Phys.org – Engineering

Prosthetics are a fact of life today. It’s estimated that more than 50 million people globally—some 2 million of them in the United States—have lost a limb, and most could benefit or already do benefit […]

The moment a nuclear reactor begins operation, a complex chain of events is initiated within the fuel: Heavy atoms split into fission products, knocking other atoms out of place and creating defects that can change […]

Optical fiber has already transformed the modern world. New research now suggests it could do even more. A new flat-fiber fabrication technique produces a high-fidelity sensor for a wide range of applications, from batteries to […]

Researchers at the A*STAR Quantum Innovation Center (A*STAR Q.InC), part of the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) Flagship in Semiconductors, have developed a levitated, millimeter-scale rotor that continued spinning for more than 10 hours after […]

Imagine a display that harvests ambient light when it is not actively in use, offsetting some of its own energy consumption. Materials physics shows that this is possible; the same semiconductor material can, in principle, […]

To reliably complete various manual tasks, robots should be able to handle a variety of objects, ranging from items found in households to tools used in specific professional settings. While many existing robotic systems can […]

A longstanding challenge in materials engineering has been how to extend the fatigue life of critical nickel-based superalloy structures (e.g., Inconel 718) that contain holes. These hole structures, commonly used for bolts and fasteners in […]

Workplace hearing loss is one of the most common work-related illnesses. While hearing loss is preventable with earplugs, they can be uncomfortable, and users often remove them despite the risks. Low-frequency sounds, such as rumbling […]

Researchers have developed an ultra-thin optical film that improves the quality of the light used in LCD resin-based 3D printers. The advance helps ensure that tiny details are reproduced with precision, which could make it […]

As global demand for lithium-ion batteries continues to surge, a team of Rice University researchers has developed a faster, more energy-efficient way to recover critical minerals from spent batteries, potentially easing supply chain pressures and […]