...
Mar 18, 2026
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Robotics
Autonomous navigation of microrobots in complex flows demonstrated for the first time
For the first time, researchers at Leipzig University have shown that tiny synthetic microswimmers can perceive their surroundings directly through their own body shape and autonomously adapt to rapidly changing fluid flows. ...
Mar 17, 2026
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Engineering
Dual electrode system cracks seawater electrolysis deposit problem
A research team led by Dr. Ji-Hyung Han from the Convergence Research Center of Sector Coupling & Integration at the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) has developed a new seawater electrolysis system that overcomes ...
Mar 17, 2026
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Robotics
Thermal cameras used in drones and robots can be tricked by heat sources, study finds
As thermal cameras become commonplace on autonomous drones and vehicles, a University of Florida engineering professor is working to make sure they can't be maliciously tricked into "seeing" things that aren't there.
Mar 17, 2026
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Engineering
First-of-its-kind ion pump developed for seawater desalination, energy and biomedical applications
Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, Israel's Tel Aviv University and other institutions have developed a first-of-its-kind membrane through which charged molecules pass using nothing more than a rapidly switching ...
Mar 16, 2026
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Engineering
Engineered yeast gives the US a green edge in the critical minerals market
There is a new, U.S.-based, environmentally friendly method for mining rare-earth elements used in consumer electronics, clean energy, defense and biomedical imaging. By using oxalic acid made by sugar-eating engineered yeast, ...
Mar 16, 2026
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Robotics
4D printing technology uses waste sulfur to enable self-actuating soft robots
A joint research team led by Dr. Dong-Gyun Kim of the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Professor Jeong Jae Wie of Hanyang University, and Professor Yong Seok Kim of Sejong University report the world's ...
Mar 16, 2026
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Engineering
New model tests hundreds of MTA subway flood defenses in one minute
As transit agencies face growing climate risks and limited capital budgets, deciding which flood protection measures to implement—and where—has become a critical challenge. Now, a research team at NYU Tandon School of ...
Mar 16, 2026
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Engineering
No battery needed: Single organic device can act as both indoor solar cell and photodetector
Next-generation optoelectronic systems (devices that convert light to electrical energy) leverage organic semiconductor-based indoor energy-autonomous architectures for cutting-edge applications. Notably, organic semiconductors ...
Mar 14, 2026
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Engineering
Microscopic metal 'thorns' shed light on how lithium-ion batteries short-circuit
For the first time, scientists have observed how tiny metal "thorns" called dendrites sprout inside lithium-ion batteries, which can cause the batteries to short-circuit. Their findings, published in the journal Science, ...
Mar 12, 2026
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