NASA’s Perseverance Rover Completes First AI-Planned Drive on Mars

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has completed the first drives on another world that were planned by artificial intelligence.

Humanoid Robots Make Confident Strides Toward Walking Stability

Bipedal — two-legged — autonomous robots can be quite agile. This makes them useful for performing tasks on uneven terrain, such as carrying equipment through outdoor...

Bubble Bots: Simple Biocompatible Microrobots Autonomously Target Tumors

The potential of microrobots is enormous. These miniature objects can be designed to carry out actions within the body, such as sensing biomarkers, manipulating...

Reversible, Detachable Robotic Hand Redefines Dexterity

With its opposable thumb, multiple joints, and gripping skin, human hands are often considered to be the pinnacle of dexterity, and many robotic hands are designed in their image. But...

A Neural Blueprint for Human-Like Intelligence in Soft Robots

A new artificial intelligence control system enables soft robotic arms to learn a wide repertoire of motions and tasks once, then adjust to new scenarios on the fly, without...

The Hidden Nervous System of Surgical Robotics: Power, Data & Sensing Behind Precision Performance

Advances in interconnect density, force sensing, and system integration are shaping the future of surgical and assistive robotics.

How Much Do You Know About LEDs?

LEDs are pretty much the only lighting game in town these days. How much do you know about them?

Soft Robots with Human-Like Intelligence

Researchers have developed a new AI control system that allows soft robots to adapt across diverse tasks and disturbances.

Lunar Lattices and Their Earthly Impact

An innovative 3D printing process that advanced NASA’s approach to outfitting a lunar habitat is making buildings on Earth beautiful, efficient, and strong.

Going for Gold in Winter Olympic Curling

How a purpose-built curling training brush unlocked meaningful performance data and improved Olympic curlers’ performance.

5Ws of an Ethanol Fuel-Cell Generator

WattAnyWhere’s pollutant-free fuel cell generator converts renewable ethanol into clean electricity, offering businesses and communities a sustainable alternative to traditional grid-based power.

Stable Optical Wireless Power Transmission for the IoT

The world’s first automatic and adaptive, dual-mode light-emitting diode (LED)-based optical wireless power transmission system, that operates seamlessly under both dark and bright...

Could Mobile Batteries Enable Electric Construction Vehicles to Enhance Grid Resilience?

In a first-of-its-kind test, engineers at the University of California San Diego are experimenting with large, mobile batteries to both charge electric...

Breakthrough Iron-Based Magnetic Material for Next-Generation Power Electronics

Our society's rapid pace of technological advancement is accompanied by an equally rapid growth in power consumption to meet our needs for AI-focused data...

Fast Charging of Electric Cars Without Cables

In a cooperative project, Empa researchers investigated inductive charging of electric cars. This is not only similarly efficient to cable-based charging but could also simplify the integration...

Readers Select 2025 Products of the Year

Last December, Tech Briefs readers were asked to select one product from our 2025 Products of the Month to be named Readers’ Choice Product of the Year. Thanks to all of our readers who cast their votes. Read on for the three 2025 winners.

Product of the Month

See the product of the month: Dart Controls' EZ VFD® family of variable frequency drives for three phase, ¼ to 2 HP motors.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including a bio-mimetic, light-powered soft lens that mimics the human eye’s ability to refocus and adjust to varying light conditions; a new material for insulating windows that could improve the energy efficiency of buildings worldwide; and more.

New on the Market

See what's new on the market, including Aerotech's PICAlignTM architecture, a new active alignment solution designed to overcome the manufacturing challenges of high-volume Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) production; PI's 6-axis piezo alignment platform: the P-616.65S Nano-Cube® 6-DOF piezo-flexure nano positioning system; a high-impedance miniaturized ferrite-core wire wound inductor from Coilcraft; and more.

Firefly Aerospace Adds Volta’s Wireless Power Receiver to Blue Ghost Mission 2 Lander

Firefly Aerospace recently announced a new commercial payload agreement with Volta Space Technologies to host a wireless power receiver on Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 2 lander on the far side of the Moon. The payload will serve as a technology demonstration for Volta’s planned lunar power network, called LightGrid. Read on to learn more.

Meet IRIS: A Smart Ring to Control Smart Devices

University of Washington researchers have developed IRIS, a smart ring that allows users to control smart devices by aiming the ring’s small camera at the device and clicking a built-in button. The prototype Bluetooth ring sends an image of the selected device to the user’s phone, which controls the device. Read on to learn more.

Space Traffic Management (STM) Architecture

Space is becoming increasingly congested due to rising numbers of on-orbit satellites and debris objects. Uncontrolled growth will severely affect future space operations. NASA Ames has developed a novel patent-pending technology known as Space Traffic Management (STM) which provides a robust framework for on-orbit coordination of activities to enhance the safety, stability, and sustainability of operations in the space environment. Read on to learn more.

Integrating Large Language Models into Autonomous Vehicles

Imagine simply telling your vehicle, “I’m in a hurry,” and it automatically takes you on the most efficient route to where you need to be. Purdue University engineers have found that an autonomous vehicle (AV) can do this with the help of ChatGPT or other chatbots made possible by artificial intelligence algorithms called large language models. Read on to learn more.