Electronics & Software

Advanced Simulation Enables Better Robot-Object Interactions

A human clearing junk out of an attic can often guess the contents of a box simply by picking it up and giving it a shake, without the need to see what’s inside. Researchers from MIT, Amazon Robotics, and the University of British Columbia have taught robots to do something similar. Read on to learn more.

Space Laser Tech Maps Mysterious Nearshore Terrain

Despite all the technological evolution in navigation, waters just off coastal shores around the globe have remained a black box. That is, until researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and Oregon State University developed a new technology that uses satellites in space to map out these tricky areas. Read on to learn more about it.

Ferroelectric Material Adapts to Light Stimuli by Reorganizing Atomic Connectivity

With this groundbreaking discovery of time-dependent changes in networked nanodomains, developers are on the path to building adaptive networks for information storage and processing. Read on to learn more.

Developing Durable Solar Panels Without Silicon

Using a new technology, Juan-Pablo Correa-Baena's lab has found a way to stabilize perovskite solar cells, which are built like a battery. Read on to learn more.

Converting Waste Streams into Biofuel

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have developed a novel technology that creates a cost-competitive sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that could reduce GHG emissions in the aviation industry by up to 70 percent. Read on to learn more.

New System Enables Robots to Solve Manipulation Problems in Seconds

Researchers from MIT and NVIDIA Research have developed a novel algorithm that dramatically speeds up a robot’s planning process. Their approach enables a robot to “think ahead” by evaluating thousands of possible solutions in parallel and then refining the best ones to meet the constraints of the robot and its environment. Read on to learn more.

A Path to Safer, High-Energy Electric Vehicle Batteries

This research has far-reaching implications, offering a path to safer, more efficient batteries that can support the growing demand for electric vehicles. As the world moves towards cleaner energy solutions, these advancements are crucial for making EVs more viable and attractive for consumers. Read on to learn more.

Researchers Develop Efficient Lithium Extraction Method, Setting Stage for Sustainable EV Battery Supply Chains

In the race to meet the growing global demand for lithium, a team of researchers from Rice University’s Elimelech lab has developed a breakthrough lithium extraction method that could reshape the industry. Read on to learn more about it.

Leading the Charge to Better Batteries

A team led by Kelsey Hatzell, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, has uncovered insights that could help power a new type of battery, called an anode-free solid-state battery, past lithium-ion’s limitations.

A Successful Catalyst Design for Advanced Zinc-Iodine Batteries

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries have attracted extensive attention due to their high safety, abundant reserves, and environmental friendliness. However, the low electrical conductivity of iodine hinders the redox conversion for an efficient energy storage process with zinc. Read on to learn how a research team addressed the existing issues in Zn-I2 batteries.

Better Texture for Better Batteries

To create the new batteries needed for EVs, mobile devices, and renewable energy storage, researchers have explored new materials, new designs, new configurations, and new chemistry. But one aspect — the texture of the metals used — has been historically overlooked. Read on to learn more.

A Lightweight Floating Robot Replicates Nature

Researchers have developed a compact and versatile robot that can maneuver through tight spaces and transport payloads much heavier than itself. Smaller than a credit card and weighing 6 grams, the nimble swimming robot is ideal for environments with limited space like rice fields, or for performing inspections in waterborne machines. Read on to learn more.

Ultra-Sensitive Sensor with Gold Nanoparticle Array

Researchers have developed a new type of sensor platform using a gold nanoparticle array. The sensor is made up of a series of gold disk-shaped nanoparticles on a glass slide. When an infrared laser is pointed at a precise arrangement of the particles, they start to emit unusual amounts of ultraviolet light. Read on to learn more.

Fast-Charging, Long-Running, Bendable Supercapacitor

This technology has potential as a portable power supply in several applications, including electric vehicles, cellphones, and wearable technology.

High-Performance Hybrid Solar Energy Converter

Researchers have developed a hybrid solar energy converter that generates electricity and steam with high efficiency and low cost. The hybrid converter utilizes an approach that more fully captures the whole spectrum of sunlight. Read on to learn more about it.

