https://techxplore.com/ en-us Tech Xplore internet news portal provides the latest news on electronics, technology, and engineering. Safer and more environmentally friendly indoor solar panels could soon help power electronics in homes and offices, thanks to University of Queensland researchers. A team of chemical engineers led by UQ's Dr. Miaoqiang Lyu and Professor Lianzhou Wang have developed a new fabrication method that eliminates the need for toxic lead and other hazardous solvents in perovskite indoor solar panels. The findings are published in the journal ACS Energy Letters. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-toxic-solar-panels-indoors.html Engineering Thu, 30 Apr 2026 17:20:05 EDT news696787201 Halide perovskites are gaining ground on silicon as a critical material for solar cell technologies: A new study published in the journal Science reports a method to make perovskite-based photovoltaics more durable, allowing the films to attain the desirable black phase of crystal configuration quicker and at lower temperatures while also making it harder to degrade into the inactive yellow phase. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-perovskite-solar-cells-yellow-phase.html Engineering Thu, 30 Apr 2026 16:40:09 EDT news696784261 Generative AI tools are rapidly transforming how software is built—and raising new risks in the process, according to a new TechBrief from the Association for Computing Machinery's Technology Policy Council (TPC) on the rise of "vibe coding." https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-ai-impacting-software.html Machine learning & AI Thu, 30 Apr 2026 16:40:06 EDT news696777389 On average, car crashes cause more than 40,000 deaths per year in the United States. Technologies like seat belts, advanced airbags, and automated braking systems have improved car driver and passenger safety, but pedestrian deaths due to crashes have actually increased by 48% over the last decade, reaching about 7,500 fatalities in 2022. Transportation researchers comb through police crash reports to identify infrastructure countermeasures that will help in the greatest number of cases. However, sometimes improving the average situation isn't enough. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-pedestrian-deaths-ai-rare-patterns.html Automotive Thu, 30 Apr 2026 16:20:04 EDT news696781547 As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes embedded in critical decisions about health, safety, finance, and governance, a key challenge is no longer whether people and AI will collaborate, but rather how to structure this collaboration to achieve true complementarity. In the new paper, "Toward a Science of Human–AI Teaming for Decision Making: A Complementarity Framework," researchers present a framework for understanding and designing human–AI teams for decision making. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-intelligence-framework-human-ai-teams.html Business Thu, 30 Apr 2026 16:00:03 EDT news696783482 New research from West Virginia University shows that as generative artificial intelligence begins to show up in courtrooms across the country, judges aren't rushing to hand over the gavel. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-legal-expert-cautiously-ai-human.html Machine learning & AI Thu, 30 Apr 2026 15:40:05 EDT news696782221 Research conducted by Dr. Sanaz Taheri Boshrooyeh, a Ph.D. graduate of Koç University, Computer Science and Engineering Program, together with Prof. Dr. Alptekin Küpçü and Prof. Dr. Öznur Özkasap, has led to the development of a new scalable method designed to protect user privacy on online platforms that rely on invitation-based registration. The system, called "Anonyma," prevents even system administrators from identifying who invited a particular user to join the platform, addressing a significant privacy concern in such systems. The research and analysis results were published in Journal of Network and Computer Applications. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-method-privacy-online-platforms.html Computer Sciences Thu, 30 Apr 2026 15:00:01 EDT news696779161 It's been said that "writing about music is like dancing about architecture." Writing, or talking, about dancing can be similarly futile. A Cornell doctoral student has helped develop a tool that lets dancers use video and extended reality (XR) headsets to create an immersive environment for analyzing and refining their movements. In other words, dancers can actually dance about dancing. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-reality-tool-dancers-movement.html Software Thu, 30 Apr 2026 13:40:09 EDT news696772921 Artificial intelligence that cannot explain how it makes decisions—often called "black box" AI—could soon be replaced by more transparent systems, research suggests. A study by Loughborough University, published in Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena, outlines a new mathematical blueprint for building AI that can reveal how it learns, remembers, and makes decisions. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-black-ai-scientists-blueprint-transparent.html Computer Sciences Thu, 30 Apr 2026 13:20:02 EDT news696772801 A new manufacturing technology has been developed for the continuous production of large-area flexible printed circuit boards (FPCBs). As demand grows for lightweight and long flexible cables capable of replacing conventional heavy wire harnesses amid the increasing size of electric vehicle batteries, this research establishes a foundation for the stable production of large-area circuit boards through a continuous manufacturing process. