https://techxplore.com/ en-us Tech Xplore internet news portal provides the latest news on electronics, technology, and engineering. When you walk through a gallery, admiring the paintings on the walls, what you are seeing are finished products. They are the result of countless hours of learning and practice and trial and error, but none of that is on display. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-ai-products-thought-problem-machines.html Consumer & Gadgets Fri, 06 Nov 2026 12:00:11 EST news713187781 The growth of artificial intelligence has increased demand for more efficient data storage. Instead of adding bulk to satiate this appetite, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis are working to increase memory capacity by manipulating materials' characteristics at the atomic level. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-harnessing-atomic-advance-generation-memory.html Engineering Fri, 06 Nov 2026 11:40:21 EST news713187301 From intense UV radiation and extreme temperatures to wind gusts and lightning strikes, wind turbine blades are engineered to withstand some of the harshest conditions. But that durability becomes a problem at the end of their lives, because the blades are also difficult to break down and recycle. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-scientists-hard-recycle-turbine-blades.html Engineering Fri, 06 Nov 2026 11:00:13 EST news713024221 As global demand for cooling continues to grow, the urgent need for sustainable refrigeration technologies is becoming increasingly evident. Conventional vapor-compression systems remain energy-intensive, while the refrigerants can contribute to the greenhouse effect. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) research team has manufactured a low-cost, ultradurable elastocaloric refrigerant structure, inspired by the stacked porous architecture of honeycombs, that operated for more than 100 million cooling cycles with an estimated service life of more than 10 years. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-honeycombs-cooling-million.html Engineering Fri, 06 Nov 2026 10:40:11 EST news713182921 When a process needs a burst of heat, a steady supply may not be enough. Storing thermal energy and delivering it quickly are challenges for applications such as sterilization, cleaning or starting up distillation systems. To solve the problem, Rice University engineers turned to laser physics. By applying optics principles to heat transport in fluids, their new system accumulates heat and releases it on demand. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-laser-physics-demand.html Energy & Green Tech Fri, 06 Nov 2026 08:40:05 EST news713176681 A special white paint developed at the University of South Florida could offer a new way to cool buildings, reduce energy consumption and lessen reliance on air conditioning. Created in the lab of Distinguished University Professor Yogi Goswami, the innovative self-cooling paint is applied to roofs and reflects up to 98% of sunlight. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-newly-home-cooler-energy-bills.html Energy & Green Tech Fri, 06 Nov 2026 06:53:56 EST news713170417 What happens when additive manufacturing meets target fabrication engineering? An impossibly small, submillimeter-scale cone that can be manufactured 10 times faster than before, enabling new target configurations for experiments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)'s National Ignition Facility (NIF). https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-fabrication-precision-additive.html Engineering Fri, 06 Nov 2026 06:04:47 EST news713167461 A research group from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has developed a method for manufacturing flexible films that can effectively shield electromagnetic waves across a broad frequency range. The films can be produced on a square-meter scale. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-thin-foldable-broadband-electromagnetic-shielding.html Engineering Thu, 05 Nov 2026 17:00:01 EST news713120161 Scientists at the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) in Campinas, São Paulo state, developed an instrument for the Sirius particle accelerator that can observe the interior of solar cells on a nanoscale while they are operating. Rather than analyzing isolated components in a laboratory setting, this new platform enables the evaluation of complete devices generating electricity under real operating conditions. It simulates daily exposure to light, heat and humidity. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-instrument-brazil-sirius-enables-solar.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 05 Nov 2026 16:00:01 EST news713116382 Anthropic is developing its artificial intelligence systems around twice as quickly as it was a year ago amid the CEO's calls to slow down the technology's pace of improvement, according to an analysis released Thursday by an independent monitoring group. