Engineering news
Robotics
Wheel-legged robotic system moves more efficiently in a wide range of environments
Most existing robots designed to move on the ground rely on either wheels or legs, as opposed to a combination of the two. Yet robots that can seamlessly switch between wheeled and legged locomotion could be highly advantageous, ...
17 hours ago
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Engineers send a wireless curveball to deliver massive amounts of data
High frequency radio waves can wirelessly carry the vast amount of data demanded by emerging technology like virtual reality, but as engineers push into the upper reaches of the radio spectrum, they are hitting walls. Literally.
20 hours ago
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Study finds Montreal cycling infrastructure doesn't match demand
Bike lanes, BIXI stations and other micromobility infrastructure make up just 2% of Montreal's street space—even in neighborhoods where cycling demand would justify more—according to a new study by McGill University researchers. ...
13 hours ago
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Self-propelled ice could be the green power of the future
Scientists from Virginia Tech have discovered a way to make ice move on its own. It's not a magic trick or a supernatural occurrence but a clever engineering feat. The team designed a flat metal surface that allows ice disks ...
Engineering
Study identifies best times to consume electricity and cut carbon emissions
Shifting electricity consumption to times when the grid has a greater supply from alternative energy sources could help reduce carbon dioxide emissions significantly, according to a new University of Texas at Dallas study.
Aug 15, 2025
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Engineering
Sweat-sensitive jacket adjusts its thickness to keep you comfortable when it's cold
When we are out in cold weather, we wear warm clothes to stay comfortable. But there is a snag. Regular warm clothing can't adjust to changes in our body temperature. If we start to sweat, we get too hot and sticky, which ...
Aug 14, 2025
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Engineering
Alternative carbon carrier technology could improve both oil production and carbon storage
A new method for enhanced oil recovery proposed by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin is showing promising results in modeling studies—producing more oil, storing more carbon, and doing so more safely than ...
Aug 14, 2025
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Engineering
Building energy model offers cities decarbonization roadmap
A new software tool developed by Cornell researchers can model a small city's building energy use within minutes on a standard laptop, then run simulations to help policymakers prioritize the most cost-effective approaches ...
Aug 14, 2025
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Engineering
Digital twin framework enhances sustainability and efficiency of modular buildings
Relocatable modular buildings (RMBs) represent an innovative and growing solution for flexible and sustainable construction. These buildings can be quickly assembled from prefabricated "modules" and easily transported, minimizing ...
Aug 14, 2025
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Robotics
Sea slug research advances soft robotics
When designing new robots, engineers often look to nature for inspiration. They base their robots on the designs and behaviors of snakes, fish, humans, and more, such as sea slugs, whose feeding behaviors have been studied ...
Aug 14, 2025
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Engineering
More efficient approach to shale wells could boost oil output, store emissions
Oil produced from shale reservoirs drove record crude output in the U.S. over the past decade, but inefficiencies in extraction often leave as much as 90% of the oil behind, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.
Aug 14, 2025
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Robotics
Going places: Muscle-inspired mechanism powers tiny autonomous insect robots
Science frequently draws inspiration from the natural world. After all, nature has had billions of years to perfect its systems and processes. Taking their cue from mollusk catch muscles, researchers have developed a low-voltage, ...
Engineering
Q&A: Seashells inspire a better way to recycle plastic
Researchers from Georgia Tech have created a material inspired by seashells to help improve the process of recycling plastics and make the resulting material more reliable.
Aug 13, 2025
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Engineering
Quasi-solid electrolyte developed for safer and greener lithium-ion batteries
3D-SLISE is a quasi-solid electrolyte developed at the Institute of Science Tokyo, which enables safe, fast-charging/discharging of 2.35 V lithium-ion batteries to be fabricated under ambient conditions. With energy-efficient ...
Aug 13, 2025
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Engineering
Black metal could give a heavy boost to solar power generation
In the quest for energy independence, researchers have studied solar thermoelectric generators (STEGs) as a promising source of solar electricity generation. Unlike the photovoltaics currently used in most solar panels, STEGs ...
Aug 12, 2025
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Engineering
How sputtering could drive the adoption of high-performance ScAlN-based transistors
Gallium nitride (GaN)-based high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) are a type of field-effect transistors (FETs) designed to operate at very high frequencies with low noise. As such, they have been widely applied in high-power ...
Aug 12, 2025
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Engineering
Carbon-fiber smart plastic: Self-healing, shape-shifting and stronger than steel
Aerospace engineering and materials science researchers at Texas A&M University have uncovered new properties of an ultra-durable, recyclable, smart plastic—paving the way for transformative applications in the defense, ...
Aug 11, 2025
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Engineering
Next-generation solar cells could soon harvest indoor light for battery-free devices
An international team led by UCL researchers has developed durable new solar cells capable of efficiently harvesting energy from indoor light, meaning that devices such as keyboards, remote controls, alarms and sensors could ...
Aug 11, 2025
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Robotics
Simplified wrist mechanism gives robots a hand
Give robots a specific job—say, placing a can on a conveyor belt in a factory—and they can be extremely efficient. But in less-structured environments with varied tasks, even seemingly simple things like unscrewing a ...
Aug 11, 2025
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Engineering
Water vapor nearly doubles oxide-ion conductivity in promising fuel cell ceramic
Hydration significantly boosts ion conductivity in Ba7Nb4MoO20, a promising ceramic electrolyte candidate for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells, but its origin and mobile ionic species were unresolved issues. Now, researchers ...
Aug 11, 2025
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Robotics
Today's humanoid robots look remarkable, but there's a design flaw holding them back
Watch Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot doing training routines, or the latest humanoids from Figure loading a washing machine, and it's easy to believe the robot revolution is here. From the outside, it seems the only remaining ...
Aug 11, 2025
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Engineering
Swiss pilot takes big step closer to solar plane altitude record
Swiss pilot Raphael Domjan got within around a thousand meters of setting a new altitude record in a solar-powered plane on Sunday as he chases the goal of breaking the 10,000 meters barrier.
Aug 10, 2025
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Robotics
Small but mighty: A seed-inspired monocopter idea takes flight
From a seed-inspired design to a 26-minute flight time on a single rotor, a new monocopter developed by SUTD researchers marks a 10-year journey towards redefining how efficient small flying robots can be.
Aug 8, 2025
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Engineering
Scandium superhighway paves way for low-temperature hydrogen fuel cells
As global energy demand increases, researchers, industries, governments, and stakeholders are working together to develop new ways of meeting that demand. This is especially important as we address the ongoing climate crisis ...
Aug 8, 2025
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