Tech Xplore news
Tech Xplore / Designing new nuclear alloys, element by element
The periodic table contains more than 100 elements. Combine them in different ways, and the possibilities quickly multiply. For researchers designing materials for advanced nuclear reactors, the abundance presents an opportunity: ...
Tech Xplore / Researchers establish performance targets for next-generation solar aircraft batteries
A sleek, pilotless, solar-powered airplane that soars through the atmosphere to monitor climate or track wildfires was once just an idea. Now, these high-altitude specialty aircraft are advancing from early prototyping demonstrations ...
Tech Xplore / A new flexible foot pad enables this one-legged, hopping robot to go where few robots have gone before
A team of University of Toronto Engineering researchers has developed a flexible foot pad for the "Hopcopter"—a one-legged, hopping robot they developed—significantly enhancing its performance on sand, ice and other difficult ...
Tech Xplore / Spray coating creates power-generating fibers without high-voltage equipment
A joint research team has developed self-powered fibers using a simple spray-coating process that blends two different polymers, eliminating the need for high-voltage equipment. The paper is published in the journal Advanced ...
Tech Xplore / Energy mapping reveals boundary that could guide more efficient organic solar cells
A key goal in solar cell research is to improve efficiency toward the Shockley–Queisser limit, the theoretical maximum efficiency for converting sunlight into electricity under specified conditions. Organic solar cells use ...
Tech Xplore / AIs fail to reliably detect AIs in reverse Turing tests
The famous "Turing test" of computer science comes from a 1950 paper written by the British computer scientist (and war hero) Alan Turing. There are many variants, but perhaps the most common involves a human asking questions ...
Tech Xplore / Artificial skin helps robots grasp pencil lead and pull away from needles
Researchers have covered robotic fingers with a new artificial skin that allows the hand to grasp fragile pencil lead and pull away from a needle before it punctures the covering. Both actions depend on more than sensitive ...
Tech Xplore / New neural framework could make LLMs more empathetic
As more people turn to large language models (LLMs) during personal crises, the companies behind them are engineering these AI-powered models to be more personal, empathetic and understanding when prompts indicate a user ...
Dialog / Why were you shown that ad? Most platforms still won't say, despite EU law
Article 39 of the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) requires very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs), including social media platforms like Instagram, shopping platforms like Temu and ...
Tech Xplore / Flash heating offers faster way to recover critical metal from e-waste
Many electronic devices use flame-retardant plastic as casing in order to reduce the risk of electrical fires. This plastic is formulated using a metal called antimony along with organic bromide compounds. In fact, 39% of ...
Tech Xplore / Origami-based construction method yields lightweight, load-bearing structures on architectural scales
MIT researchers have developed a new type of origami-based construction method that could be used to build complex structures that are cheaper and easier to assemble and use less material than those built with some conventional ...
Tech Xplore / The unexpected key to extending EV battery life found in 'oxygen release'
What if a battery could become more powerful as it ages? Much like wine developing a deeper flavor over time, researchers in Korea have uncovered the mechanism behind a battery material that can deliver greater usable capacity ...
