https://techxplore.com/rss-feed/hi-tech-news/ en-us The latest news on hi-tech, innovation and new inventions technology, computer news and information 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 led by professor Seong Kyun Kim of the Department of Physics and Chemistry at DGIST has developed a "passive cooling film material" that uses moisture in the air to cool electronic devices—no water or electricity is required. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-cooling-thermal-ai-era-electronic.html Energy & Green Tech Fri, 16 Oct 2026 11:00:01 EDT news711366607 Could computers include tiny brain organoids one day? The human brain is an incredibly energy-efficient computer, and silicon processors that try to imitate it achieve huge energy savings over traditional processors. Now scientists are experimenting with using organoids modeled on the human forebrain to develop energy-efficient biohybrid computing. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-mini-brain-organoids-braille-key.html Hi Tech & Innovation Fri, 16 Oct 2026 00:00:01 EDT news711273661 A research team has developed a new biometric authentication technology that can identify users without storing their fingerprint information as digital data. The study is published in Nature Sensors. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-fingerprint-authentication-ultrasound-biometric-digital.html Hi Tech & Innovation Thu, 15 Oct 2026 16:00:11 EDT news711295501 Bubbles can be useful tools for microscopic robots, helping them move, steer, create flows of liquid and perform other functions. But designs based on trapping a bubble, a common approach, are unwieldy and unpredictable because bubbles can be hard to catch and control. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-tiny-chip-ultrasound-powered-microbubbles.html Hardware Thu, 15 Oct 2026 15:40:15 EDT news711294541 When trying to figure out a better design for a bacteria-powered biobattery, Binghamton University researchers found inspiration in nature—specifically, the insides of our small intestines. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-gut-power-small-intestineinspired-biobatteries.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 15 Oct 2026 11:40:07 EDT news711282790 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 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 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 From blinking and smiling to jaw clenching and eyebrow raising, faces are constantly in motion—and generating tiny amounts of energy along the way. Now, Northwestern University engineers are putting that energy to work. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-powered-glasses-harvest-mechanical-energy.html Electronics & Semiconductors Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:40:06 EDT news711116881 Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors, only a few atomic layers thick, are promising materials for making AI chips faster and more energy efficient by stacking additional semiconductor layers on top of existing computing circuits. However, when crystals form at multiple random locations during growth, it is difficult to produce high-quality semiconductors at the desired positions. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-scientists-2d-semiconductor-crystals-key.html Electronics & Semiconductors Tue, 13 Oct 2026 11:40:16 EDT news711109801 Researchers have developed a technology that lets a user move a small robot by bending and straightening a finger. The user can also pick up and move objects while checking the images and contact information that the robot sends back. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-beetle-soft-robot-finger-relay.html Robotics Tue, 13 Oct 2026 10:40:14 EDT news711104490 Electronic devices are no longer limited to conventional systems with a screen, keyboard and processing components. Over the past decades, some electronics engineers have been developing thin electronic fibers that could be used to create wearable devices or flexible sensors for robots. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-method-electronic-circuits-soft-washable.html Electronics & Semiconductors Mon, 12 Oct 2026 07:40:07 EDT news710757600 Zinc-air batteries can store significantly more energy than lithium-ion batteries, but until now have been virtually impossible to recharge. A team led by Professor Jörg J. Schneider from the Department of Chemistry has now demonstrated how a material made of iron, nickel and carbon enables the battery to be charged and discharged up to 500 times. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-zinc-air-batteries-gain-momentum.html Energy & Green Tech Sun, 11 Oct 2026 12:20:01 EDT news710759710 As artificial intelligence technologies become increasingly widespread, the growing demand for processing power and energy is emerging as a global challenge. Assistant professor Uğur Teğin from Koç University's Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering has developed two new systems that use light itself, rather than conventional electronic circuitry, to perform computations for artificial intelligence. Published in two articles, the studies introduce new approaches to computing that could contribute to the development of faster and more energy-efficient AI systems. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-approach-sustainable-ai-offloading-burden.html Hi Tech & Innovation Sat, 10 Oct 2026 06:55:27 EDT news710834081 A team co-led by researchers at the University of California San Diego has developed a new way to make perovskite solar cells—a promising next-generation solar technology—more efficient and durable. By creating a temporary liquid while the material crystallizes, researchers were able to grow perovskite crystals that were larger, more uniform and contained fewer defects. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-temporary-liquid-perovskite-solar-cells.html Energy & Green Tech Fri, 09 Oct 2026 13:20:01 EDT news710768221 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 Sweat can serve as a real-time source of information about the body's current state. For example, wearable sensors designed to measure sodium and potassium in sweat could provide biochemical information relevant to physiological monitoring. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-wristwatch-wearable-sensor-enables-real.html Electronics & Semiconductors Fri, 09 Oct 2026 12:40:04 EDT news710767501 Silicon-based microelectronics have powered the digital revolution, but their performance and efficiency are starting to reach limits imposed by the fundamental properties of silicon itself. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-coal-derived-carbon-nanodots-enable.html Electronics & Semiconductors Fri, 09 Oct 2026 11:20:25 EDT news710762641 Smartphones combine cameras, motion sensors and powerful processors in devices that fit inside a pocket. These features could also make them useful components for robots, reducing the need to buy and connect separate sensors, processors or other electronics. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-phonebot-smartphones-job-legs.html Robotics Thu, 08 Oct 2026 16:20:06 EDT news710689127 In 2023, researchers in the Soft Transducers Laboratory in EPFL's School of Engineering presented the world's first pump in the form of a fiber. The pump's flexible tubing can generate its own fluid pressure and flow rate and be sewn into smart textiles to circulate fluids for thermoregulation and haptic feedback or to power wearable assistive devices. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-threadlike-motor-fibers-flexible-robotic.html Robotics Wed, 07 Oct 2026 10:20:13 EDT news710586661 Over the past few decades, electronics engineers have developed increasingly sophisticated implantable medical devices. Reliably powering some of these devices, however, can be challenging, particularly when they are based on stretchable materials that move along with the body. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-wireless-power-medical-implants.html Electronics & Semiconductors Wed, 07 Oct 2026 07:20:15 EDT news710511805 A team of Binghamton University researchers has developed a sensor system aimed at helping medical professionals more efficiently monitor how many people are coughing—and potentially spreading a disease—within a given area. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-sensor-tracks-room.html Engineering Tue, 06 Oct 2026 12:20:05 EDT news710505542 For decades, silicon transistors have driven computational power, and scientists have devoted much of their time to making them smaller. That is because shrinking these tiny electronic switches that make up computer chips allows manufacturers to pack more of them into the same space, increasing computing power. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-atomically-thin-transistors-surpassing-silicon.html Electronics & Semiconductors Tue, 06 Oct 2026 12:00:08 EDT news710504881 University of Maryland (UMD) assistant professor Avik Dutt and research colleagues have demonstrated a new way to control light precisely by using microscopic structures created on the surface of hair-thin glass fibers. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-laser-sculpted-obstacles-fiber-optic.html Telecom Tue, 06 Oct 2026 11:20:09 EDT news710501272 A person wearing bulky goggles, turning awkwardly in circles and reaching out to grab something that isn't there—that is the image many of us have of virtual reality, and one that researchers at Kyushu University want to change. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-vr-headset.html Engineering Tue, 06 Oct 2026 11:00:01 EDT news710501243 Many of today's self-driving cars "see" the road through two senses at once. Cameras capture color, texture and the outline of a pedestrian, while light detection and ranging (LiDAR) fires laser pulses to measure exactly how far away that pedestrian stands. Together, they provide complementary information and outperform either sensor alone. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-darkness-cars-sensors.html Hi Tech & Innovation Tue, 06 Oct 2026 10:00:37 EDT news710498461 Wireless charging has already transformed how people power phones, wearables and even electric vehicles. The next leap is to advance wireless technologies beyond delivering electrical energy to directly producing nonelectrical outputs, such as optical, thermal and mechanical energy, according to actual needs. This would create an energy delivery network as flexible and efficient as the internet. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-wireless-energy-internet-roadmap-path.html Energy & Green Tech Mon, 05 Oct 2026 11:00:11 EDT news710416081 Nature has spent millions of years optimizing the connection between bone and tendon. Over a very short distance, the body transitions from stiff bone to flexible tendon while maintaining strength and durability. Reproducing such a gradual yet robust transition has proven challenging for engineers. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-bone-tendon-3d-mimic-body.html Engineering Mon, 05 Oct 2026 09:40:15 EDT news710410803 Oregon State University scientists have filed a patent application for a new carbon-capture material that turns water in factory flue emissions from a problem into an advantage. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-material-boost-carbon-capture-technologies.html Energy & Green Tech Sat, 03 Oct 2026 13:40:11 EDT news710147868