New Joining and Additive Production Processes Allow Adhesive-free Wood-Metal Joints. Using 3D printing technology and ultrasonic joining technique, researchers at Graz University of Technology succeeded in attaining an extremely strong joining of the renewable raw material wood with metal and polymer composite. In Ultrasonic Joining, wood and the base component are joined by frictional heat. (c) Oliver Wolf / TU Graz The renewable raw material wood is climate-neutral and at the same time light and strong, making it fundamentally attractive…

Roadway-related incidents are a leading cause of flood fatalities nationwide, but limited flood-reporting tools make it difficult to evaluate road conditions in real time. Existing tools — traffic cameras, water-level sensors and even social media data — can provide observations of flooding, but they are often not primarily designed for sensing flood conditions on roads and do not work in conjunction. A network of sensors could improve situational flood level awareness; however, they are expensive to operate at scale. Engineers…

The advance shows promise for creating compact, inexpensive, and portable light sources, which are crucial for space-based applications, biological and geological field research, and military operations. In a groundbreaking advancement, researchers with the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) have experimentally demonstrated that metasurfaces (two-dimensional materials structured at the nanoscale) can precisely control the optical properties of thermal radiation generated within the metasurface itself. This pioneering work, published in Nature Nanotechnology, paves the way for…

… as an anode material for Li batteries operating in freezing conditions. Achieved a discharge capacity five times higher than that of graphite anode material, even in environments as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius. The Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) has developed a redox-active metal-organic hybrid electrode material (SKIER-5) for Li batteries that remains stable in cold conditions as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius. By addressing the limitations of graphite as an anode material of conventional Li batteries under…

As climate change creates hotter, drier conditions, we are seeing longer fire seasons with larger, more frequent wildfires. In recent years, catastrophic wildfires have destroyed homes and infrastructure, caused devastating losses in lives and livelihoods of people living in affected areas, and damaged wildland resources and the economy. We need new solutions to fight wildfires and protect areas from damage. Researchers at Stanford have developed a water-enhancing gel that could be sprayed on homes and critical infrastructure to help keep…

A Contribution to Protein Supply for the Growing Global Population. To ensure that food proteins do not become scarce in the future despite extreme weather conditions and increasing environmental stress, six Fraunhofer Institutes are focusing on indoor farming systems in the lighthouse project “FutureProteins” (alternative protein sources). How can wheatgrass, alfalfa, and potatoes be successfully grown indoors without soil, using only artificial lighting? And are these methods not only ecologically sustainable but also economically viable? Fraunhofer IWU is focused on…

Batteries undercut their theoretical capacity in practice, sometimes significantly. In a lithium iron phosphate cathode, researchers at TU Graz have now been able to observe exactly where the capacity loss occurs. High-resolution image of lithium-rich (bottom right) and lithium-poor (top left) areas of the sample material. For easier comparison, both areas are also shown in images of simulations. (c) FELMI – TU Graz Lithium iron phosphate is one of the most important materials for batteries in electric cars, stationary energy…

In an innovative leap forward for workplace safety, a research team at Seoul National University (PI: Prof. Yong-Lae Park) has developed the Bilateral Back Extensor Exosuit (BBEX), a robotic back-support device designed to prevent spinal injuries and assist workers in heavy lifting tasks. The BBEX, introduced in a recent study published in Science Robotics, promises to address the shortcomings of existing back-support devices by providing multidimensional assistance and comprehensive safety validation. Addressing a Persistent Problem Lower back injuries from heavy or…

Robotic automation has become a game-changer in addressing labour shortages. While traditional rigid grippers have effectively automated various routine tasks, boosting efficiency and productivity in industries that deal with objects of well-defined specifications, they fall short in sectors like the food industry, where delicate objects of varying sizes and shapes need to be handled. In these cases, a more specialised type of gripper is required. “Bioinspired soft robotics seeks to develop technologies that draw inspiration from nature and leverage advanced…

First-of-its-kind technology can help accelerate the process of cryopreservation, cybernetics, and bioimaging. A first-of-its-kind adaptive 3D printing system developed by University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers can identify the positions of randomly distributed organisms and safely move them to specific locations for assembly. This autonomous technology will save researchers time and money in bioimaging, cybernetics, cryopreservation, and devices that integrate living organisms. The research is published in Advanced Science, a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The researchers have a patent pending on the…

Burrs on cut and punched edges of sheet metal increase the risk of injury and can often damage cables and scratch surfaces. For this reason alone, it makes sense to deburr such edges. If this is done by laser, not only can edges be selectively reinforced, but the fatigue strength of the components can be increased and the tendency to forming cracks reduced. The Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen will be presenting state-of-the-art laser deburring processes at…

Nylon, Teflon, Kevlar. These are just a few familiar polymers — large-molecule chemical compounds — that have changed the world. From Teflon-coated frying pans to 3D printing, polymers are vital to creating the systems that make the world function better. Finding the next groundbreaking polymer is always a challenge, but now Georgia Tech researchers are using artificial intelligence (AI) to shape and transform the future of the field. Rampi Ramprasad’s group develops and adapts AI algorithms to accelerate materials discovery. This summer,…

These zinc-air batteries, smaller than a grain of sand, could help miniscule robots sense and respond to their environment. A tiny battery designed by MIT engineers could enable the deployment of cell-sized, autonomous robots for drug delivery within in the human body, as well as other applications such as locating leaks in gas pipelines. The new battery, which is 0.1 millimeters long and 0.002 millimeters thick — roughly the thickness of a human hair — can capture oxygen from air and…

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have analysed which regions of the world could produce hydrogen most cost-effectively in order to build an economy based on this alternative energy carrier rather than fossil-fuel based alternatives. One of their findings is that simply replacing fossil fuels by electricity and hydrogen will not put an end to greenhouse gas emissions. The study is being published today in the journal Nature Communications. Switzerland aims to become climate-neutral by 2050. This means that…

– at ISAT of Coburg University of Applied Sciences. Shadow mask lithography can be used to create tiny patterns on surfaces. The Institute of Sensor and Actuator Technology (ISAT) at Coburg University of Applied Sciences announces the first successful fabrication of plasmonic nanostructure by shadow mask lithography – and this has big potential for the development of highly sensitive sensors. Nano comes from the Greek, meaning dwarf, and nanotechnology is the science and technology of tiny nanoparticles. There are so-called…

Researchers have demonstrated a technique for printing thin metal oxide films at room temperature, and have used the technique to create transparent, flexible circuits that are both robust and able to function at high temperatures. “Creating metal oxides that are useful for electronics has traditionally required making use of specialized equipment that is slow, expensive, and operates at high temperatures,” says Michael Dickey, co-corresponding author of a paper on the work and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Professor of Chemical…