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-anthropic-rapidly-ai-slowdown-group.html Machine learning & AI Thu, 05 Nov 2026 14:40:11 EST news713111574 According to projections, the volume of digital data created, captured, copied and consumed worldwide will reach 175 zettabytes (ZB) in 2026. This is equivalent to the storage capacity of billions of hard drives, such as those found in our laptops. With the rise of artificial intelligence, this global 'datasphere' continues to expand at an exponential rate. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-autonomous-microfactory-digital-dna-power.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 05 Nov 2026 14:20:11 EST news713110023 Vitamin B12 is essential for the body's proper functioning and is found in foods of animal origin. It is produced by certain bacteria that, in addition to being found in nature, are cultivated at industrial facilities for commercial use, primarily by the food and pharmaceutical industries. It is beneficial when certain nutritional deficiencies are present, and in recent times it has become popular, along with other B vitamins, as a remedy for hangovers, as it can help reduce fatigue. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-rechargeable-battery-prototype-vitamin-b12.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 05 Nov 2026 13:37:07 EST news713108153 Researchers have developed technologies that reduce communication overhead by transmitting only the data needed for artificial intelligence (AI) analysis and shorten the time users must wait for a response when returning to an AI application after using other apps on a smartphone. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-communication-memory-tools-ai-traffic.html Computer Sciences Thu, 05 Nov 2026 12:00:04 EST news713099579 Almost every artificial intelligence system we know begins in the same way: it is exposed to vast amounts of information from the real world—books, websites, images and recordings—and trained to identify patterns within it. A new study involving researchers from Tel Aviv University and Stanford University raises another possibility: Can a system develop general learning capabilities even when all the data it trains on is generated entirely from scratch within the system itself? https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-ai-world.html Computer Sciences Thu, 05 Nov 2026 11:40:20 EST news713097063 For decades, people using 3D printers have faced a tough decision: print quickly, print parts with fine features or print materials that meet performance requirements. Light-based 3D printers are fast and precise but limited in what materials they can use. Extrusion-based techniques can handle a wider range of functional materials but sacrifice speed and fine details. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-3d-chain-mail-method-combines.html Engineering Thu, 05 Nov 2026 11:20:07 EST news713096341 When processing and producing non-English text, generative AI burns more energy and sometimes provides less accurate answers, potentially reinforcing existing global inequalities, according to University of Michigan Engineering researchers. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-generative-ai-energy-english-text.html Machine learning & AI Thu, 05 Nov 2026 11:00:04 EST news713096197 Increasingly, people are asking personal artificial intelligence (AI) agents powered by models from companies like OpenAI, Anthropic and Google to recommend goods and services to purchase, such as flights and health insurance. A new study found that some of these AI agents use personal information to recommend higher-priced items to wealthier individuals, even when the user requests lower-priced options. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-ai-agents-personal-upsell-wealthier.html Business Thu, 05 Nov 2026 10:40:08 EST news713095619 A world-first 3D modeling tool developed at the University of Sydney has demonstrated how users can develop a deeper understanding and learn when engaging with AI. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-tool-humans-ai.html Machine learning & AI Thu, 05 Nov 2026 10:20:01 EST news713095606 The muscles of the human ear reveal what and how we feel. This is the finding of Dr. Farah Corona-Strauss and Sophie Bonnaire, researchers at the Systems Neuroscience & Neurotechnology Unit in Saarbrücken and Homburg. Their research shows that activity in our ear muscles indicates not only who we are listening to and how attentively, but also the intensity of our emotional response, all within a fraction of a second. The discovery could have important implications for the debate surrounding artificial intelligence, raising the question of what a machine should be permitted to do if it can recognize emotions more accurately than any human. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-ears-reveal-machines-super-emotional.html Hi Tech & Innovation Thu, 05 Nov 2026 10:00:08 EST news713093910 Making more efficient, longer-lasting lithium-ion batteries has been a challenge for researchers because adding more mass to the batteries restricts how fast electricity and lithium ions can move. To overcome this challenge, a research team has added graphene mesosponge to batteries to improve their performance during fast discharge. Their results show that graphene mesosponge is highly effective at improving the energy and power densities of commercial lithium-ion batteries. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-graphene-networks-lithium-ion-batteries.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 05 Nov 2026 09:40:01 EST news713093282 A life jacket that powers its own distress signal could soon provide protection for people on the water thanks to a device developed by University of Wollongong (UOW) researchers and their international collaborators. The gadget generates electricity from movement, such as the rock of a wave or the flick of a wrist, paving the way for wearable sensors that don't rely on batteries. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-powered-life-jackets-motion-emergency.html Consumer & Gadgets Thu, 05 Nov 2026 09:20:08 EST news713091902 In an emergency, a human might someday ask a robotic assistant to fetch a wall-mounted defibrillator located down the hall. But if the robot has incorrectly labeled the defibrillator as a fire extinguisher in its stored memory, it may not know where to find the lifesaving device. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-chimney-squirrel-robot-fuzzy-memory.html Robotics Thu, 05 Nov 2026 09:00:06 EST news713091361 Artificial intelligence is increasingly pervasive and capable but is also very hungry for power. Researchers, including those at the University of Tokyo, have developed a new approach to building physics-based AI—systems that use the natural behavior of physical systems to process information—that dramatically reduces the amount of computation required for them to run. The approach simplifies both how these systems learn and how they are structured. It was demonstrated using an optical computing system that processes information with light and could help pave the way toward faster and more energy-efficient AI hardware. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-ai-framework-optical-hardware.html Hardware Thu, 05 Nov 2026 05:00:01 EST news713029861 Large language models (LLMs), the technology that powers tools like Gemini and ChatGPT, are more nuanced than ever. But that doesn't mean they aren't biased. Some models are more prejudiced than others, a Rutgers University researcher has found. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-ai-bots-harder-defy-stereotypes.html Computer Sciences Wed, 04 Nov 2026 18:00:13 EST news713034841 A breakthrough has been made toward overcoming both the speed and endurance limitations of low-power memory. A research team led by professor Min Hyuk Park of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University College of Engineering has developed a ferroelectric capacitor that operates rapidly at a voltage as low as 0.6 V and can still distinguish between information states without electrical breakdown after 1 trillion switching cycles. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-voltage-capacitor-combines-rapid-trillion.html Electronics & Semiconductors Wed, 04 Nov 2026 17:40:13 EST news713033881 Scuba diving places heavy demands on the human body. Divers must constantly overcome water resistance while carrying breathing equipment and other gear, and their underwater time is ultimately limited by both physical endurance and the amount of breathing gas they can carry. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-underwater-exoskeletons-divers-air-efficiently.html Robotics Wed, 04 Nov 2026 17:20:15 EST news713032861 The growing demand for faster data exchange between data centers calls for compact, high-speed optical transmitters. Researchers from Japan developed an integrated optical transmitter that mitigates the destabilizing effects of unwanted optical feedback, allowing stable laser operation without an optical isolator. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-isolator-free-optical-transmitter-high.html Engineering Wed, 04 Nov 2026 17:00:01 EST news713032801 Texts generated by large language models, or AI-powered chatbots, exhibit characteristic "personality" traits. Such chatbots can also identify individual personality traits in texts. However, humans are more reliable at distinguishing between human-written and AI-generated texts, according to researchers at the Institute of Psychology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-chatbots-personality-ai.html Computer Sciences Wed, 04 Nov 2026 16:40:01 EST news713031421 A Korean research team has developed a transfer printing process that enables solid electrolytes, a key component of solid-state batteries, to be fabricated as very thin, uniform and defect-free layers over large areas. The technology is expected to provide a foundation for the large-area manufacturing of high-energy-density solid-state batteries. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-sticker-scale-production-solid-state.html Engineering Wed, 04 Nov 2026 16:20:14 EST news713030339 Most virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) displays present virtual objects at a fixed focal distance, creating a mismatch between where the eyes converge and where they focus. Researchers tested a varifocal display that adjusts focus to match virtual-object depth. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-11-focus-displays-virtual-augmented-reality.html Consumer & Gadgets Wed, 04 Nov 2026 10:40:01 EST news713010919