https://techxplore.com/rss-feed/engineering-news/ en-us The latest news on engineering technology, engineering science, computer engineering , civil engineering, chemical engineering, aerospace engineering and environmental engineering. The rare earth elements that help power electric vehicles, wind turbines, medical imaging machines and other advanced technologies may be hiding in an unlikely place: industrial wastewater. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-porous-material-recovers-valuable-rare.html Engineering Thu, 22 Oct 2026 16:00:08 EDT news711902101 It's important for a robot not just to learn a task optimally, but to complete it without going off the rails of reasonable expectations. Until now, roboticists could have one or the other. Aerospace engineering researchers in The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, combined reinforcement learning with control theory to guarantee robot stability and improve tracking performance by up to 15% compared with existing methods. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-wheeled-flying-legged-robots-stay.html Robotics Wed, 21 Oct 2026 15:20:10 EDT news711814381 Could a magnetic field be used to identify in advance which OLEDs will keep smartphone and TV screens bright the longest? A KAIST research team has developed a technique that predicts OLED lifetime by analyzing small changes in brightness caused by a magnetic field. The technique reduces the need for long operating tests and is expected to support the development of longer-lasting displays. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-magnetic-field-blue-oled-lifetimes.html Engineering Wed, 21 Oct 2026 11:20:01 EDT news711798901 Stanford researchers recently revealed how a seemingly physics-defying wireless communication technology works. The new technology, called thermal noise communication, harnesses background static that normally is the bane of radio, cellular and other wireless signals. In their new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team showed how a transmitter could deliver data to a receiver without any actively produced signal by manipulating tiny oscillations in voltage. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-background-static-wireless-generated-radio.html Engineering Tue, 20 Oct 2026 15:20:01 EDT news711725283 Research by Columbia University faculty in the Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Science has revealed a new insight that challenges long-held assumptions about the fundamental chemistry of lithium-ion batteries. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-lithium-ions-unexpected-clusters-battery.html Engineering Tue, 20 Oct 2026 13:20:20 EDT news711719294 The twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24, 2026, collapsing buildings across northern Venezuela, from Yaracuy state to Caracas, have revived a question that follows every major quake: Why do some buildings fall while others nearby remain standing? https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-collapse-earthquake-stay.html Engineering Tue, 20 Oct 2026 13:00:05 EDT news711719194 A small stream of liquid flows quietly in midair, horizontally, as if inside an invisible tube. Nothing touches it. About 5 centimeters (2 inches) away, a cylinder lined with hundreds of tiny speakers surrounds the stream, yet there is no sound. The liquid simply keeps flowing. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-ultrasound-tube-air.html Engineering Tue, 20 Oct 2026 09:40:08 EDT news711707485 A new study led by researchers at The University of Manchester has provided the first plant-wide assessment of chemical looping reforming, an emerging hydrogen production technology that combines hydrogen generation with built-in carbon capture. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-generation-hydrogen-production-built-carbon.html Engineering Mon, 19 Oct 2026 17:00:01 EDT news711647221 Scientists have found a way to use defects in crystals to engineer stronger materials, according to a new study. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-flaws-crystal-defects-metals-chemistry.html Engineering Sun, 18 Oct 2026 07:40:01 EDT news711366428 A research team at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed an Embodied Sensorimotor Robotic Arm (EmArm) capable of whole-arm tactile sensing and adaptive manipulation. By embedding a soft optical tactile skin directly into a robotic skeleton and integrating it with a real-time decision-making algorithm, EmArm can perceive and analyze contact information across its upper and lower arms, enabling human-like tactile perception and adaptive object manipulation. The system can also distinguish between different touch interactions, such as tickling and patting, respond in real time and avoid obstacles through tactile feedback, opening new possibilities for the development of embodied intelligent robots. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-team-embodied-robotic-arm-emarm.html Robotics Sat, 17 Oct 2026 07:00:13 EDT news711366390 Information about food properties that determine quality, safety and sensory characteristics is critical for food product development and processing design, but it is spread across thousands of scientific papers written over decades, making it difficult for food engineers to access and analyze data. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-ai-food-physics-pair-human.html Engineering Fri, 16 Oct 2026 12:40:12 EDT news711372061 Chemists developed a way to significantly improve the performance of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) made with perovskite. The journal Nature published the advancement in these hybrid LEDs, which hold potential for a range of uses, including biomedical sensing, low-light imaging and automated facial recognition. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-chemical-fine-tuning-perovskite-efficiency.html Engineering Thu, 15 Oct 2026 15:20:08 EDT news711293039 Solar panels that can be coated onto thin, flexible surfaces could one day be made the way newspapers are printed, at room temperature and without the toxic chemicals the process has relied on, claim researchers from the University of Surrey. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-greener-chemistry-toxicity-perovskite-solar.html Engineering Thu, 15 Oct 2026 13:00:02 EDT news711286801 Woven textiles can do more than provide softness and strength. Their microscopic arrangement of yarns can also influence how sound travels through a material. However, finding suitable over-and-under yarn patterns is a difficult design problem. Even a 10-by-10 weave has more possible arrangements than could realistically be tested individually, while a detailed acoustic simulation can take more than an hour. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-ai-symmetry-absorbing-fabrics.html Engineering Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:00:01 EDT news711272641 Structure dictates function. Scientists are increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI) to design the arrangement of atoms in new materials with desired properties. Now, researchers at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, have extended a leading generative AI model so that it designs the electronic structure of a material together with its crystal structure. The new model, named MatterGen-e⁻, is reported in npj Computational Materials. