Technology

Engineers found a way to help airplanes avoid stall with lightweight plastic flaps that flutter with pressure changes. The flaps mimick a class of feathers that are key to birds' most daring aerial maneuvers. Taking inspiration from bird feathers, Princeton engineers have found that adding rows of flaps to a remote-controlled aircraft's wings improves flight

The transition to renewable energy requires efficient methods for storing large amounts of electricity. Researchers have developed a new method that could extend the lifespan of aqueous zinc-ion batteries by several orders of magnitude. Instead of lasting just a few thousand cycles, they could now endure several hundred thousand charge and discharge cycles. The transition

Researchers have invented a new solvent-free polymer for digital light printing (DLP), a type of 3D printing that essentially pulls solid objects out of a shallow pool of resin one layer at a time. Besides eliminating a well-known issue of finished objects shrinking after printing, the lack of solvent also results in improved mechanical properties

Researchers have pored over more than two decades' worth of data from NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory to show there's new knotty science to discover around black holes. Research led by the University of Michigan has pored over more than two decades' worth of data from NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory to show there's new knotty science

It acts as a sort of molecular fumigator to battle phages and plasmids. CRISPR-Cas9 has long been likened to a kind of genetic scissors, thanks to its ability to snip out any desired section of DNA with elegant precision. But it turns out that CRISPR systems have more than one strategy in their toolkit. A

Researchers have invented a new way to align 3D semiconductor chips by shining a laser through concentric metalenses patterned on the chips to produce a hologram. Their work can help to lower the cost of producing 2D semiconductor chips, enable 3D photonic and electronic chips, and may pave the way for other low-cost, compact sensors.

Researchers are finding new ways to make the hydrogen evolution reaction harder, better, faster, and stronger. Fine-tuning the reactions that produce hydrogen (H2) for use as a clean fuel is an important endeavour to fight against climate change. Researchers at Tohoku University and the Tokyo University of Science have succeeded in improving the catalytic activity

Researchers have revealed the 3D structure of lab-made light-harvesting complex II (LHCII), a key component in photosynthesis. Using cryo-electron microscopy, they found that artificial LHCII closely mirrors the natural version, advancing research into solar energy harnessing and artificial photosynthesis technologies. Humans can do plenty, but plants have an ability we don't: they make energy straight

Increasing amounts of data require storage, often for long periods. Synthetic polymers are an alternative to conventional storage media because they maintain stored information while using less space and energy. However, data retrieval by mass spectrometry limits the length and thus the storage capacity of individual polymer chains. Researchers have now introduced a method that

Researchers have developed a new binarized neural network (BNN) scheme using ternary gradients to address the computational challenges of IoT edge devices. They introduced a magnetic RAM-based computing-in-memory architecture, significantly reducing circuit size and power consumption. Their design achieved near-identical accuracy and faster training times compared to traditional BNNs, making it a promising solution for

Improvements in three-dimensional (3D) scanning have enabled quick and accurate scanning of 3D objects, including cultural heritage objects, as 3D point cloud data. However, conventional edge-highlighting visualization techniques, used for understanding complex 3D structures, result in excessive line clutter, reducing clarity. Addressing these issues, a multinational team of researchers have developed a novel technique, involving

A team has developed a highly efficient alkaline membrane electrolyser that approaches the performance of established PEM electrolysers. What makes this achievement remarkable is the use of inexpensive nickel compounds for the anode catalyst, replacing costly and rare iridium. Hydrogen will play a major role in the energy system of the future, as an energy