https://techxplore.com/ en-us Tech Xplore internet news portal provides the latest news on electronics, technology, and engineering. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have found that while artificial intelligence can spin increasingly convincing stories, its characters may still lack one of the qualities that make human-written fiction memorable: mystery. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ai-fiction-flat-characters-lack.html Consumer & Gadgets Wed, 01 Jul 2026 17:20:07 EDT news702144781 Like a delicate fabric that becomes damaged during drying, a promising next-generation battery material has faced an unexpected challenge: Removing water to improve performance can actually shorten battery life. Now, a Korean research team has identified surface oxidation occurring during the dehydration process as the true cause of performance degradation and developed a new dehydration process to overcome it. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-surface-oxidation-prussian-blue-battery.html Engineering Wed, 01 Jul 2026 16:40:04 EDT news702141061 Human-AI relationships are no longer confined to the domain of science fiction. As the technology has developed, AI chatbots have evolved from playing a role in search engines and image-generation tools into confidants, therapists and even romantic partners. It's a radical evolution of human-AI interactions that brings with it new risks in how it is reshaping the way we think and talk about relationships, including with ourselves, finds new research published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ai-human-relationships-real.html Consumer & Gadgets Wed, 01 Jul 2026 16:20:08 EDT news702140763 A Berlin-based team from HZB and Center for the Science of Materials Berlin (CSMB) at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin has set a new record for a tandem solar cell. Using a combination of a CIGS semiconductor layer and perovskite, along with several optimized intermediate layers, the team converted 25.5% of sunlight into electrical energy. The previous record for this combination of materials and this size cell had stood at 24.6%. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-tandem-solar-cell-efficiency-cigs.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 01 Jul 2026 16:00:07 EDT news702136900 In the underwater world, sound is the primary means of communication, as light quickly fades. A Korean research team has developed an underwater acoustic lens capable of focusing sound precisely at a desired point while reducing weight by about 40% compared with conventional designs. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-cavity-based-underwater-lens-focuses.html Engineering Wed, 01 Jul 2026 15:20:01 EDT news702136381 The supply of lithium—the battery material that keeps digital devices humming, EVs racing and renewable energy on the grid—will not meet even half the expected demand by 2040. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-electrochemical-major-harvesting-vital-battery.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 01 Jul 2026 15:00:08 EDT news702136022 In horror movies, music is a dead giveaway. Tension builds with each note, and you brace for the inevitable jump scare. The same sense of anticipation has taken a leading role in an unlikely venue: a Georgia Tech robotics lab. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-horror-movie-cue-wearable-robot.html Robotics Wed, 01 Jul 2026 14:40:01 EDT news702135423 Researchers from North Carolina State University and Rice University have created a nontoxic, stretchable battery that operates by extracting moisture from the ambient environment—even in climates as dry as the desert. The batteries could be useful in Internet of Things (IoT) applications ranging from wearables to advanced surveillance monitors with built-in kill switches. The study is published in the journal Science Advances. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-moisture-driven-tech-power-green.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 01 Jul 2026 14:00:05 EDT news702053590 Artificial intelligence doesn't just learn how humans talk. It may also be learning who gets listened to. A new study from researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that large language models, the technology behind popular AI chatbots, change the way they communicate depending on the social role they're assigned in a conversation. When cast as a "boss," they adopt different language patterns. When positioned as a subordinate, they become more accommodating, sometimes in ways that could undermine safety. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ai-behavior-authority-risky.html Security Wed, 01 Jul 2026 13:40:12 EDT news702131461 Electric vehicle batteries could last twice as long, preventing costly replacement, with a new approach to heating and cooling the batteries, according to a study led by University of Michigan Engineering. The system is designed to work with voltage and charging data that today's battery management systems already collect, rather than requiring new sensors inside the battery. It is best suited for lower-power Level 1 and Level 2 charging, which is common at homes, workplaces and public parking areas, and is expected to cover most EV charging demand. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-smarter-diagnostics-silicon-ev-batteries.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 01 Jul 2026 12:40:09 EDT news702127861 A new approach to battery recycling could turn today's electric vehicle waste into the building blocks of tomorrow's higher-performing batteries. Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed an environmentally friendly method to upcycle cathodes from used lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries into a more powerful battery material known as lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP), which can store more energy than LFP. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-spent-ev-batteries-life-higher.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 01 Jul 2026 11:40:08 EDT news702122515 Most prosthetic hands today still struggle with a fundamental problem: No two amputees are the same, yet most devices are designed as if they are. That mismatch makes natural, intuitive control difficult, often turning what should feel like a seamless extension of the body into something that requires constant learning and adjustment. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-custom-prosthetic-user-decoding-gestures.html Engineering Wed, 01 Jul 2026 11:00:20 EDT news702121762 Inside a second-floor lab at CU Boulder, Jack Manning and Jed Brubaker are resurrecting the dead. As the researchers look on, study volunteers log in to Zoom and chat with AI-generated representations of lost grandparents, siblings, parents and family friends. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-chat-ai-ghost-explores.html Machine learning & AI Wed, 01 Jul 2026 07:00:05 EDT news702103861 Aquifer-based geothermal systems, known as aquifer thermal energy storage, could help ease the environmental stress stemming from artificial intelligence data centers in the United States. Researchers at the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are proposing a new way to keep those facilities cool by using the naturally stable underground temperatures and groundwater as a giant natural "thermal battery." https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-aquifer-thermal-batteries-ai-center.