Design

A Stretchable OLED that Can Maintain Most of Its Luminescence

An international collaboration has developed a flexible and stretchable OLED that could put the technology on track for new applications.

New Wireless Transceiver Offers Fiber Optic Speed Without Physical Cables

A new transceiver invented by electrical engineers at the University of California, Irvine boosts radio frequencies into 140-gigahertz territory, unlocking data...

Building a New 3D Material with DNA

In two papers, one released in Nature Materials and a second in ACS Nano, researchers describe a new methodology for fabricating targeted 3D nanoscale structures via self-assembly that can find use in a variety of applications, and they provide a design algorithm for others to follow suit. And it’s all based on the most basic biomolecular building blocks: DNA. Read on to learn more.

A Light-Powered Soft Robot That Can Carry Loads Through the Air Along Established Tracks

Researchers have created a light-powered soft robot that can carry loads through the air along established tracks, similar to cable cars or aerial trams. The soft robot operates autonomously, can climb slopes at angles of up to 80°, and can carry loads up to 12 times its weight. Read on to learn more.

Engineers Find New Ways to Connect Concrete Pieces for More Resilient Buildings

Researchers have developed five new ways to securely connect large concrete pieces. These connection methods are intended for a type of material called “precast concrete,” in which parts such as beams and columns are made in a factory and assembled later at a construction site. Read on to learn more.

Engineering a Coating for Bacteria-Free Produce

Dr. Mustafa Akbulut, Professor of Chemical engineering, has teamed up with Horticultural Science Professor Luis Cisneros-Zevallos to engineer longer-lasting, bacteria-free produce. Read on to learn more about it.

Octopus-Inspired Tech Can Operate Underwater

Using mechanisms inspired by nature to create new technological innovations is a signature of one Virginia Tech research team. The group led by Associate Professor Michael Bartlett has created an octopus-inspired adhesive, inspired by the shape of octopus suckers, that can quickly grab and controllably release challenging underwater objects. Read on to learn more about it.

Microscopic Swimming Machines that Can Sense, Respond to Surroundings

Researchers have created the world’s smallest programmable, autonomous robots: microscopic swimming machines that can independently sense and respond to their surroundings, operate for months, and cost just a penny each.

Greener Energy? Drinkable Seawater? This Sodium-Ion Battery Breakthrough May Deliver Just that

Researchers detail how an existing sodium-based material, sodium vanadium oxide, can perform significantly better when the water it naturally contains is not removed.

Artificial Tendons Give Muscle-Powered Robots a Boost

Our muscles are nature’s actuators. The sinewy tissue is what generates the forces that make our bodies move. In recent years, engineers have used real muscle tissue to actuate...

World’s Smallest Programmable, Autonomous Robots

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Michigan have created the world’s smallest fully programmable, autonomous robots: microscopic swimming machines that can...

Bio-Hybrid Robots Turn Food Waste into Functional Machines

Although many roboticists today turn to nature to inspire their designs, even bioinspired robots are usually fabricated from non-biological materials like metal, plastic, and...

Building Bots on a Budget

Ph.D. student in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, Yufeng Chi is part of a team of Berkeley engineers that has developed Berkeley Humanoid Lite, a low-cost, open-source robot made of...

Rapidly Evaluating Heat Shield Materials

A team of engineers at Sandia National Laboratories has developed ways to rapidly evaluate new thermal protection (heat shield) materials for hypersonic vehicles.

Aerial Microrobots That Can Match a Bumblebee's Speed

MIT researchers have demonstrated aerial microrobots that can fly with speed and agility that is comparable to their biological counterparts.

How Wearables Are Enhancing Smart Drug Delivery

Wearable drug-delivery systems are improving the quality of life for patients with chronic conditions.

Improved Safety, Durability, and Power: A Carbon-Based Battery Materials Breakthrough

This research demonstrates a new way to make carbon-based battery materials much safer, longer lasting, and more powerful by fundamentally redesigning how fullerene molecules are connected.

VoxeLite: Helping Users Feel the Digital World

By combining high spatial resolution with a comfortable, wearable form factor, VoxeLite recreates touch sensations, which could transform how people interact with digital environments, including more immersive virtual reality systems, assistive technologies for people with vision impairments, human-robot interfaces, and enhanced touchscreens.

My Opinion: How about HI?

It’s a mistake to focus on AI without thinking about how it is used by the people working with it.

2025 Holiday Gift Guide for Engineers: Tech, Tools, and Gadgets

We here at Tech Briefs want to remedy that toxic part of the holidays. So, we put together a list of terrific gift ideas for anyone — but especially the engineer — in your life.

Manufacturing the World's Tiniest Light-Emitting Diodes

Miniaturization ranks as the driving force behind the semiconductor industry. The tremendous gains in computer performance since the 1950s are largely due to the fact that ever smaller...

New Cooling Technique Could Make Computer Chips More Powerful

As more devices get piled onto computer chips to increase processing power capacity, heat generation becomes increasingly concentrated. This heat must be removed to keep chip...

An Electronic Fiber for Stretchable Sensing

The phrase ‘liquid metal’ may bring to mind something hazardous, like mercury or molten steel. But in the Laboratory of Photonic Materials and Fiber Devices (FIMAP) in EPFL’s School of...

Revolutionizing the Production of Semiconductor Chips

Engineers at The University of Texas at Austin are leading an academic and industry all-star team that aims to revolutionize the production of semiconductor chips with a new 3D printing method.