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 Inspired by the cracked, water-trapping skin of elephants, Penn researchers have developed a low-cost cement tile that cools buildings by capturing and slowly evaporating water—turning a structural flaw into a climate solution. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-elephant-cement-tiles-cool-electricity.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 22 Jul 2026 12:00:06 EDT news703939623 Researchers from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) presented two papers at SIGGRAPH in Los Angeles. One paper introduces new methods for texturing highly deformable surfaces, and the other proposes a faster, more precise way to compute geometric properties of shapes. Both show how to boost graphics accuracy while cutting computational cost, with potential applications across video gaming, visual effects and simulation. The studies have been published in ACM Transactions on Graphics. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-graphics-advances-textures-tenfold.html Computer Sciences Wed, 22 Jul 2026 11:20:01 EDT news703937758 The same class of chemical additive that makes plastic wrap pliable and vinyl flooring soft could be the key to unlocking the next generation of wearable displays. Researchers at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) have discovered that blending a common plastic softener into light-emitting polymer films makes those films both brighter and more stretchable. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-common-plastic-additive-stretchable-oled.html Electronics & Semiconductors Tue, 21 Jul 2026 16:00:09 EDT news703868041 Along the vast ocean floor lives a species of glass sponge known as Venus' flower basket. Though delicate-looking, its exterior belies an exceptionally strong, lightweight skeleton that has intrigued scientists for the past 185 years. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-deep-sea-sponge-geometry-metamaterials.html Engineering Tue, 21 Jul 2026 13:40:03 EDT news703858201 Webtoons are coming to life in the physical world, ushering in a new era in which comics are not merely viewed but experienced. A KAIST research team has developed the world's first next-generation extended reality (XR) comics platform that enables a wide range of readers to enjoy immersive, three-dimensional comics in physical space. By expanding webtoons beyond the screen and into the real world, the team has opened up new possibilities for the future of comics. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-source-xr-webtoons-3d-comics.html Consumer & Gadgets Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:40:04 EDT news703853761 Researchers at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed a novel chip architecture that enables the miniature acoustic devices inside smartphones to withstand more than 12 times higher power loads while maintaining cooler, more stable operation. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ultra-robust-acoustic-chip-power.html Telecom Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:00:06 EDT news703852801 In the current issue of the journal Nature Methods, siibra is introduced as a software suite that integrates data from different multimodal sources into a comprehensive atlas of the human brain and makes the data easily accessible—for interactive exploration and automated, reproducible data analyses, simulations and AI applications. siibra is developed by an international team of scientists led by the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1) at Forschungszentrum Jülich. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-molecules-networks-siibra-brain-atlas.html Software Tue, 21 Jul 2026 11:20:01 EDT news703850660 Researchers in China have unveiled a new robotic exosuit driven entirely by soft artificial muscles instead of traditional motors. This technology could make it easier for older adults, injured patients or factory workers to walk with much less effort. Current exosuits that aid walking use heavy motors, gearboxes and noisy air-pressure pumps that restrict a person's natural movement. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-soft-exosuit-motor-free-path.html Engineering Tue, 21 Jul 2026 11:02:43 EDT news703850543 Semi-transparent solar cells that could be added to windows to efficiently harvest energy from indoor light as well as the sun have been developed by an international team led by UCL researchers. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-solar-windows-harvest-indoor-sunlight.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 21 Jul 2026 06:30:01 EDT news703772363 No wires. No actuators. Shine light on the metal surface, and it rises like a button. KAIST researchers have developed a metal structure that changes shape using light, without any light-absorbing coating. This technology could open new possibilities for tactile interfaces with physical pop-up buttons, shape displays, next-generation wearable devices and soft robots. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-mechanical-buttons.html Engineering Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:20:08 EDT news703778761 Metasurfaces are ultrathin optical components engineered with arrays of nanoscale structures that can control light in ways that are difficult for conventional optics. Unlike traditional optical components, which typically rely on their shape and thickness, metasurfaces manipulate light using carefully designed nanostructures patterned on a flat surface. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-programmable-metasurface-keyboard-dynamic-holograms.html Electronics & Semiconductors Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:00:08 EDT news703777321 Underwater environments are among the harshest operating conditions for electronic devices. Divers and underwater robots depend on sensors to navigate, communicate and handle objects, but conventional sensors are fragile, reliant on an external power source and unable to recover when damaged. A punctured sensor underwater typically means lost functionality with little prospect of on-the-spot repair, a limitation that shortens the working life of underwater machines and raises safety concerns for divers. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-electronic-skin-sensors-underwater-robots.html Engineering Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:40:07 EDT news703772353 A research team led by Kyunghan Lee, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University College of Engineering, has developed an artificial intelligence system, "Ouroboros," that performs vision transformer-based video analysis 2.61 times faster using 13.0% of the computation required by conventional methods on edge devices. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ouroboros-ai-edge-devices-video.html Hi Tech & Innovation Mon, 20 Jul 2026 11:40:06 EDT news703766042 Optical see-through augmented reality (AR) glasses are designed to overlay digital information onto the real world, but improving the realism of virtual objects often comes at a cost. Existing occlusion technologies physically block part of the incoming light, reducing the brightness of the real environment and making everyday tasks more challenging. Overcoming this balance between virtual realism and real-world visibility is a key hurdle for next-generation AR systems. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ar-display-tech-boosts-realworld.html Engineering Sun, 19 Jul 2026 08:00:04 EDT news703499027 An international team of researchers has built the first high-performance, commercial-size tandem solar cell that doesn't rely on the scarce and expensive metal indium. The breakthrough, published in Science, replaces indium-based oxide with abundant tin oxide, a material that costs 1% as much, without sacrificing performance. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-tin-oxide-scarce-indium-solar.html Energy & Green Tech Sat, 18 Jul 2026 14:00:06 EDT news703496983 In a new study presented at the IEEE International Conference on Communications in Glasgow, researchers from Queen Mary University of London and partners from around the world showcased the system, called Joint DAS and GNSS (JDG), which blends traditional satellite-based GPS with a lesser-known technology referred to as Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS). https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-hybrid-positioning-reliable-tracking-gps.html Telecom Sat, 18 Jul 2026 04:14:19 EDT news703566836 Imagine reaching for a record or glancing at a map and seeing a display bloom from a small box, offering interactive guidance—and then vanishing moments later. A new device, inspired by science fiction and designed by computer scientists at the University of Chicago, lets digital displays bloom from everyday objects and surfaces. The creators hope it's a step toward creating touch interfaces only when they're needed and helping technology fade seamlessly into daily life. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-scientists-interactive-screens-demand.html Engineering Fri, 17 Jul 2026 11:00:06 EDT news703497258 Publishing in the journal npj Flexible Electronics, researchers from Kyushu University have developed prototype thin-film electronic modules that can automatically connect and disconnect with one another. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-prototype-thin-electronics-dock-undock.html Electronics & Semiconductors Fri, 17 Jul 2026 05:00:02 EDT news703402956 By exploiting the quirks of human vision, Northwestern University engineers have designed a drone that nearly disappears before the eyes. For years, researchers have tried to design invisible drones and robots using camouflage, transparent materials or light-bending optical systems. But the Northwestern team instead used a concept called "motion blur"—the same effect that makes fast-spinning fans and propellers seem to disappear. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-drone-plain-sight-phantom-harnesses.html Engineering Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:00:02 EDT news703318420 Knitting has come a long way from sweaters and blankets. Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have turned everyday knitting into a powerful platform for making shape-shifting devices that can act as switches, sensors and more—paving the way for next-generation functional, programmable textiles. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-snapping-fabric.html Engineering Wed, 15 Jul 2026 13:20:01 EDT news703340121 Using AI-driven materials design, a team of researchers at the University of Toronto Engineering has discovered a new set of metal alloys that retain their strength under extreme conditions. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ai-lab-3d-printable-alloys.html Engineering Wed, 15 Jul 2026 11:00:01 EDT news703329492 Scientists at The University of Manchester have uncovered how subtle changes in temperature during a promising metal 3D printing process can significantly affect the quality of aluminum components. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-temperatures-defects-aluminum-3d.html Engineering Tue, 14 Jul 2026 13:40:05 EDT news703255076 As global demand for electricity storage grows alongside the rise of renewable energy and AI-driven data centers, researchers are racing to find battery technologies that can store large amounts of energy cheaply and safely over long periods. Soluble lead flow batteries are a strong candidate: They are inexpensive, easy to scale up and built from lead that can be recycled from the existing lead-acid battery supply chain. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-smarter-interfaces-longer-soluble-batteries.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 14 Jul 2026 08:40:10 EDT news703232958 A new artificial intelligence system developed by West Virginia University engineers could help firefighters respond to wildfires sooner by enabling satellites to detect blazes and automatically adjust their positions for continued monitoring. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-ai-satellite-tracking-wildfires.html Hi Tech & Innovation Tue, 14 Jul 2026 07:30:03 EDT news703232945 Infrared cameras can be used to spot useful information that our eyes can't see, such as gases escaping from a pipeline, chemicals in the atmosphere or heat leaking from a building. But sensing infrared light in sophisticated ways still requires expensive, bulky systems. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-tiny-chip-mid-infrared-gases.html Hardware Mon, 13 Jul 2026 09:40:51 EDT news703154420 Researchers in chemistry and materials science at Kiel University are working with partners to develop new water sources for the Mediterranean region. "Regions like these are facing rising temperatures and declining rainfall. Our goal is to develop an environmentally friendly technology that converts water molecules from the air into drinking water," says Professor Norbert Stock from CAU's Institute of Inorganic Chemistry. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-porous-material-liters-daily-dry.html Energy & Green Tech Mon, 13 Jul 2026 09:00:03 EDT news703149318 Imagine using a wearable device so thin and discreet that you'd hardly be aware you were wearing it. Now Tufts engineers have created flexible electronics that could do just that. Made of thread-based integrated circuits that can bend, coil, stretch and conform to the body's contours and movements, the devices are designed to exist free-form, sewn into clothing or wrapped around curved and movable surfaces. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-thread-based-electronics-conform-body.html Electronics & Semiconductors Mon, 13 Jul 2026 08:40:07 EDT news703149198 While security systems based on pseudo-random number generators (PRNGs) have been developed to secure information use, they produce sequences that are not truly random and suffer from inherent vulnerabilities and security breaches. To overcome these limitations, a true random number generator (TRNG) that exploits diverse sources of physical entropy has emerged as an alternative technology. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-driven-random-generator-image.html Hi Tech & Innovation Mon, 13 Jul 2026 08:00:01 EDT news703144518 For decades, manufacturing plastic-bonded high explosives, or PBXs, has relied on legacy processes like slurry coating. In this method, explosive crystals are mixed with a binder, a polymer that helps hold the material together, to form small granules called prills. Those prills are then pressed into dense explosive parts. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-pellet-method-safer-high-explosive.html Engineering Thu, 09 Jul 2026 17:10:01 EDT news702822260 Most people think of the waterfront as the edge of the city. A team of MIT researchers sees it as a dynamic, Lego-like construction site. Their new system, called "FloatForm," is a swarm of small square robotic boats that assemble themselves into larger structures on the water, break apart and reassemble into something new, all with minimal human direction. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-07-small-aquatic-robots-reconfigurable.html Robotics Thu, 09 Jul 2026 15:00:01 EDT news702822101