Engineering

Choir singers help researchers design quieter airplanes

As the beautiful harmonies of the Century Singers echo through the hallway, dozens of microphones pick up the sound of their voices—while software tracks each note. This may not sound like a typical aerospace engineering experiment, but the results may improve commercial and military airplanes.

12/06/2025 23:29

Starch-based aerogel material improves anti-concussion headgear

Researchers have developed a wearable material that may help dramatically reduce the risk of a concussion, suggests a new study.

12/06/2025 22:40

Zinc–iodine battery delivers double performance of lithium-ion batteries

Researchers at the University of Adelaide have developed a new dry electrode for aqueous batteries which delivers cathodes with more than double the performance of iodine and lithium-ion batteries.

12/06/2025 19:14

Fog harvester gets upgrade for improved water collection

A third of the world's population struggles with water scarcity. In many of these areas, fog holds water that could provide a lifeline—if only it could be captured.

12/06/2025 19:12

Can 3D printing help repair the nation's aging bridges?

An innovative 3D printing technique called cold spray was applied to a Western Massachusetts bridge last month in a first-of-its-kind proof-of-concept demonstration that could reduce the repair cost of critical infrastructure and disruptions to passing traffic.

12/06/2025 17:46

Italy forges on with world's largest suspension bridge

Italy hopes to begin constructing the world's largest suspension bridge connecting Sicily to the Italian mainland this summer amid widespread skepticism that it will ever be built.

12/06/2025 12:02

Single-material electronic skin gives robots the human touch

Scientists have developed a low-cost, durable, highly sensitive robotic "skin" that can be added to robotic hands like a glove, enabling robots to detect information about their surroundings in a way that's similar to humans. The results are reported in the journal Science Robotics.

11/06/2025 21:00

From 2D to 3D: A high-resolution photothermal tomographic technique for subsurface inspection

Infrared thermography (IRT) is an effective inspection technique in manufacturing due to its contactless and noninvasive imaging mode. However, existing IRT techniques can only produce 2D results of subsurface structures. The limitations of finite 2D imaging modes significantly impede the inspection and evaluation of material aging and failure.

11/06/2025 19:33

Mushrooms' microscopic filaments provide a blueprint for better materials

Fungi have been around for many millions of years, with the incremental process of evolution honing and improving their survival skills through the millennia.

10/06/2025 23:20

Engineers introduce human-like driving technology for autonomous vehicles

Self-driving cars will soon be able to "think" like human drivers under complex traffic environments, thanks to a cognitive encoding framework built by a multidisciplinary research team from the School of Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).

10/06/2025 20:59

Offshore hydrogen production affects the North Sea: Study offers strategies for environmentally friendly expansion

Green hydrogen is a key part of the energy transition. In the coming years, it'll be made in wind farms in the German Bight. With recent technology, this process creates waste heat and brine, which are both dumped into the sea.

10/06/2025 19:12

Researchers develop simple, low-cost method to detect GPS trackers hidden in vehicles

A team of researchers at NYU Tandon School of Engineering has developed a novel method to detect hidden GPS tracking devices in vehicles, offering new hope to victims of technology-enabled domestic abuse.

10/06/2025 18:22

Carbon capture method mines cement ingredients from the air

University of Michigan chemist Charles McCrory and his research group, along with Jesús Velázquez's lab at the University of California, Davis and Anastassia Alexandrova's lab at the University of California, Los Angeles, have developed a method to capture carbon dioxide and turn it into metal oxalates, which then can be used as precursors for cement production.

09/06/2025 23:01

Single-sensor 3D microphone enables robots to locate humans in noisy environments

A research team has developed a novel auditory technology that allows the recognition of human positions using only a single microphone. This technology facilitates sound-based interaction between humans and robots, even in noisy factory environments.

09/06/2025 22:11

Researchers develop an ultra-compact phased-array transceiver for 6G applications

An ultra-compact, low-power 150 GHz radio module enabling high data rates in mobile devices has been developed by researchers from Japan.

09/06/2025 21:20

New metal design for solid-state batteries enables operation at lower pressures

Lithium-ion batteries power everything from electric cars to laptops to leaf blowers. Despite their widespread adoption, lithium-ion batteries carry limited amounts of energy, and rare overheating can lead to safety concerns. Consequently, for decades, researchers have sought a more reliable battery.

09/06/2025 20:08

We design cities and buildings for earthquakes and floods—we need to do the same for wildfires

We live in an age of increasing wildfire disasters because more of us are living in places where wildfires and human development collide. Right now, fast-moving wildfires are forcing mass evacuations and destroying homes across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, where entire communities are under threat.

