Hi Tech & Innovation

'The Matrix is everywhere': cinema bets on immersion

In a Los Angeles theater, a trench coat-wearing Neo bends backwards to dodge bullets that spiral over the viewer's head, as the sound of gunfire erupts from everywhere.

01/06/2025 13:40

Accelerating the arrival of fault-tolerant quantum computers with next-generation materials

A research study led by Oxford University has developed a powerful new technique for finding the next generation of materials needed for large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computing. This could end a decades-long search for inexpensive materials that can host unique quantum particles, ultimately facilitating the mass production of quantum computers.

30/05/2025 13:30

Laser technique improves ultra-high temperature ceramic manufacturing for space and defense applications

Researchers have demonstrated a new technique that uses lasers to create ceramics that can withstand ultra-high temperatures, with applications ranging from nuclear power technologies to spacecraft and jet exhaust systems.

29/05/2025 19:30

3D printing metal molds poised to accelerate US auto manufacturing

Recent advancements at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory show that 3D-printed metal molds offer a faster, more cost-effective and flexible approach to producing large composite components for mass-produced vehicles than traditional tooling methods.

29/05/2025 17:02

Soft robots can walk themselves out of a 3D printer

Scientists have created the first soft robots that can walk straight out of the machines that make them.

28/05/2025 18:50

Five things to do in virtual reality—and five to avoid

Open-heart surgery is a hard thing to practice in the real world, and airplane pilots cannot learn from their mistakes midair. These are some scenarios where virtual reality solves really hard problems, but the technology has limits. That's the upshot of a review of experimental research on VR, published in the journal Nature Human Behavior.

28/05/2025 17:04

An energy-efficient, high-precision measurement system using waveform similarity

Researchers at the University of Osaka have developed an energy-efficient and high-precision measurement system leveraging the inherent similarity between waveforms generated by the same type of signal source.

28/05/2025 13:37

Ultra-thin display technology shows dozens of images hidden in a single screen

From smartphones and TVs to credit cards, technologies that manipulate light are deeply embedded in our daily lives, many of which are based on holography. However, conventional holographic technologies have faced limitations, particularly in displaying multiple images on a single screen and in maintaining high-resolution image quality.

27/05/2025 18:16

Cool computing—why the future of electronics could lie in the cold

Modern computer chips generate a lot of heat—and consume large amounts of energy as a result. A promising approach to reducing this energy demand could lie in the cold, as highlighted by a new Perspective article by an international research team coordinated by Qing-Tai Zhao from Forschungszentrum Jülich. Savings could reach as high as 80%, according to the researchers.

27/05/2025 17:22

Secure encryption and decryption with luminescent perovskites

To guarantee high data security, encryption must be unbreakable while the data remains rapidly and easily readable. A novel strategy for optical encryption/decryption of information has now been introduced in the journal Angewandte Chemie by a Chinese research team. It is based on compounds with carefully modulated luminescent properties that change in response to external stimuli.

27/05/2025 15:26

Golden Dome: An aerospace engineer explains the proposed nationwide missile defense system

President Donald Trump announced a plan to build a missile defense system, called the Golden Dome, on May 20, 2025. The system is intended to protect the United States from ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles, and missiles launched from space.

24/05/2025 17:10

3D printers leave hidden 'fingerprints' that reveal part origins

A new artificial intelligence system pinpoints the origin of 3D printed parts down to the specific machine that made them. The technology could allow manufacturers to monitor their suppliers and manage their supply chains, detecting early problems and verifying that suppliers are following agreed upon processes.

22/05/2025 19:48

AI learns how vision and sound are connected, without human intervention

Humans naturally learn by making connections between sight and sound. For instance, we can watch someone playing the cello and recognize that the cellist's movements are generating the music we hear.

22/05/2025 17:36

High-quality OLED displays enable screens to emit distinct sounds from individual pixels

A research team has developed the world's first Pixel-Based Local Sound OLED technology. This breakthrough enables each pixel of an OLED display to simultaneously emit different sounds, essentially allowing the display to function as a multichannel speaker array. The team successfully demonstrated the technology on a 13-inch OLED panel, equivalent to those used in laptops and tablets.

21/05/2025 21:28

New metamaterial enables remote movement of objects underwater using sound

Sound can do more than just provide a nice beat. Sound waves have been used for everything from mapping the seafloor to breaking apart kidney stones. Thanks to a unique material structure, researchers can now move and position objects underwater without ever touching them directly.

20/05/2025 23:35

Eco-friendly advance brings CO₂ 'breathing' batteries closer to reality

Scientists at the University of Surrey have made a breakthrough in eco-friendly batteries that not only store more energy but could also help tackle greenhouse gas emissions. Lithium–CO2 "breathing" batteries release power while capturing carbon dioxide, offering a greener alternative that may one day outperform today's lithium-ion batteries.

