Hi Tech & Innovation news

Hi Tech & Innovation

Unhackable metasurface holograms: Security technology can lock information with light color and distance

A research team led by Professor Junsuk Rho at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) has developed a secure hologram platform that operates solely based on the wavelength of light and the spacing between metasurface ...

Engineering

Octopus-inspired 'smart skin' uses 4D printing to morph on cue

Despite the prevalence of synthetic materials across different industries and scientific fields, most are developed to serve a limited set of functions. To address this inflexibility, researchers at Penn State, led by Hongtao ...

Engineering

Multi-layer flax fiber fabric developed for alternative seating furniture with flexible geometries

Seating furniture is frequently not designed for long-term use or simple assembly and disassembly and has a tendency to break after just one move. This does not apply to the benches, chairs, and stools that were created as ...

Engineering

Drone technology set to reshape disaster response, health care, environmental management, farming, cybersecurity

Intelligent drones and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are rapidly evolving from experimental prototypes into essential infrastructure across disaster response, health care delivery, agriculture, logistics, archaeology, environmental ...

Energy & Green Tech

Electric eel biology inspires powerful gel battery

Power sources used in devices found in or around biological tissue must be flexible and nontoxic, while still powerful enough to support demanding technologies such as medical devices or soft robotics. To achieve this balance, ...

Engineering

Origami-inspired ring lets users 'feel' virtual worlds

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are technologies that allow users to immerse themselves in digital worlds or enhance their surroundings with computer-generated filters or images, respectively. Both these technologies ...

Robotics

Handy robot can crawl and pick up objects from multiple angles

Like something out of the Addams Family, scientists have created a detachable robotic hand that can crawl and grab objects. The design enables tasks such as retrieving objects beyond normal reach and performing multi-object ...

Engineering

New 3D-printing extrusion system redefines printing limits

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a novel extrusion system that combines multiple 3D-printing extruders into a single, high-output stream via specially designed nozzles. ...

Robotics

A geometric twist boosts the power of robotic textiles

By rethinking how thin metal threads are woven into a flexible textile, EPFL researchers have created a lightweight fabric capable of lifting over 400 times its own weight. The work advances the development of wearables that ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Reinventing personalized fashion with a new sewing app

Wouldn't it be great if you could just take a picture of yourself with your mobile phone and sew your own clothes—in exactly the right size and fit? The solution is on the way.

Electronics & Semiconductors

Liquid metal powers a whole new kind of motor

Researchers at UNSW have developed a new type of motor that spins, not with rigid components, but with a droplet of liquid metal. The breakthrough could transform soft robotics, flexible electronics, and medical devices.

Energy & Green Tech

A new approach to energy harvesting opened up by the quantum world

Touch the back of a laptop and it often feels warm. This is because part of the energy used for computation and communication escapes to the outside as heat. Yet even this "waste heat" still contains a great deal of usable ...

Electronics & Semiconductors

Soft, 3D transistors could host living cells for bioelectronics

New research from the WISE group (Wearable, Intelligent, Soft Electronics) at The University of Hong Kong (HKU-WISE) has addressed a long-standing bioelectronic challenge: the development of soft, 3D transistors.