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 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 Researchers from the Brown University School of Engineering have developed a new imaging system that can see and track moving objects in partially opaque environments like dense fog or muddy water. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-brain-imaging-fog.html Engineering Fri, 02 Oct 2026 11:00:08 EDT news710157362 What if the energy powering your home or office could be generated, stored and used all in the same place? This is the hope for the next generation of buildings, powered by renewable sources with energy stored nearby—possibly even within the concrete used to construct the building itself. Reporting in ACS Nano, researchers have developed an efficient, energy-storing cement supercapacitor that holds up as well as commercial concrete in tests. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-cement-based-supercapacitors-power-generation.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 01 Oct 2026 17:09:19 EDT news710093324 Researchers have demonstrated a technique that uses powdered eggshells to produce high-quality magnesium alloys, which have a wide variety of automotive, aerospace and biomedical applications. The eggshells are used as a low-cost, environmentally sustainable alternative to conventional calcium materials, which are manufactured from ore using an energy-intensive process. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-eggshells-secret-ingredient-stronger-metal.html Engineering Thu, 01 Oct 2026 17:00:01 EDT news710092741 From our smartphones to advanced industrial systems, cameras have become an integral part of modern life. Conventional cameras capture scenes as a sequence of frames at fixed time intervals. In contrast, event cameras detect changes in brightness at each pixel as they occur and record them asynchronously as "events." https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-path-method-generation-event-cameras.html Consumer & Gadgets Thu, 01 Oct 2026 15:03:05 EDT news710085726 University of Birmingham scientists have discovered a new materials and processing approach that could help engineers develop stronger, more reliable materials for two different technologies: future fusion reactors and next-generation aerospace components. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-pix-refines-alloys-fusion-aerospace.html Engineering Thu, 01 Oct 2026 14:40:12 EDT news710084042 Garbage left outside starts smelling unpleasant very quickly, especially in warm, humid climates that accelerate food decay. In ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, researchers report a solar-powered lid insert that fits onto standard wheeled trash bins and helps combat the stench. In tests with real food, the lid insert efficiently breaks down acetic acid, the main culprit released from rotting waste that's responsible for its odors, and continues working for more than a month. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-10-solar-powered-trashcan-lid-insert.html Energy & Green Tech Thu, 01 Oct 2026 11:40:09 EDT news710072127 A research team led by Nae-Eung Lee, a professor at the School of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), has developed a material that can stretch like rubber while generating electricity. Using the material, the team created an "artificial ultrasonic sensory synapse" that mimics the way dolphins use ultrasound to perceive their underwater surroundings. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-stretchable-sensory-device-underwater-ultrasound.html Engineering Wed, 30 Sep 2026 16:00:21 EDT news709999861 When designing new computer chips, engineers need to make various decisions about how to connect their underlying components while efficiently using limited space. Planning these connections involves combinatorial optimization, or, in other words, a search for the best combination of choices under specific rules. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-magnetic-tackle-complex-optimization-problems.html Hardware Wed, 30 Sep 2026 15:20:01 EDT news709994220 An international team of engineers has adapted a medical imaging technique to give 3D-printed materials the ability to sense where they are being damaged and track how that damage develops in real time. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-3d-materials-reveal-real-electrical.html Engineering Wed, 30 Sep 2026 12:40:11 EDT news709989841 Researchers from the Biointegrated Materials and Engineering group at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) have shown that adding trace amounts of different metal ions to chitosan can locally tune how stiff, strong or flexible the material becomes without changing its underlying chemistry. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-insect-approach-metals-tune-strength.html Engineering Wed, 30 Sep 2026 11:20:08 EDT news709984381 Chinese researchers have developed a way to manipulate objects on solid surfaces using specially structured vibrations, allowing particles and other small objects to be confined, moved in circular paths or rotated without the complex electronic control systems normally required to generate such motion. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-patterned-plate-surface-vibrations-complex.html Engineering Tue, 29 Sep 2026 16:00:01 EDT news709915561 More than 6 million U.S. homes have solar panels on their roofs—but what if you could generate power inside your house, too? Researchers at Binghamton University have developed a new type of wallpaper that turns moisture in a room into small amounts of electric current. They hope to improve the technology to generate more power. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-wallpaper-generates-power-moisture-air.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 29 Sep 2026 15:00:16 EDT news709912383 University of Waterloo engineers have developed a low-cost, customizable 3D-printed filter that removes up to 90% of microplastics from water, offering an inexpensive solution for residential and industrial use. The work is published in the journal Separation and Purification Technology. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-3d-filter-microplastics.html Engineering Tue, 29 Sep 2026 14:40:01 EDT news709911515 What if the blue pigment in your ink or dye could help power the future of clean energy? A recent study suggests it could. A research team led by professor Hiroshi Yabu at Tohoku University's Advanced Institute for Materials Research and professor Dario R. Dekel at the Technion (Israel Institute of Technology), working with professor Yasutaka Matsuo at Hokkaido University and AZUL Energy, Inc., has developed carbon-supported blue-pigment catalysts for anion-exchange membrane fuel cells. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-green-future-powered-blue-pigments.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:20:16 EDT news709898075 Cameras have long been regarded as tools for capturing what the human eye can see. But that assumption may soon be challenged. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-unseen-anime-ai-physics-future.html Hi Tech & Innovation Mon, 28 Sep 2026 21:20:01 EDT news709803978 Researchers at AIST, in collaboration with the Institute of Science Tokyo and the National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, have developed a "current comparator" that uses diamond quantum sensors to accurately evaluate both AC and DC current ratios with the same device setup. Their work is published in the journal Scientific Reports. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-diamond-quantum-sensor-enables-ac.html Electronics & Semiconductors Mon, 28 Sep 2026 17:00:05 EDT news709833481 Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, making up about 30% of total protein and providing structure, strength and elasticity to skin, bones and soft tissues. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-unique-solution-bioelectronics-collagen-cacao.html Electronics & Semiconductors Mon, 28 Sep 2026 10:46:49 EDT news709811074 Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a next-generation electronic skin that can sense and directly visualize pressure in real time, addressing key limitations of current wearable sensing technologies. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-electronic-skin-users-instantly.html Electronics & Semiconductors Mon, 28 Sep 2026 08:40:07 EDT news709803301 While silicon carbide (SiC) has long been promoted as a key to developing electronics for extreme environments, the field has been stuck in the lab. Now, a team of researchers focusing on junction field-effect transistors, or JFETs, has developed a new SiC transistor structure that can operate at 600°C (1,112°F), Kyoto University recently announced. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-09-resistant-silicon-carbide-transistors-fabricated.html Electronics & Semiconductors Sun, 27 Sep 2026 20:00:01 EDT news709558029