20/05/2025 16:43

Self-positioning microdevices with circularly polarized luminescence enable adaptable 3D display

A research team has developed an adaptable three-dimensional (3D) display panel using circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) devices. Their research is published in Science Advances, and was led by Prof. Zhuang Taotao and Prof. Yu Shuhong from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC).

19/05/2025 22:07

Using sound waves to create a smart T-shirt

Imagine wearing a T-shirt that measures your breathing or gloves that translate your hand movements into commands for your computer. Researchers at ETH Zurich, led by Daniel Ahmed, Professor of Acoustic Robotics for Life Sciences and Healthcare, have laid the foundations for just such smart textiles.

19/05/2025 17:17

Air taxis to ferry fans and VIPs to venues at 2028 Los Angeles Olympics

Fans and VIPs can fly their way to venues at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics with the first air taxis ever to be used at a games.

16/05/2025 11:50

Whole-body teleoperation system allows robots to perform coordinated tasks with human-like dexterity

The ability to remotely control robots in real-time, also known as teleoperation, could be useful for a broad range of real-world applications. In recent years, some engineers have been trying to develop teleoperation systems that allow users to guide the actions of humanoid robots, which have a body structure resembling that of humans, getting the robots to precisely imitate their whole-body movements.

15/05/2025 14:20

Interlocked electrodes push silicon battery lifespan beyond limits

As demand surges for batteries that store more energy and last longer—powering electric vehicles, drones, and energy storage systems—a team of South Korean researchers has introduced an approach to overcome a major limitation of conventional lithium-ion batteries (LIBs): unstable interfaces between electrodes and electrolytes.

14/05/2025 17:36

AI model classifies images with a hierarchical tree from broad to specific

A new AI model, H-CAST, groups fine details into object-level concepts as attention moves from lower to high layers, outputting a classification tree—such as bird, eagle, bald eagle—rather than focusing only on fine-grained recognition.

14/05/2025 14:44

Baidu plans self-driving taxi tests in Europe this year

Chinese tech giant Baidu plans to start testing self-driving taxis in Europe for the first time by the end of this year, a source with knowledge of the matter confirmed to AFP on Wednesday.

14/05/2025 11:42

3-D printed smart fabrics maintain flexibility and sensing ability after repeated washes

Imagine a T-shirt that could monitor your heart rate or blood pressure. Or a pair of socks that could provide feedback on your running stride. It may be closer than you think, with new research from Washington State University demonstrating a particular 3D ink printing method for so-called smart fabrics that continue to perform well after repeated washings and abrasion tests. The research, published in the journal ACS Omega, represents a breakthrough in smart fabric comfort and durability, as well as using a process that is more environmentally friendly.

13/05/2025 21:14

3D printing with tunable color creates microscale replica of famous statue

A microscale 3D printing technique uses a resin that can be dynamically tuned to create different colors during printing. The researchers demonstrate the technique by creating a colorful replica of a famous statue that is smaller than the diameter of a human hair. The findings are published in PNAS Nexus.

13/05/2025 18:36

Tiny device processes hand movement in real time, storing visual memories with brain-like efficiency

Engineers at RMIT University have invented a small "neuromorphic" device that detects hand movement, stores memories and processes information like a human brain, without the need for an external computer.

12/05/2025 22:33

Self-healing coating lets Nd-Fe-B magnets resist saltwater, ice and mechanical damage

Since their discovery thousands of years ago, magnets have fascinated humankind with their unique properties. Even today, scientists are studying and finding new applications for these materials.

12/05/2025 22:33

Researchers unveil rapid self-healing electronic skin, paving the way for smarter, tougher wearables

In a breakthrough that could redefine the future of wearable technology, scientists at the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation have developed an electronic skin that can heal itself within just 10 seconds of being damaged. This cutting-edge material, which maintains both flexibility and electrical performance after repeated wear and tear, overcomes one of the biggest challenges in wearable electronics—and could soon power next-generation health monitoring devices.

12/05/2025 21:16

'Countersnapping' structures shrink when pulled

When you pull something—like a rubber band—you expect it to get longer. But what if it did the opposite? What if it suddenly shrank instead? In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from AMOLF and ARCNL have made this possible. They created structures that snap inward when pulled outward.

12/05/2025 18:57

LegoGPT can design stable structures using standard LEGOs from text prompts

A team of engineers and AI specialists at Carnegie Mellon University has developed an AI application that can design stable structures from standard LEGOs using text prompts. In their study published on the arXiv preprint server, the group repurposed a large language model (LLM) created by META to build their new system.

12/05/2025 18:50