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 30 Jun 2026 16:00:13 EDT news702053281 Researchers have developed a new LiDAR approach that makes it possible to image small objects with much greater precision and accuracy than conventional LiDAR. The method could be useful for acquiring noncontact measurements of critical parts or features during manufacturing. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-lidar-approach-factory-tiny-hard.html Engineering Tue, 30 Jun 2026 14:00:02 EDT news702045062 Two-wheeled vehicles with conventional stability-control systems must lean to change direction, making it difficult for rider-assistance systems to determine whether a rider is intentionally cornering or experiencing instability that could lead to a fall. To address this challenge, researchers from Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT), Japan, have developed a rider-intent-aware control system that can distinguish between the two and provide stabilization support only when needed. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-smart-bicycle-riders-falling.html Consumer & Gadgets Tue, 30 Jun 2026 13:40:05 EDT news702044701 Researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso have developed a way to 3D-print an essential battery component in nearly any shape. Their innovation could free engineers from the constraints of standard rechargeable battery sizes and allow energy storage to be built directly into the devices the batteries power. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-3d-battery-electrolyte-devices-power.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 30 Jun 2026 12:20:10 EDT news702039001 Data centers, whose expansion is being fueled dramatically by the artificial intelligence boom, have a far bigger carbon footprint than previously estimated, a study said Tuesday. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-centers-emit.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 30 Jun 2026 12:01:20 EDT news702039641 Today's antipersonnel land mines are small and often have plastic casings that standard metal detectors cannot register. Geophysical techniques such as ground-penetrating radar, magnetometry and electromagnetic induction are significantly less effective with plastic mines than with those made of metal. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-drone-mounted-camera-plastic-landmines.html Engineering Tue, 30 Jun 2026 12:00:12 EDT news702038641 The key to making longer-lasting electric vehicle batteries may not be specialized materials or new chemistry, but simple physical pressure, according to new research. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-physical-pressure-ev-batteries-environmental.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 30 Jun 2026 11:00:08 EDT news702035581 Storing solar and wind energy to meet the increasing power needs of the electrical grid calls for devices that can deliver power quickly, recharge quickly and last for decades at low cost. A new study led by UCLA has uncovered a technology that could meet all these criteria: a zinc-ion hybrid battery with a 3D-printed electrode that stores more than seven times the charge of similar hybrids. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-team-3d-zinc-ion-hybrid.html Engineering Mon, 29 Jun 2026 15:40:13 EDT news701965741 About 90% of employers use AI to some extent in hiring, yet research on how this is impacting job seekers is virtually nonexistent. In one of the first studies to analyze AI hiring tools, Stanford researchers have discovered that for many job applications, the algorithms were making racially biased decisions. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-ai-hiring-software-screens-millions.html Machine learning & AI Mon, 29 Jun 2026 15:20:04 EDT news701965082 Humans have been successfully trained to spot AI-generated faces in a study led by researchers at the Australian National University (ANU) Emotions and Faces Lab. The study, "Training Humans to Detect AI-generated Faces," is published in PNAS. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-short-people-ai-deepfake-fraud.html Security Mon, 29 Jun 2026 15:00:12 EDT news701945794 A team of engineers at Rice University and Kyung Hee University has developed a soft, shape-shifting mechanical surface that can respond to touch, sense its own movements and visually communicate changes in real time—an advance that could open new possibilities for human-machine interaction, wearable devices and immersive tactile displays. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-shifting-surface-morphs-real-generation.html Engineering Mon, 29 Jun 2026 13:20:10 EDT news701957029 Working with car companies, battery developers and policymakers, University of Michigan researchers have developed a framework to help stakeholders navigate toward a future with better, more affordable and more sustainable electric vehicles. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-offs-ev-batteries.html Energy & Green Tech Mon, 29 Jun 2026 12:40:05 EDT news701953441 A plastic bottle tossed into a recycling bin could one day help power an electric vehicle, smartphone or renewable energy storage system, according to a team of Penn State researchers. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-plastic-bottles-life-batteries-graphite.html Engineering Mon, 29 Jun 2026 11:00:05 EDT news701947741 Scientists from NTU Singapore and Waseda University have developed a flexible "diving suit" for cyborg cockroaches, enabling the insects to survive and move underwater and in low-oxygen environments for up to three hours. Published today in Nature Communications, the study could expand the use of cyborg insects in search-and-rescue missions, especially in disaster zones where flooded rubble, puddles or partially submerged spaces can block access for conventional robots. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-cyborg-cockroaches.html Robotics Mon, 29 Jun 2026 10:40:07 EDT news701947321 A bio-inspired robotic bird capable of mimicking the key movements of kestrels is helping researchers unravel the mysteries behind the species' exceptional hovering capabilities. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-robotic-bird-uncover-mysteries-flight.html Engineering Mon, 29 Jun 2026 10:00:06 EDT news701944741 Preventing adversaries from interfering with communications is crucial to national security. Tactical satellite communications (SATCOM) focus on securing reliable communications channels against adversaries in contested environments. In support of this mission, a team from MIT Lincoln Laboratory is building a prototype antenna characterized by low size, weight, power and cost (SWaP-C). https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-antenna-array-tactical-satellite-communications.html Telecom Mon, 29 Jun 2026 09:40:03 EDT news701944083 The result on his computer screen looked impossible. Late one night in 2009, Nate Orloff was alone in a laboratory, analyzing measurements from a set of experimental thin films sent to him by Darrell Schlom, the Tisch University Professor in Cornell University's Department of Materials Science and Engineering. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-06-impossible-loss-tunable-dielectric-microwave.html Electronics & Semiconductors Sun, 28 Jun 2026 10:20:01 EDT news701698635