Hi Tech & Innovation news

Electronics & Semiconductors

Shape-morphing brain sensor adheres to curved surfaces for ultrasound neurostimulation

Transcranial focused ultrasound, a non-invasive technique to stimulate specific areas of the brain using high-frequency sound waves, could be a promising treatment strategy for many neurological disorders. Most notably, it ...

Engineering

Scientists develop novel digital encoding system using fluorescent pixels

A team of scientists has developed a novel digital encoding and data storage system based on a combination of microcapsules containing different luminescent dyes and phase change materials. This work represents an important ...

Engineering

Lasers provide boon for manufacturing of ceremonial Thai umbrellas

Seen atop pagodas, inside Buddhist ordination halls, and in royal palaces, the tiered umbrella is one of Thailand's oldest and most sacred ornamental symbols. Constructing one of these ornate pieces, also called chatras, ...

Engineering

New origami-inspired system turns flat-pack tubes into strong building materials

Engineers at RMIT University have designed an innovative tubular structural system that can be packed flat for easier transport and pop up into strong building materials. This breakthrough is made possible by a self-locking ...

Engineering

New device simplifies manipulation of 2D materials for twistronics

A discovery six years ago took the condensed-matter physics world by storm: Ultra-thin carbon stacked in two slightly askew layers became a superconductor, and changing the twist angle between layers could toggle their electrical ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

Japan plans driverless bullet trains

Shinkansen bullet trains could be whizzing around Japan without drivers from the mid 2030s, one of its main rail operators said, motivated in part by the country's demographic crisis.

Engineering

Revolutionizing 3D printing through microwave technology

In the rapidly evolving world of 3D printing, the pursuit of faster, more efficient and versatile production methods is never-ending. Traditional 3D printing techniques, while groundbreaking, are often time-consuming and ...

Engineering

Sandblasting with light

Sandblasting—that was yesterday. Laser beams can now clean and structure surfaces more precisely and cost-effectively and in more environmentally friendly ways than conventional systems. The Fraunhofer Institute for Material ...

Computer Sciences

Designing new quantum materials on the computer

How do you find novel materials with very specific properties—for example, special electronic properties which are needed for quantum computers? This is usually a very complicated task: various compounds are created, in ...

Engineering

First-of-its-kind 3D-printed home blends concrete, wood

Pouring layers of concrete like rows of toothpaste, an industrial-sized 3D printer this week continued adding a second floor to a Houston home that will be the first multistory printed structure in the United States.

Engineering

3D-printed surfaces inspired by nature

To survive in extreme habitats, many animals and plants have developed brilliant abilities that we otherwise only know from superheroes in movies. In most cases, their abilities are based on the extraordinary properties of ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

Pentagon combines sea drones, AI to police Gulf region

Iran's recent seizure of unmanned US Navy boats shined a light on a pioneering Pentagon program to develop networks of air, surface and underwater drones for patrolling large regions, meshing their surveillance with artificial ...

Energy & Green Tech

New energy harvesters show potential that fits like a glove

A group of University of Texas at Dallas researchers and their colleagues have made significant improvements to energy-harvesting yarns they invented called twistrons, which are made from carbon nanotubes and produce electricity ...

Energy & Green Tech

Making hydrogen out of thin air

A team of researchers at the University of Melbourne, working with a colleague from the University of Manchester, has developed a device that can use humidity from the air to make hydrogen gas. In their paper published in ...

Energy & Green Tech

Major leap for stable high-efficiency perovskite solar cells

Solar cells manufactured from materials known as "perovskites" are catching up with the efficiency of traditional silicon-based solar cells. At the same time, they have advantages of low cost and short energy payback time. ...

Engineering

Making nanodiamonds out of bottle plastic

What goes on inside planets like Neptune and Uranus? To find out, an international team headed by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), the University of Rostock and France's École Polytechnique conducted a novel ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

Could neurotechnology make lawyers smarter workers?

Cognitively enhanced lawyers may one day work in our courts. A recent report from The Law Society of England and Wales suggests the rapidly advancing field of neural technology could create "digitally enhanced" super-lawyers ...

Business

Venture into the metaverse on Venice Immersive Island

At the Venice International Film Festival, virtual reality is only a small part of the immersive experience. On a small island just a short water shuttle ride from the main festival headquarters on the Lido, festivalgoers ...