Electronics & Software

Future Wearable Health Tech Could Measure Gases Released from Skin

Scientists have taken the first step to creating the next generation of wearable health monitors.

Unprinting Method Removes Toner with Xenon Light

A new way to unprint paper uses intense pulsed light from a xenon lamp.

Firefly-Inspired Robotic Lightning Bugs Take Flight

The ability to emit light also brings these microscale robots, which weigh barely more than a paper clip, one step closer to flying on their own outside the lab.

Tiny Motors to Power a Network of Nanomachines

Researchers from the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin recently created the first ever solid-state optical nanomotor.

Organic Steam Generator Uses Sunlight to Purify Water

Researchers have developed an inexpensive and eco-friendly steam generator to desalinate and purify water using sunlight.

Enhancing Solar Option During Power Outages

Engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have designed a novel building-solar controller that optimizes solar energy with smart technology to keep microgrids operating for up to five days.

A Supercapacitor Device for Carbon Capture

When it discharges, the carbon dioxide can be released in a controlled way and collected to be reused or disposed of responsibly.

New Approach to Reducing EV Battery Testing Time

A new optimization framework created by researchers at University of Michigan could drastically reduce the cost of assessing how battery configurations will perform over the long haul.

Triggering Li-ion Battery Cells with Laser Radiation

Inducing TR in a battery cell allows engineers to test and improve the safety performance of overheated batteries that can potentially catch fire or explode.

Using AI to Help Scale Up Advanced Solar Cell Manufacturing

The system makes it possible to integrate data from prior experiments, and information based on personal observations by experienced workers, into the machine learning process.

Glassy Electrolyte Holds Promise for an All-Solid-State Sodium Battery

Lithium-ion batteries are currently the preferred technology for powering electric vehicles, but they’re too expensive for long-duration grid-scale energy storage systems.

Water-Activated Paper Battery

A team of researchers at EMPA have developed a water-activated disposable paper battery.

Designing Sodium-Ion Batteries with Extended Longevity

In batteries, electrolyte is the circulating “blood” that keeps the energy flowing. The electrolyte forms by dissolving salts in solvents, resulting in charged ions that flow between the positive and negative electrodes.

Electrolyte Additive Improves Battery Performance

The work could lead to improvements in the energy density of lithium batteries that power electric vehicles.

Lignin-Based Jet Fuel Packs More Power

An experimental plant-based jet fuel could increase engine performance and efficiency, while dispensing with aromatics, the pollution-causing compounds found in conventional fuels.

Building Temperature-Resilient Batteries

In tests, the proof-of-concept batteries retained 87.5 percent and 115.9 percent of their energy capacity at -40 °C and 50 °C (-40 °F and 122 °F), respectively.

Extending the Lifetime of Organic Aqueous Flow Batteries

Over the course of their research, the team discovered that these anthraquinones decompose slowly over time, regardless of how many times the battery has been used.

Rice ‘Metalens’ Could Disrupt Vacuum UV Market

Tests showed the metalens they made could focus its 197-nanometer output onto a spot measuring 1.7 microns in diameter, increasing the power density of the light output by 21 times.

Upside-Down Design Expands Wide-Spectrum Super-Camera Abilities

Plasmonics is a technology that essentially traps the energy of light in groups of electrons oscillating together on a metal surface.

Researchers Demonstrate 40-Channel Optical Communication Link

It achieves 40 channels by combining a frequency comb light source based on a new photonic crystal resonator developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) with an optimized mode-division multiplexer.

An Alternative to Lithium-Ion Batteries

Have we found a better alternative to lithium-ion batteries?

Engineers Build Reconfigurable Artificial Intelligence Chip

The researchers plan to apply the design to edge computing devices.

An Algorithmic Planner Helps Delegate Tasks to Human-Robot Teams

The technology could be useful in manufacturing and assembly plants for sorting packages, or in any environment where humans and robots collaborate.

Insect-Scale Robots Take Flight

Researchers built electroluminescent soft artificial muscles for flying, insect-scale robots.

Enhanced Material Stable Enough for Solar Cells

A simple change to the surface of perovskite removes a barrier to its functionality.

Plant-Based Thermotherapy Patch

Additional applications include defogging/defrosting, wearable devices, industrial heat systems, sensors, thermochromic displays, and microfluidic chips.

Piezoelectric Material Remains Effective at High Temperatures

The material remains effective as an energy harvester or sensor at temperatures to well above 572°F.

Analyses Find Cause of Fatal Problem in Rocket Engine Combustors

Advanced analyses shed light on the mechanism of a deadly problem plaguing combustion chambers in rocket engines.