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-lamination-stable-production-large-area.html Engineering Thu, 30 Apr 2026 13:00:06 EDT news696772023 Photreon, a start-up project at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), aims to boost the hydrogen economy with mass-produced photoreactor panels that require no electrolyzers, consume no electricity, and do not need a grid connection. With the panels, hydrogen can be produced cost-effectively in a scalable manner from sunlight and water—suitable for both distributed applications and large-scale systems in sunny regions. During the Hannover Messe, April 20–24, 2026, photreon will be presenting at the KIT booth (Hall 11, Booth B06). https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-green-hydrogen-sun.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 30 Apr 2026 12:40:05 EDT news696769997 Engineering researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a mathematical framework that can be used to help hunger-relief organizations get food to households that need it more efficiently than conventional methods. The advance, which has already been incorporated into an app, could also lead to improved efficiency for other businesses that face logistical challenges associated with deliveries and volunteer assignments. The paper, "Anticipatory Monte Carlo Tree Search–Based Optimization for Stochastic Dynamic Routing with Time Windows," is published in the journal Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-tool-hunger-relief-groups-food.html Engineering Thu, 30 Apr 2026 12:20:06 EDT news696769502 Automated vehicles have been steadily rolling out in U.S. cities, but scaled deployment still faces a daunting challenge: proving the technology can safely navigate the complexity of real-world driving. Virginia Tech researchers estimate that traditional testing methods could take decades—or hundreds of millions of driving miles—to validate the full range of situations an automated vehicle may encounter. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-ultimate-driver-automated-vehicles.html Engineering Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:20:10 EDT news696765721 What happens when natural selection, the most powerful process driving change in the living world, shapes artificial intelligence (AI), perhaps the most potent technology humanity has invented to date? https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-evolvable-ai-brink-major-evolutionary.html Machine learning & AI Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:20:03 EDT news696765422 For many people, the rollout of smart technology across the UK's road network has been clouded by fears about the removal of traffic-free safety lanes. Traditionally, motorway hard shoulders offered motorists a safe haven into which they could steer stricken vehicles. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-smart-motorways-halted-safety-future.html Automotive Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:00:13 EDT news696764719 The new trend of "vibe coding" allows people to program software without writing a single line of code. Now, a new study by ETH Zurich published in the Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems has shown that users who want to develop apps and programs successfully with AI need not only a capacity for clear written expression, but also a basic knowledge of computer science. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-skills-people-successfully-ai.html Computer Sciences Thu, 30 Apr 2026 10:20:04 EDT news696762426 In today's hospitals and clinics, a dermatologist may use an artificial intelligence model for classifying skin lesions to assess if the lesion is at risk of developing into a cancer or if it is benign. But if the model is biased toward certain skin tones, it could fail to identify a high-risk patient. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-whac-mole-dilemma-smarter-debias.html Computer Sciences Thu, 30 Apr 2026 09:20:03 EDT news696758402 There was "no meaningful shift" away from big tech platforms like TikTok and Instagram in the immediate wake of Australia's world-leading teen social media ban, government documents obtained by AFP show. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-meaningful-shift-social-media-sites.html Internet Thu, 30 Apr 2026 07:00:03 EDT news696741760 Researchers have identified previously unknown materials, including a new form of a widely studied clean-energy material, by carefully controlling and tracking how molecular precursors break down during heating. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-overlooked-materials-reshape-solar-fuel.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 30 Apr 2026 05:00:05 EDT news696679756 Evolutionary biology holds clues for the future of AI, argue researchers from the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Eötvös Loránd University, and the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts. In a new Perspective published April 20 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team warn that evolvable AI (eAI) systems that can undergo Darwinian evolution may soon emerge, and they will generate special risks that can be understood, and mitigated, based on insights from evolutionary biology. