Tech Briefs

Finding Hidden Damage in Cold-Formed Steel with Radar and AI

A University of Houston engineer has developed a method to detect possible damage in concealed cold-formed steel construction framing materials hidden behind walls, without having to tear the walls open. Read on to learn more.

Floating Piston Valve

A valve developed by NASA Stennis Space Center consists of a solid piston floating in a medium to control the flow stream. The piston is designed to be axially and radially balanced within the flow stream whether the valve is in the open or closed position. This valve has many unique features and design advantages over conventional valve concepts. Read on to learn more.

Porous Radical Organic Framework Improves Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

A team led by Professor Yan Lu, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, and Professor Arne Thomas, Technical University of Berlin, has developed a material that enhances the capacity and stability of lithium-sulfur batteries. Read on to learn more.

A Fully Autonomous Robotic System Measures Key Properties of New Materials

Scientists are striving to discover new semiconductor materials that could boost the efficiency of solar cells and other electronics. But the pace of innovation is bottlenecked by the speed at which researchers can manually measure important material properties. A fully autonomous robotic system developed by MIT researchers could speed things up. Read on to learn more.

Magnetocaloric Heat Pumps: The Future of Sustainable Cooling and Heating

A team of researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy Ames National Laboratory developed a magnetocaloric heat pump that matches current vapor-compression heat pumps for weight, cost, and performance. Read on to learn more about it.

Obtaining 6G Edge Intelligence

The race to develop sixth-generation (6G) mobile networks is accelerating, with commercialization expected by 2030. Read on to learn how some researchers are exploring the integration of edge AI and space–ground integrated networks (SGINs) to extend AI services globally.

Supersonic Spike Diffuser

A new type of spike diffuser recently developed by NASA Stennis Space Center is able to provide approximately double the pumping performance of second-throat diffusers via Pareto-efficient reduction of both core Mach number and flow deflection. Read on to learn more about it.

A Blueprint for a 6G Core Network

A research team from Huawei’s advanced wireless labs in Canada and China has published a blueprint for a 6G core network that can generate, update, and execute its own control procedures without human intervention. Read on to learn more.

Giving Magnets the Graphene Treatment

In an article published in Physical Review X, a team in The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign showed how to engineer two-dimensional magnetic systems to obey the same equations as mobile electrons in the two-dimensional material graphene. Read on to learn more.

Optimizing 3D-Printed Helixes as Terahertz Optical Materials

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have optimized and 3D-printed helix structures as optical materials for Terahertz frequencies, a potential way to address a technology gap for next-generation telecommunications, non-destructive evaluation, chemical/biological sensing and more. Read on to learn more.

The Rise of the Integrated Battery Large Model

A research team innovatively proposed the “Integrated Battery Large Model,” establishing the first AI-driven paradigm covering the entire lifecycle of the Li-ion battery industry, providing a novel technological path for the industry’s intelligent upgrade. Read on to learn more about the Battery Large Model system.

The Next Step in Wireless Cellular Technology: 6G

Researchers from the University of Tokyo, as part of a multi-institution team, have created an electromagnetic wave absorber for waves between 0.1–1 terahertz (THz). This greatly expands the range of the terahertz frequency which could be commercially used in the future. Read on to learn more.

Ultrasound as a New Wireless Power Transfer Technology

A research team led by Dr. Sunghoon Hur of the Electronic and Hybrid Materials Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology and Professor Hyun-Cheol Song of Korea University has developed a biocompatible ultrasonic receiver that maintains its performance even when bent. Read on to learn more.

How Electroadhesion Can Hold Materials Together

Is there a way to stick hard and soft materials together without any tape, glue, or epoxy? A new study published in ACS Central Science shows that applying a small voltage to certain objects forms chemical bonds that securely link the objects together. Read on to learn more.

Electric Eel Biology Inspires Powerful Gel Battery

Power sources used in devices found in or around biological tissue must be flexible and non-toxic, while still powerful enough to support demanding technologies such as medical devices or soft robotics. To achieve this balance, researchers at Penn State are taking inspiration from electric eels. Read on to learn more.

Breakthrough in Carbon-Based Battery Materials Improves Safety, Durability, and Power

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. Read on to learn more.

Supercapacitors That Rival Batteries

In a study published in Nature Communications, a team reveals a new kind of carbon-based material that allows supercapacitors to store as much energy as traditional lead-acid batteries, while delivering power far faster than conventional batteries can manage. Read on to learn more.

Research Upturns Assumptions About Battery Failure

New research from Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering has solved a major battery mystery that has led to capacity degradation, shortened lifespan and, in some cases, fire. Read on to learn more.

Building an Affordable Grid-Scale Alternative to Batteries

Researchers at Rice University have found a new way to improve a key element of thermophotovoltaic systems, which convert heat into electricity via light. Read on to learn more about it.

Anode-Free Battery Doubles Electric Vehicle Driving Range

A joint research team led by Professor Soojin Park and Dr. Dong-Yeob Han of the Department of Chemistry at POSTECH, together with Professor Nam-Soon Choi and Dr. Saehun Kim of KAIST, and Professor Tae Kyung Lee and researcher Junsu Son of Gyeongsang National University, has successfully achieved a volumetric energy density of 1270 Wh/L in an anode-free lithium metal battery. This value is nearly twice that of lithium-ion batteries currently used in electric vehicles, which typically deliver around 650 Wh/L. Read on to learn more.

New Protective Layer Boosts Lithium Metal Battery Performance

The coating toughens the surface of the electrolyte fivefold against fracturing from mechanical pressure. It also makes existing imperfections much less vulnerable to lithium burrowing inside, especially during fast recharging. Read on to learn more.

Baby Turtles Inspire a New Swimmer Bot

A team of roboticists at the University of California San Diego has developed a robot that can swim under the sand and dig itself out too, thanks to two front limbs that mimic the oversized flippers of turtle hatchlings. Read on to learn more about it.

Super-Fast Camera Sees Through Dynamic Disorder of Atoms

When materials function inside an operating device, they can behave as if they are dancing. This dynamic disorder is difficult to study because the clusters are not only so small and disordered, but they also fluctuate in time. Researchers report that they have developed a new kind of “camera” that can see the local disorder. Read on to learn more about it.

Artificial Reef Could Protect Marine Life, Reduce Storm Damage

A team at MIT is hoping to fortify coastlines with “architected” reefs — sustainable, offshore structures engineered to mimic the wave-buffering effects of natural reefs while also providing pockets for fish and other marine life. The team’s reef design centers on a cylindrical structure surrounded by four rudder-like slats. Read on to learn more about it.

Using Waste to Purify Water

Using waste to purify water may sound counterintuitive. But at TU Wien, this is exactly what has now been achieved: a special nanostructure has been developed to filter a widespread class of harmful dyes from water. Read on to learn more about it.

Meet PASE: The Pneumatically Actuated Soft Elbow Exoskeleton

For workers whose jobs involve hours of lifting and repetitive motion, even small innovations can make a big difference in preventing future musculoskeletal disorders. That’s why engineers at The University of Texas at Arlington have developed PASE (Pneumatically Actuated Soft Elbow Exoskeleton), a soft robotic exoskeleton that lightens the load — literally — by reducing strain on the arm and elbow. Read on to learn more.