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-electronic-ai-materials.html Engineering Thu, 15 Oct 2026 05:00:02 EDT news711186902 Shoulder exoskeletons designed to help manufacturing workers with overhead tasks need to allow for more dynamic movement before workers reliably use them, according to two studies led by University of Michigan Engineering and the Boeing Company. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-shoulder-exoskeletons-arm-movements-revealing.html Engineering Wed, 14 Oct 2026 15:20:29 EDT news711209453 What does it take for an autonomous robot to be faster around a course than human drone pilots? At these dizzying speeds, humans need lightning-fast reflexes. Researchers at Delft University of Technology (the Netherlands) have developed an AI system that enables a racing drone to navigate demanding courses at extreme speed using only a single camera. It outperformed even former world champion human drone pilots in a race. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-ai-drone-outpaces-world-champions.html Robotics Wed, 14 Oct 2026 14:00:07 EDT news711124285 Scientists have discovered a class of metal that can unexpectedly resist extreme cold using an unusual mechanism. Normally such temperatures would make similar materials brittle and vulnerable to breaking. The findings, published in Nature, point to new principles for designing materials for cryogenic environments. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-metal-alloys-defy-deep-staying.html Engineering Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:00:23 EDT news711188821 A U.S. soldier may carry up to 20 pounds (9 kilograms) of batteries to power communications equipment and other electronics on missions. New research from FIU could help lighten that load. A team of engineers has developed a dual-use, razor-thin solar device that can harvest sunlight to generate electricity and also produce light. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-wearable-solar-device-power-soldiers.html Engineering Wed, 14 Oct 2026 10:20:01 EDT news711190402 Asphalt containing recycled plastic held together better than conventional asphalt and showed a lower level of plastic-like particles after combined traffic and moisture-related laboratory testing, according to a study led by Penn State researchers. The findings suggest that improved pavement durability may help limit particle release, the team said, but field studies are needed to determine whether the same pattern occurs on real roads. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-recycled-plastic-asphalt-boost-pavement.html Engineering Wed, 14 Oct 2026 09:40:09 EDT news711188582 Researchers from the Shenyang Institute of Automation (SIA) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed an electrohydraulically actuated soft robotic fish that can swim at high speeds and perform agile three-dimensional (3D) maneuvers. The soft robotic fish addresses a longstanding design challenge by combining a rigid–flexible coupled propulsion system with dynamic buoyancy regulation. This allows for fast propulsion without sacrificing maneuverability. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-soft-robotic-fish-combines-high.html Robotics Tue, 13 Oct 2026 15:40:04 EDT news711124270 Hydrogen is expected to become an important energy carrier of the future, particularly for industrial applications. But this requires climate-friendly technologies that split water into hydrogen and oxygen. One major challenge is cost: PEM water electrolysis requires components that can withstand highly corrosive conditions. Some of these components are coated with platinum. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-platinum-cheaper-hydrogen-ultrathin-electrolyzer.html Engineering Tue, 13 Oct 2026 15:00:12 EDT news711120663 The cladding tubes of the fuel rods used in nuclear reactors must remain leak-tight—despite the risk of corrosion from the surrounding cooling water and despite the radiation they are exposed to during operation. It is therefore important to know how quickly corrosion layers form and how porous they are. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-3d-imaging-technique-nuclear-fuel.html Engineering Tue, 13 Oct 2026 14:40:16 EDT news711120181 A new battery binder—the glue that holds together a battery's internal parts—could make lithium-ion batteries more environmentally friendly and easier to recycle without sacrificing performance. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-binder-battery-recycling-sacrificing.html Engineering Mon, 12 Oct 2026 16:40:27 EDT news711040501 MIT engineers have developed a flexible, shape-sensing sheet that digitally reconstructs its own form as it bends and twists. The sensor is similar in principle to some motion-capture garments, which track a person's physical movements to mimic them in a virtual avatar. Those designs use rigid sensors that are stitched into a suit at strategic locations. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-sheet-digitally-tracks-movement.html Engineering Fri, 09 Oct 2026 13:00:01 EDT news710768162 Humans can move their limbs very rapidly and coordinate their movements with high precision to tackle specific manual tasks. While robots have become increasingly advanced in recent years, many of them remain less agile than humans and struggle to interact with moving objects of different shapes, weights and textures. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-armed-robot-balls-human-movements.html Robotics Fri, 09 Oct 2026 09:40:04 EDT news710671638 Heating and cooling buildings account for a large portion of global energy use. A research team in the Texas A&M University Department of Materials Science and Engineering was featured on the cover of ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces for a study that aims to reduce that energy consumption. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-gel-energy-consumption.html Engineering Thu, 08 Oct 2026 16:40:04 EDT news710696101 To mitigate climate change, direct air capture of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere has emerged as an increasingly attractive option for limiting global warming. But scaling up systems to remove and safely store enough CO₂ faces major obstacles, according to researchers at the Georgia Tech School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE). https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-simple-modification-commercial-resin-air.html Engineering Thu, 08 Oct 2026 11:40:12 EDT news710677588 Researchers from Nagoya University in Japan have developed a durable fuel-cell catalyst by wrapping platinum nanoparticles in nitrogen-containing graphene and placing them on carbon nanotubes. This design retained 96.9% of its active surface after 30,000 durability cycles, pointing towards fuel cells with longer lifespans and lower platinum demand. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-platinum-fuel-cells-longer-nitrogen.html Engineering Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:20:01 EDT news710668801 A new technology has been developed that can rapidly predict city-scale structural damage even when portions of satellite imagery are obscured by clouds or smoke immediately after a disaster. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-ai-method-knowledge-disaster-incomplete.html Engineering Wed, 07 Oct 2026 16:20:09 EDT news710608201