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-evolving-ai-agi-hard.html Security Wed, 29 Apr 2026 17:20:09 EDT news696701761 Researchers at Seoul National University have developed a new class of ultralight structural materials that combine the load-bearing strength of engineering materials with the weight of foam. Using a method called 3D node winding, the team created mesoscale carbon fiber lattices that achieve aluminum-level performance on a strength-to-weight basis while weighing as little as 1/100 the weight of aluminum. The findings, published in Nature Communications, demonstrate a new way to build strong, lightweight structures without the need for joints or layered assembly. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-ultralight-carbon-fiber-lattices-aluminum.html Engineering Wed, 29 Apr 2026 16:40:01 EDT news696699182 The effort to "align" AI with human values is falling dangerously short in robotic systems, according to researchers from Penn Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and the University of Oxford. In a new paper appearing in Science Robotics, the researchers highlight the need to develop more thorough frameworks for ensuring that AI-enabled robots embody a core principle famously articulated by science fiction author Isaac Asimov: "A robot may not injure a human being." https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-ai-enabled-robots-safer.html Robotics Wed, 29 Apr 2026 16:26:50 EDT news696698762 Diamond coatings are considered a key technology for numerous industrial applications—from power electronics to optics to sensors. To enable these high-performance coatings to fully realize their potential, uniformity is crucial. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST have developed a new measurement and analysis method that allows the optical constants of large-scale diamond films to be determined with high precision and efficiency. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-precise-method-diamond-coatings.html Engineering Wed, 29 Apr 2026 16:00:02 EDT news696695761 Representing the pathway of participants in a study is a key element in clinical and epidemiological research. Flow diagrams are the standard tool to do so, as they allow the different stages of the process to be clearly visualized, from initial selection to final analysis, following international guidelines such as CONSORT or STROBE. However, their creation is often laborious. It usually involves manually entering data or programming complex structures, which makes reproducibility more difficult and may increase the risk of errors. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-package-generation-flowcharts.html Software Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:40:03 EDT news696695642 Major AI platforms, including OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as social apps like Replika and Character.ai, are increasingly designing chatbots to be warm, friendly, and empathetic. However, new research from the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford finds that chatbots trained to sound warmer and more empathetic are significantly more likely to make factual errors and agree with false beliefs. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-friendlier-ai-backfire.html Consumer & Gadgets Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:20:03 EDT news696693463 There is no question that violin-making is an art form. It requires a musician's ear, a craftsperson's skill, and a historian's appreciation of lessons learned over time. Making a violin also takes trust: Violin makers (luthiers) often must wait until the instrument is finished before they can hear how all their hard work will sound. But a new tool developed by MIT engineers could help luthiers play around with a violin's design and tweak its sound even before a single part is carved. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-virtual-violin-realistic-wood.html Engineering Wed, 29 Apr 2026 14:40:08 EDT news696691981 Nature is replete with slender filaments that bend and coil—from climbing grape vines, to folded proteins, to elephant trunks that can pick up a peanut but also take down a tree. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-programmable-3d-filaments-mimic-artificial.html Engineering Wed, 29 Apr 2026 14:20:08 EDT news696690961 A research team led by Dr. Nam Ki-Hun at the Battery Materials and Process Research Center of the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) has successfully developed a nano-tin (Sn) interlayer control technology to address interfacial instability between the lithium metal anode and solid electrolyte, a critical hurdle to the commercialization of all-solid-state batteries, often hailed as the next generation of batteries. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-nano-tin-interlayer-steadies-solid.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:20:09 EDT news696687061 Uber on Wednesday unveiled a new feature allowing users to book a hotel room directly from its app, the latest step in its push to become a one-stop shop for everyday needs. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-uber-hotel-app.html Automotive Wed, 29 Apr 2026 12:52:04 EDT news696685892 If a city's suburban railway network is expanded, additional flats are likely to be built in an agglomeration that is better connected as a result. The opposite also holds true: If new buildings spring up like mushrooms in a suburb, this will call for an expansion of the transport infrastructure. Urban development and transport therefore have a mutual relationship. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-traffic-roads.html Engineering Wed, 29 Apr 2026 12:40:05 EDT news696684721