Tech Xplore news

Tech Xplore / World-first social media wargame reveals how AI bots can swing elections

On December 14, 2025, a terrorist attack occurred at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, leaving 15 civilians and one gunman dead. While Australia was still reeling in shock, social media saw the rapid spread of misinformation ...

Jan 16, 2026 in Consumer & Gadgets
Tech Xplore / I was a designer for RuneScape—its comeback reveals how old games can be rejuvenated

RuneScape experienced a surge of popularity over the 2025 holiday season. While fan nostalgia for a game that is now 25 years old plays a role, the revival more clearly reflects recent changes to RuneScape's controversial ...

Jan 16, 2026 in Consumer & Gadgets
Tech Xplore / New RoboReward dataset and models automate robotic training and evaluation

The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms has opened new possibilities for the development of robots that can reliably tackle various everyday tasks. Training and evaluating these algorithms, however, typically ...

Jan 15, 2026 in Robotics
Tech Xplore / Sub-zero green freezer achieves zero emissions

Researchers at the School of Engineering of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed the world's first sub-zero Celsius elastocaloric freezing device, capable of reaching temperatures as low ...

Jan 15, 2026 in Engineering
Tech Xplore / Soft, 3D transistors could host living cells for bioelectronics

New research from the WISE group (Wearable, Intelligent, Soft Electronics) at The University of Hong Kong (HKU-WISE) has addressed a long-standing bioelectronic challenge: the development of soft, 3D transistors.

Tech Xplore / Novel thick electrode enhances battery power and capacity for a 75% increase in output

A research team affiliated with UNIST has unveiled a new type of thick electrode aimed at solving a common challenge in battery design: As the capacity increases, power often decreases. This breakthrough could enable electric ...

Jan 15, 2026 in Engineering
Tech Xplore / AIs behaving badly: An AI trained to deliberately make bad code will become bad at unrelated tasks, too

Artificial intelligence models that are trained to behave badly on a narrow task may generalize this behavior across unrelated tasks, such as offering malicious advice, suggests a new study. The research probes the mechanisms ...

Jan 15, 2026 in Security
Tech Xplore / Fire-safe all-solid-state batteries move closer to commercialization

The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) has developed a key materials technology that accelerates the commercialization of all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs)—next-generation batteries designed to intrinsically ...

Jan 15, 2026 in Energy & Green Tech
Tech Xplore / In a warming world, freshwater production is moving deep beneath the sea

Some four miles off the Southern California coast, a company is betting it can solve one of desalination's biggest problems by moving the technology deep below the ocean's surface.

Jan 15, 2026 in Engineering
Tech Xplore / Underwater robots inspired by nature are making progress, but hurdles remain

Underwater robots face many challenges before they can truly master the deep, such as stability in choppy currents. A new paper published in the journal npj Robotics provides a comprehensive update of where the technology ...

Jan 14, 2026 in Robotics
Tech Xplore / Robot learns to lip sync by watching YouTube

Almost half of our attention during face-to-face conversation focuses on lip motion. Yet, robots still struggle to move their lips correctly. Even the most advanced humanoids make little more than muppet mouth gestures—if ...

Jan 14, 2026 in Robotics
Tech Xplore / An earthquake on a chip: New tech could make smartphones smaller, faster

A team of engineers has made major strides in generating the tiniest earthquakes imaginable. The team's device, known as a surface acoustic wave phonon laser, could one day help scientists make more sophisticated versions ...

Jan 14, 2026 in Engineering