09/06/2025 17:10

An active optical intensity interferometry scheme enables synthetic aperture imaging from over a kilometer away

Intensity interferometry is a promising technique that enables the precise measurement of spatial properties (i.e., distances, shapes and light properties) by probing fluctuations in the intensity (i.e., brightness) of light, as opposed to the exact timing and phase of light waves probed by amplitude (phase) interferometry. Intensity interferometry could overcome some of the limitations of amplitude interferometry, as it is less sensitive to atmospheric factors and optical imperfections.

06/06/2025 13:30

New technologies help wood-burning stoves burn more efficiently, produce less smoke

Oregon State University researchers are gaining a more detailed understanding of emissions from wood-burning stoves and developing technologies that allow stoves to operate much more cleanly and safely, potentially limiting particulate matter pollution by 95%.

06/06/2025 11:33

Just 2% of tidal and offshore solar energy could make a dent in carbon dioxide emissions

Harnessing just 2% of the energy potential from tidal and offshore solar sources could make a significant dent in global CO2 emissions, new research has found.

06/06/2025 00:00

Sustainable, low-cost batteries for the electric vehicles of tomorrow

At a time when electrified vehicles and stationary energy storage play key roles in the climate-neutral future of the energy sector, sustainable production of lithium-ion batteries is essential. A team of researchers headed by Benjamin Schumm, Holger Althues and Stefan Kaskel has developed DRYtraec (dry transfer electrode coating), a novel method of battery cell production that uses none of the toxic solvents that are otherwise typical and eliminates the energy-intensive and costly drying of the electrode layers.

05/06/2025 22:09

Wearable device helps blind people detect obstacles

Researchers from the São Paulo State University (UNESP) and the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES) in Brazil have developed a wearable device to help visually impaired people move around. The technology has tactile beacons that can warn of the presence of obstacles, guaranteeing users greater autonomy and safety when walking.

05/06/2025 20:42

How light and movement could power smart buildings of the future

Research from the University of St Andrews has unraveled energy harvesting potential using light and movement, discovering the makeup and methods used to generate electricity using an emerging family of semiconductors.

05/06/2025 20:09

Brain-inspired vision sensor enhances object outline extraction in varying lighting conditions

A novel vision sensor inspired by the neural transmission mechanisms of the human brain has been developed to efficiently and accurately extract object outlines even under fluctuating lighting environments. This advancement promises to significantly enhance perception capabilities in autonomous vehicles, drones, and robotic systems, enabling faster and more precise recognition of surroundings.

05/06/2025 16:33

Engineers make a big splash, turning water treatment sludge into sustainable concrete

Concrete is widely used for making sewage pipes due to its availability, affordability and structural strength, but it is highly susceptible to acid and microbial corrosion in sewers, requiring ongoing repairs and maintenance that cost Australian taxpayers close to $70 billion each year.

05/06/2025 13:55

Physicists test scientific approach to unidentified anomalous phenomena research

A team of physicists from the University at Albany has proposed scientifically rigorous methods for documenting and analyzing Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) building upon the work of numerous past and present researchers in the field.

05/06/2025 11:37

Team achieves 3D recognition of transparent objects in less than two seconds

What used to take 15 seconds now takes less than 2: Thanks to new single-shot technology, the goROBOT3D system, developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF, will be able to measure three-dimensional objects even more efficiently in future—even if they are transparent or black. The institute will be presenting the technology for the first time at the automatica trade show in Munich from June 24 to 27.

04/06/2025 23:06

Light-guided 3D printing method creates recyclable supports for complex designs

Hearing aids, mouth guards, dental implants, and other highly tailored structures are often products of 3D printing. These structures are typically made via vat photopolymerization—a form of 3D printing that uses patterns of light to shape and solidify a resin, one layer at a time.

04/06/2025 19:25

Energy raft foundation in Taipei shows efficient heating and cooling with ideal pipe layout

In response to rising energy demand and urban heat island effects in Taipei, an energy raft foundation was constructed beneath a 13-story residential building to provide energy-efficient indoor heating and cooling for the residents while acting as a structural support for the superstructure.

04/06/2025 19:11

Low-grade clay yields low-carbon concrete with 15% higher compressive strength and 41% less porosity

Engineers at RMIT University in Australia have converted low-grade clay into a high-performance cement supplement, opening a potential new market in sustainable construction materials.

04/06/2025 18:33