Anode-Free Solid-State Batteries: Beyond Li-ion’s Limitations

A team led by Kelsey Hatzell, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, has uncovered insights that could help power a new type of battery, called an anode-free solid-state battery, past Li-ion’s limitations. Read on to learn more about it.

Robotic System for Infrastructure Reconnaissance

Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have developed a robotic system whose primary structural platform, or “orb,” can be injected into a pipe network and perform reconnaissance of piping infrastructure and other interior volumes. When deployed, this technology uses throttled fluid flow from a companion device for passive propulsion. Read on to learn more.

New Study Showcases 3D Photonics with Record Performance for AI

Artificial intelligence systems promise transformative advancements, yet their growth has been limited by energy inefficiencies and bottlenecks in data transfer. Researchers at Columbia Engineering have unveiled a groundbreaking solution: a 3D photonic-electronic platform that achieves unprecedented energy efficiency and bandwidth density, paving the way for next-generation AI hardware. Read on to learn more.

Revolutionizing Dynamic Facial Projection Mapping: A Leap Forward in Augmented Reality

Augmented reality has become a hot topic in the entertainment, fashion, and makeup industries. Though a few different technologies exist in these fields, dynamic facial projection mapping is among the most sophisticated and visually stunning ones. Read on to learn more about it.

Ultra-Broadband Photonic Chip Boosts Optical Signals

Researchers have developed a photonic chip-based traveling wave parametric amplifier that achieves ultra-broadband signal amplification in an unprecedentedly compact form. Read on to learn more about it.

New Smart Sensor Takes the Pain Out of Wound Monitoring

A major challenge in self-powered wearable sensors for health care monitoring is distinguishing different signals when they occur at the same time. Researchers addressed this issue by uncovering a new property of a sensor material, enabling the team to develop a new type of flexible sensor that can accurately measure both temperature and physical strain simultaneously but separately to more precisely pinpoint various signals. Read on to learn more.

Scientists Use Distant Sensor to Monitor American Samoa Earthquake Swarm

Residents of the Manu’a Islands in American Samoa were feeling the earth shake, raising concerns of an imminent volcanic eruption or tsunami. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey used machine learning and a technique called template matching on shaking data recorded from a single seismic sensor located 250 kilometers away to locate the source of the shaking. Read on to learn more.

A New, Simple Method to Speed Cache Sifting

Computer scientists have invented a highly effective, yet incredibly simple, algorithm to decide which items to toss from a web cache to make room for new ones. Known as SIEVE, the new open-source algorithm holds the potential to transform the management of web traffic on a large scale. Read on to learn more.

New Method Makes Designing a Metamaterial Cell Easy

Researchers from MIT and the Institute of Science and Technology Austria have developed a computational technique that makes it easier to quickly design a metamaterial cell from smaller building blocks like interconnected beams or thin plates, and then evaluate the resulting metamaterial’s properties. Read on to learn more.

Using Chemistry Modeling Software to Detect Conditions for Microbial Life on Icy Worlds

Southwest Research Institute is working to expand software normally used to model electrolytes and predict corrosion and turn it into a tool that can help determine whether ice-covered worlds have the right conditions for microbial life. Read on to learn more.

Implantable Transmitter for Wireless Sensor Nodes

An invention that uses microchip technology in implantable devices and other wearable products such as smart watches can be used to improve biomedical devices including those used to monitor people with glaucoma and heart disease. Read on to learn more.

Revolutionizing High-Performance Computer Memory Storage

Magnets generate invisible fields that attract certain materials. Far more important to our everyday lives, magnets also can store data in computers. Exploiting the direction of the magnetic field, microscopic bar magnets each can store one bit of memory as a zero or a one — the language of computers.

Better Microelectronics from Coal

A joint research effort led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has shown how coal can play a vital role in next-generation electronic devices. Read on to learn more about it.