Engineering news
Engineering
Nature-inspired design uses elastic pillars to eject freezing droplets, preventing ice buildup
Water droplets under freezing conditions do not spontaneously detach from surfaces as they do at room temperature due to stronger droplet-surface interaction and lack of an energy transformation pathway. Since accumulated ...
20 hours ago
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Engineering
Self-adjusting shading system mimics pine cones for energy-autonomous weather response
Using pine cones as a model, researchers at the universities of Stuttgart and Freiburg have developed a new, energy-autonomous facade system that adapts passively to the weather. The journal Nature Communications has published ...
21 hours ago
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New framework designs scalable 3D transistors based on 2D semiconductors
Conventional electronics based on silicon are approaching their limits in terms of performance and scalability. In recent years, engineers have thus been trying to introduce alternative designs that could help reduce the ...
Precise positioning in challenging environments: A new anchor approach to ultra-wideband-assisted navigation
A new study has introduced an advanced method for visual-inertial navigation, utilizing a single Ultra-Wideband (UWB) anchor with an unknown position to achieve exceptional positioning accuracy and robustness in environments ...
17 hours ago
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Stress tests for the Swiss power system
Researchers from ETH Zurich and ZHAW Winterthur are simulating in a new study how the future Swiss power system could be structured to withstand a drastic fall in gas and electricity imports. By doing so, they aim to contribute ...
18 hours ago
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Engineering
Engineers 3D print tiny, intricate antennas
Today, nearly all personal electronic devices rely on antennas to send and receive data. In fact, demand is also rising for lightweight antennas for new applications, including the latest in 5G/6G networks, advanced wearable ...
Jan 13, 2025
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Engineering
3D printing shines in overcoming headlight lens manufacturing challenges
A recent study has demonstrated the benefits of using 3D printing to make headlight lenses. The results highlight the ability of additive manufacturing to overcome the limitations of traditional manufacturing methods for ...
Jan 13, 2025
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Engineering
Chemical engineers devise efficient way to pull carbon directly from atmosphere
Until now, carbon capture has focused largely on removing greenhouse gases at their source, such as the emissions of power plants, refineries, concrete plants and other industries.
Jan 13, 2025
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Engineering
Engineers create novel design for electromagnetic induction type vibration energy harvesters
Electromagnetic induction (EI), or the production of voltage across a conductor by varying the magnetic field or by moving the conductor through a fixed magnetic field, is one of the most traditional methods of converting ...
Jan 13, 2025
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Engineering
University researchers patent earthquake-resistant sand-based device
The University of Sharjah has had a patent approved for the invention of a new device which can use sand containers to dissipate seismic attacks and protect buildings from harm in the event of an earthquake.
Jan 13, 2025
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Engineering
The new age of infrastructure maintenance using data from space
The concentration of the population in cities is accelerating, and difficulties in maintaining various infrastructures are arising due to extreme weather. Extensive infrastructures like waste landfill facilities face significant ...
Jan 13, 2025
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Engineering
Sustainable cement: An electrochemical process to help neutralize cement industry CO₂ emissions
Cement production is the second-largest industrial contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, but its carbon footprint could be dramatically reduced with a new low-cost, scalable approach demonstrated at the University ...
Jan 11, 2025
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Engineering
Exploring quinone-based carbon capture: A promising path to safer CO₂ removal
Carbon capture, or the isolation and removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during industrial processes like cement mixing or steel production, is widely regarded as a key component of fighting climate change. Existing ...
Jan 10, 2025
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Engineering
Sustainable building components use passive dehumidification to create a good indoor climate
Whether it's the meeting room of an office building, the exhibition room of a museum or the waiting area of a government office, many people gather in such places, and quickly the air becomes thick. This is partly due to ...
Jan 10, 2025
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Engineering
Light, flexible and radiation-resistant: Organic solar cells for space
Radiation testing suggests that solar cells made from carbon-based, or organic, materials could outperform conventional silicon and gallium arsenide for generating electricity in the final frontier, a study from the University ...
Jan 10, 2025
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Engineering
Untapped potential: Construction materials could store billions of tons of CO₂ annually
Construction materials such as concrete and plastic have the potential to lock away billions of tons of carbon dioxide, according to a new study by civil engineers and Earth systems scientists at the University of California, ...
Jan 9, 2025
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Engineering
3D-printed fungal fuel cell offers biodegradable power solution
A battery that needs feeding instead of charging? This is exactly what Empa researchers have achieved with their 3D-printed, biodegradable fungal battery. The living battery could supply power to sensors for agriculture or ...
Jan 9, 2025
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Engineering
Dialysis-inspired technique 'astonishingly effective' for treating wastewater
Researchers at Rice University, in collaboration with Guangdong University of Technology, have uncovered an innovative approach to treating high-salinity organic wastewaters—streams containing both elevated salt and organic ...
Jan 9, 2025
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Engineering
Farming tech is on display at CES as companies showcase their green innovations and initiatives
When Russell Maichel started growing almonds, walnuts and pistachios in the 1980s, he didn't own a cellphone. Now, a fully autonomous tractor drives through his expansive orchard, spraying pesticides and fertilizer to protect ...
Jan 9, 2025
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Engineering
Thermochromorph: A printmaking technique that transforms images with heat
Researchers in MIT Professor Stefanie Mueller's group have spent much of the last decade developing a variety of computing techniques aimed at reimagining how products and systems are designed. Much in the way that platforms ...
Jan 8, 2025
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Engineering
Low-cost system eliminates need for power-hungry signal transmitters in industrial machine communication
Researchers have found a low-power, inexpensive way for large numbers of devices, such as machines in factories and equipment in labs, to share information by efficiently using signals at untapped high frequencies.
Jan 8, 2025
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Engineering
Advanced membrane technology offers superior treatment for high-salinity wastewater
A research team led by Prof. Wan Yinhua at the Institute of Process Engineering (IPE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed an innovative mix-charged nanofiltration (NF) membrane featuring horizontal charge distribution, ...
Jan 8, 2025
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Engineering
Nuclear fusion could one day be a viable clean energy source, but big engineering challenges stand in the way
The way scientists think about fusion changed forever in 2022, when what some called the experiment of the century demonstrated for the first time that fusion can be a viable source of clean energy.
Jan 8, 2025
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Robotics
Advanced wearable robot eases heavy lifting and other injury-causing tasks for workers
In research published in Advanced Intelligence Systems, scientists have developed an innovative, soft, wearable robot to help workers avoid job-related injuries while lifting, lowering, and carrying objects.
Jan 8, 2025
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Robotics
Quadrotors support enhanced locomotion in a new bipedal robot
Humans and animals are the key inspiration for many robotic systems developed to date, as they possess body structures that innately support efficient locomotion. While many bipedal (i.e., two-legged) robots are humanoids, ...
