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 It's been said that "writing about music is like dancing about architecture." Writing, or talking, about dancing can be similarly futile. A Cornell doctoral student has helped develop a tool that lets dancers use video and extended reality (XR) headsets to create an immersive environment for analyzing and refining their movements. In other words, dancers can actually dance about dancing. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-reality-tool-dancers-movement.html Software Thu, 30 Apr 2026 13:40:09 EDT news696772921 Researchers have identified previously unknown materials, including a new form of a widely studied clean-energy material, by carefully controlling and tracking how molecular precursors break down during heating. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-overlooked-materials-reshape-solar-fuel.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 30 Apr 2026 05:00:05 EDT news696679756 Researchers at Seoul National University have developed a new class of ultralight structural materials that combine the load-bearing strength of engineering materials with the weight of foam. Using a method called 3D node winding, the team created mesoscale carbon fiber lattices that achieve aluminum-level performance on a strength-to-weight basis while weighing as little as 1/100 the weight of aluminum. The findings, published in Nature Communications, demonstrate a new way to build strong, lightweight structures without the need for joints or layered assembly. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-ultralight-carbon-fiber-lattices-aluminum.html Engineering Wed, 29 Apr 2026 16:40:01 EDT news696699182 There is no question that violin-making is an art form. It requires a musician's ear, a craftsperson's skill, and a historian's appreciation of lessons learned over time. Making a violin also takes trust: Violin makers (luthiers) often must wait until the instrument is finished before they can hear how all their hard work will sound. But a new tool developed by MIT engineers could help luthiers play around with a violin's design and tweak its sound even before a single part is carved. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-virtual-violin-realistic-wood.html Engineering Wed, 29 Apr 2026 14:40:08 EDT news696691981 Nature is replete with slender filaments that bend and coil—from climbing grape vines, to folded proteins, to elephant trunks that can pick up a peanut but also take down a tree. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-programmable-3d-filaments-mimic-artificial.html Engineering Wed, 29 Apr 2026 14:20:08 EDT news696690961 A research team led by Dr. Nam Ki-Hun at the Battery Materials and Process Research Center of the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) has successfully developed a nano-tin (Sn) interlayer control technology to address interfacial instability between the lithium metal anode and solid electrolyte, a critical hurdle to the commercialization of all-solid-state batteries, often hailed as the next generation of batteries. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-nano-tin-interlayer-steadies-solid.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:20:09 EDT news696687061 A thermoelectric generator with a shape that no human designer would likely have imagined has now been created by a computer—and it performs more than eight times better than conventional designs. Rather than relying on intuition or repeated trial and error, the breakthrough was achieved through advanced computational optimization. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-thermoelectric-generator-efficiency.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 28 Apr 2026 17:00:02 EDT news696613561 Perovskite solar cells are a rapidly advancing photovoltaic technology that has seen a dramatic rise in power conversion efficiency in recent years. A key driver of this progress is the use of molecular charge-selective contacts—ultrathin interlayers only a few nanometers thick—that replace conventional bulk transport materials. These molecular layers play a critical role in extracting and transporting electrical charges at the electrode interface. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-molecular-interface-tweak-reliable-perovskite.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:00:01 EDT news696609730 Scientists are advancing a promising solution to two of the world's biggest challenges—plastic pollution and clean energy—by transforming waste plastics into valuable fuels using sunlight. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-solar-photoreforming-plastic-fuel-temperatures.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 28 Apr 2026 11:00:01 EDT news696590942 Researchers have developed an ultra-thin optical film that improves the quality of the light used in LCD resin-based 3D printers. The advance helps ensure that tiny details are reproduced with precision, which could make it possible to 3D-print medical-grade or industrial-grade products at a lower cost. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-3d-printers-gain-medical-grade.html Engineering Mon, 27 Apr 2026 17:40:06 EDT news696519279 A University at Buffalo-led team has found a way to help chiral semiconductors, electronic materials whose structures are left- or right-handed like many of life's building blocks, absorb visible light. In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers chemically combined a chiral semiconducting material with a non-chiral molecule that more readily absorbs visible light. The result is a new material system that can both absorb visible light and distinguish between left- and right-handed light waves, opening new possibilities for optoelectronic technologies. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-gen-semiconductors-life-handedness.html Electronics & Semiconductors Mon, 27 Apr 2026 14:20:02 EDT news696517381 DNA stores our genetic code. What if it could also be integrated with electronics to store and read other information? Scientists have been investigating how to store data in DNA, but retrieving the information remains a challenge. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-video-electrical-metal-dna-memory.html Electronics & Semiconductors Mon, 27 Apr 2026 13:40:07 EDT news696515402 Chinese tech firms WeRide and Lenovo will expand their partnership to deploy 200,000 autonomous vehicles globally over the next five years, a WeRide statement said on Monday. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-china-weride-eyes-autonomous-cars.html Hi Tech & Innovation Mon, 27 Apr 2026 11:00:08 EDT news696504270 As devices for wireless sensing systems become smaller and more complex, finding suitable power sources for them is becoming increasingly difficult. However, advances in low-power sensing technology may allow such systems to operate using small amounts of energy available in the environment, such as body heat. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-batteries-body-potential-battery-free.html Electronics & Semiconductors Mon, 27 Apr 2026 09:20:05 EDT news696499621 Over the past decades, technological advances have opened remarkable possibilities for the detection and monitoring of various physiological signals associated with heart health (e.g., heart rate and ECG), sleep stages and physical activity. Most existing health and fitness trackers, however, are powered by a battery that needs to be recharged daily, every few days, or weekly. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-battery-free-textile-real-blood.html Electronics & Semiconductors Sat, 25 Apr 2026 10:40:01 EDT news696253599 The retina, the thin layer of tissue at the back of the eye, is made up of photoreceptor cells that convert visible light into electrical signals, which is essential for human vision. Some diseases, such as retinal degeneration, cause these photoreceptor cells to stop working, which results in blindness. Researchers at Yonsei University, the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and other institutes in the Republic of Korea have recently developed a new artificial retina that could partly restore vision in people with damaged retinas. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-artificial-retina-doesnt-aim-sight.html Electronics & Semiconductors Fri, 24 Apr 2026 07:40:01 EDT news696223555 A team of Korean researchers has developed a lightweight elastic suit that can support the activities of various groups experiencing physical burdens in daily life, raising expectations. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-featherweight-elastic-everyday-movement-ways.html Engineering Thu, 23 Apr 2026 22:20:01 EDT news696176493 Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have succeeded in creating colored films with transparent cutouts, thereby producing realistic-looking designs on photovoltaic modules. In this way, roof tiles, for example, can be imitated. The film cutout patterns utilize MorphoColor technology, an invention of Fraunhofer ISE that creates a color impression without significantly impairing the efficiency of a PV module. Visitors to The Smarter E / Intersolar 2026 can view PV modules equipped with "ShadeCut" film cut patterns at the Fraunhofer ISE booth A1.440. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-enable-patterns-photovoltaic-modules.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 23 Apr 2026 19:20:03 EDT news696176485 Metal-organic frameworks, better known as MOFs, are among the most intensely studied materials for addressing major environmental challenges. Their highly ordered, ultra-porous architecture enables applications ranging from CO2 capture and air or water purification to catalysis and hydrogen production. It is therefore no surprise that MOFs have drawn global attention in recent years, notably with their recognition by the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, as they play an increasingly central role in the development of sustainable technologies. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-green-materials-energy.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 23 Apr 2026 17:40:07 EDT news696182461 Princeton researchers have combined brain cells and advanced electronics into a single 3D device that can be programmed to recognize patterns using computational techniques. Past attempts at using brain cells to do computation have relied on 2D cultures grown in a petri dish or 3D clusters that are probed and monitored from outside. The Princeton device takes a different approach, working from the inside out. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-3d-device-harnesses-brain-cells.html Electronics & Semiconductors Thu, 23 Apr 2026 17:00:04 EDT news696181502 As quantum computers advance, they are expected to be able to break tried-and-true security schemes that currently keep most sensitive data secure from attackers. Scientists and policymakers are working to design and implement post-quantum cryptography to defend against these future attacks. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-needle-chip-pacemakers-insulin-quantum.html Hi Tech & Innovation Thu, 23 Apr 2026 15:00:03 EDT news696174481 When a knot lets go, it doesn't just fall apart. It snaps. That simple observation led Penn Engineers to rethink what a knot can do. Instead of treating it as something that holds tension, they asked a different question: what happens when you design a knot to release it? The answer is a tiny, soft robot capable of leaping meters into the air, flipping mid-flight, spinning like a propeller or even gliding back to where it started. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-tiny-robots-fly-seeds.html Robotics Thu, 23 Apr 2026 14:00:11 EDT news696153677 What if the next generation of disposable electronics—the sensors in your food packaging, the diagnostic strips in a medical clinic, the environmental monitors scattered across a farm—were built not on silicon or plastic, but on a sheet of paper you could buy at the grocery store? https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-lasers-parchment-paper-high-electronic.html Electronics & Semiconductors Wed, 22 Apr 2026 13:00:02 EDT news696079621 The popularity of cloud computing and AI—driving massive data flows—pushes demand for ultra-high-speed, energy-efficient optical links within and between data centers; links that must be able to deliver data rates well beyond today's 200Gb/s standard. The heterogeneous integration of new materials onto silicon photonics platforms will enable next-gen electro-optical modulators and detectors for such short-reach and short-haul interconnects. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-silicon-photonics-gained-powerful-ally.html Electronics & Semiconductors Wed, 22 Apr 2026 12:20:07 EDT news696078301 A smart pillow sleeve that vibrates to alert people who are deaf to fire and burglar alarms in the night has been created by scientists at Nottingham Trent University (NTU). Developed with members of the Deaf community, the smart textile technology replaces bulky gadgets that are kept under pillows which users say are uncomfortable. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-vibrating-pillow-nighttime-emergencies-impossible.html Electronics & Semiconductors Wed, 22 Apr 2026 12:00:05 EDT news696075763 A technique that improves the performance and stability of next-generation solar cells—without adding any chemicals or coatings—has been demonstrated by researchers from Korea University and the University of Surrey. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-simple-solar-cell-tweak-perovskites.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 22 Apr 2026 10:00:05 EDT news696070381 A research team led by Prof. Kim Bong-hoon from the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering at the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology has developed a semiconductor fiber-based wearable sweat sensor that can collect sweat automatically and analyze various biosignals simultaneously without an external power source. They have reported their achievement in Small Structures. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-batteries-wearable-semiconductor-fabric-health.html Electronics & Semiconductors Tue, 21 Apr 2026 17:20:10 EDT news696009722 Scientists have found a way to boost terahertz technology using particles thousands of times smaller than a grain of sand. Research published in Scientific Reports by Loughborough University's Emergent Photonics Research Center shows how a sparse layer of nanoparticles can make materials that produce terahertz radiation more efficient. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-tiny-particles-boost-terahertz-technology.html Engineering Tue, 21 Apr 2026 17:00:04 EDT news696008881 An ultrathin silicone film being developed at Saarland University enables pumps to operate without motors, without compressed air and without lubricants or external sensors. These film-based pumps can be switched on and off as needed and integrated into designs previously thought impossible. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-thin-polymer-material-generation.html Engineering Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:40:02 EDT news696004261 From the geometric symmetry in Islamic tiles to the mechanical versatility of origami, cultural patterns have an extensive range of structures. Inspired by cultural geometries, researchers from the University of Edinburgh created and tested metamaterials—materials whose properties depend highly on their patterned structure rather than solely composition—comprised of Chinese characters. They published their results in The Journal of Applied Physics. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-chinese-characters-strong-materials.html Engineering Tue, 21 Apr 2026 11:00:12 EDT news695892541