Rising from the ashes, a hidden supply of critical elements emerges
Anuja Tripathi grew up in Kanpur, India, where coal fly ash from a nearby power plant coated rooftops, windowsills and laundry hung outside to dry.
Jun 10, 2026
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Engineering
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Engineering
Low-water lithium extraction method achieves 95% recovery efficiency from brine salts
Engineers have developed a new technology that enables the direct extraction of lithium from solid salt mixtures derived from brines, offering a low-water, low-energy alternative to conventional lithium extraction methods.
Jun 10, 2026
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Robotics
Bike robot lands first unassisted front flip thanks to Ph.D. student
A bicycle robot from the Robotics and AI Institute (RAI) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has become the first to perform an unassisted acrobatic front flip. RAI calls the bicycle robot an ultra-mobility vehicle (UMV). It can ...
Jun 10, 2026
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Engineering
Machine learning predicts wind shear 15 seconds ahead with less than 5% error
Wind shear, a sudden change in wind speed or direction, is a major cause of aviation incidents; it was responsible for 18% of aviation accidents in 2022. Predicting wind shear events is a priority for aviation safety because ...
Jun 9, 2026
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Engineering
Artificial eyes could bring human-like sight to self-driving cars and robots
Although self-driving cars and sophisticated robots use advanced cameras, computer algorithms and artificial intelligence to perceive their surroundings, these artificial eyes struggle to remain reliable in mixed lighting ...
Jun 9, 2026
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Engineering
Cheaper brass coatings for aircraft parts and pipelines move closer to real-world field repairs
Researchers from Skoltech—a VEB.RF group institution—have, for the first time, deposited a brass-based composite coating with reinforcing particles on a stainless steel part using low-pressure cold spraying. The technique ...
Jun 8, 2026
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Engineering
Inclined kirigami cuts unlock twist when stretched, opening path to soft robots
Kirigami is a variation on the Japanese art of origami, or paper folding, in which cuts are used to create three-dimensional structures—for example, pop-up cards created from a sheet of paper. Kirigami also has applications ...
Jun 8, 2026
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Robotics
Autonomous drone can deliver life jackets to people that fall overboard
It's a race against the clock when someone falls overboard: People's chances of being found before they drown from exhaustion or freeze to death dwindle by the minute. Rescue efforts are often hampered by the time it takes ...
Jun 8, 2026
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Robotics
Robotic arm inspired by octopus uses tactile sensors in suction cups for autonomous underwater grasping
The oceans hide some of the most sophisticated solutions nature has ever developed and are an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the robotics of the future. The Bioinspired Soft Robotics research unit, coordinated by ...
Jun 8, 2026
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Engineering
NASA's X-59 aircraft flies supersonic for first time
NASA's experimental X-59 aircraft marked a major milestone Friday, June 5, when it flew faster than the speed of sound for the first time, setting the stage for demonstrating its quiet supersonic capabilities later this year.
Jun 8, 2026
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