Tech Xplore news

Tech Xplore / Robots can now 'see' touch thanks to a new color-changing tactile sensor

Engineers at Queen Mary University of London have built a new color-changing tactile sensor, which allows robots to "see" and touch in real-time. The novel idea was invented by Giacomo Sasso, a postdoctoral researcher at ...

Jul 3, 2026
Tech Xplore / A COF-graphene hybrid opens new horizons for lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries combine the abundance and affordability of sulfur with an energy storage capability far beyond that of current lithium-ion technologies. Practical deployment, however, has been slowed by a ...

Jul 3, 2026
Tech Xplore / Some agentic AI browsers may come with major cybersecurity risks

In the last year or so, artificial intelligence companies have rolled out a spate of web browsers equipped with AI agents. A user might ask one of these agents to plan a vacation, and it will open browser tabs to research ...

Jul 3, 2026
Tech Xplore / Spintronic hardware unlocks faster, lower-energy optimization, outpacing tested quantum annealers

Solving complex optimization problems is central to many modern technologies, from logistics and financial modeling to chip design, communications and artificial intelligence (AI). However, as these problems grow in size, ...

Jul 2, 2026
Tech Xplore / Giving drones a sense of 'pain' could help them predict instability before it happens

Imagine you're running and you sprain your ankle. The pain makes you gingerly limp the rest of the way home. This is a great example of how nature adapts to failures in a system. The pain tells you: "If you continue running ...

Jul 2, 2026
Tech Xplore / Blame the model, not the machine—better data helps 3D-printed metamaterials match predictions

Additive manufacturing, such as 3D printing, provides an excellent opportunity to design metamaterials: materials with an engineered structure that leads to desired properties such as, for instance, resistance to vibrations. ...

Jul 2, 2026
Tech Xplore / Electrochemical research takes major strides towards harvesting a vital battery material

The supply of lithium—the battery material that keeps digital devices humming, EVs racing and renewable energy on the grid—will not meet even half the expected demand by 2040.

Jul 1, 2026
Tech Xplore / Spent EV batteries get second life as higher-performance battery material

A new approach to battery recycling could turn today's electric vehicle waste into the building blocks of tomorrow's higher-performing batteries. Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed an environmentally ...

Jul 1, 2026
Tech Xplore / AI-human relationships are real and come with risks, researchers find

Human-AI relationships are no longer confined to the domain of science fiction. As the technology has developed, AI chatbots have evolved from playing a role in search engines and image-generation tools into confidants, therapists ...

Jul 1, 2026
Tech Xplore / AI changes its behavior around authority... and that could be risky

Artificial intelligence doesn't just learn how humans talk. It may also be learning who gets listened to. A new study from researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that large language models, the ...

Jul 1, 2026
Tech Xplore / Why AI fiction still feels flat: New test shows characters lack mystery and complexity

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have found that while artificial intelligence can spin increasingly convincing stories, its characters may still lack one of the qualities that make human-written ...

Jul 1, 2026
Tech Xplore / Tandem solar cell sets 25.5% efficiency record with CIGS-perovskite design

A Berlin-based team from HZB and Center for the Science of Materials Berlin (CSMB) at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin has set a new record for a tandem solar cell. Using a combination of a CIGS semiconductor layer and perovskite, ...

Jul 1, 2026