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Electronics & Semiconductors

Dog-bone design helps 2D nanoribbon transistors stay fast and efficient as widths shrink

Transistors, small semiconductor-based switches that control the flow of electricity, are central components of all electronic devices, from computers to smartphones, wearables, sensors and smart appliances. Over the past ...

Robotics

Artificial skin enables robots to simultaneously sense temperature and pressure like humans

A research team led by Prof. Seung Hwan Ko of Seoul National University College of Engineering's Department of Mechanical Engineering has developed an artificial skin technology that enables robots to sense temperature and ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

Neural-machine interfaces reveal that brain senses hand movement through grasp synergies

A research team led by Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, in collaboration with Cleveland Clinic, has uncovered new insight into how the brain senses movement. Their findings, published in Science Advances, could ...

Energy & Green Tech

Seaweed-based ingredient helps turn dirt into 3D-printed walls

An ingredient that gives ice cream a creamier texture could make natural earthen materials like clay and sand easier to 3D print into durable structures, according to new research led by scientists at the University of Colorado ...

Engineering

Infrared filter could help detect pollution and disease

Researchers have developed a tiny, electrically tunable infrared filter that could help shrink bulky thermal sensing systems onto portable chips—a technology that could lead to handheld pollution detectors, compact multispectral ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

AI museum brings sights, sounds and smells of the rainforest

The squawks of macaws, the smell of wet earth after rain and a swirl of colors will transport visitors from a Los Angeles museum to the heart of the Amazon rainforest—or rather, an AI version of it.

Hi Tech & Innovation

Paint it black(er): A new way to make cars darker than ever

Scientists have developed a practical way to make ultra-black coatings to meet demand for trendy, luxury vehicles in China. The coating, described in a paper published in Matter & Light, is made up of a composite of carbon ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

Innovations on show at Paris Vivatech fest

Around 15,000 startups from around Europe and beyond are showing off their wares at the VivaTech trade show in Paris until Saturday.

Engineering

Ease of use is key to exoskeleton adoption, engineers show

Wearable exoskeletons can help reduce physical strain in the workplace and protect employees from injury, but the technology has yet to achieve widespread adoption. A new study published in PLOS One by engineers at The University ...

Hi Tech & Innovation

Electric 'nose' can smell when your food's gone bad

Most of us have used the sniff test to decide whether a slightly expired bottle of milk or a week-old box of takeout is still good to eat. But while the human nose can be quite astute, it doesn't always catch everything. ...

Electronics & Semiconductors

Video: Electrical control of a metal-mediated DNA memory

DNA stores our genetic code. What if it could also be integrated with electronics to store and read other information? Scientists have been investigating how to store data in DNA, but retrieving the information remains a ...

Electronics & Semiconductors

New 3D device harnesses living brain cells for computing

Princeton researchers have combined brain cells and advanced electronics into a single 3D device that can be programmed to recognize patterns using computational techniques. Past attempts at using brain cells to do computation ...

Robotics

Tiny, knotted robots jump, fly and plant seeds

When a knot lets go, it doesn't just fall apart. It snaps. That simple observation led Penn Engineers to rethink what a knot can do. Instead of treating it as something that holds tension, they asked a different question: ...

Energy & Green Tech

Creating green materials with light could transform clean energy

Metal-organic frameworks, better known as MOFs, are among the most intensely studied materials for addressing major environmental challenges. Their highly ordered, ultra-porous architecture enables applications ranging from ...

Energy & Green Tech

Colored films enable patterns on photovoltaic modules

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have succeeded in creating colored films with transparent cutouts, thereby producing realistic-looking designs on photovoltaic modules. In this way, roof ...

Electronics & Semiconductors

Lasers turn parchment paper into high-performance electronic circuits

What if the next generation of disposable electronics—the sensors in your food packaging, the diagnostic strips in a medical clinic, the environmental monitors scattered across a farm—were built not on silicon or plastic, ...