Metals Tech

A groundbreaking advancement in technology is paving the way for mobile phones and other electronic devices to recharge simply by being kept in a pocket. This innovative system enables wireless charging throughout three-dimensional (3D) spaces, encompassing walls, floors, and air. On December 12, Professor Franklin Bien and his research team in the Department of Electrical […]

A team has developed the world’s first technology to prevent damage caused by “positive lightning,” which frequently occurs in offshore wind farms during winter. Just as voltage has positive and negative poles, lightning also has positive and negative polarities. When clouds carry a positive charge and the ground carries a negative charge, positive polarity lightning […]

Artificial intelligence (AI) helps heat pumps to operate more efficiently, by avoiding incorrect device settings and optimizing system operation. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE is researching a new generation of smart heat pumps that use artificial neural networks to adapt to environmental conditions and to learn as conditions change. This increases both energy […]

Electrocatalytic water splitting, a process that entails breaking down water into hydrogen and oxygen, is a promising approach to produce clean hydrogen for fuel cells, which could in turn be used to power large electric vehicles. So far, the real-world use of this process has been limited by the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen evolution […]

Dominant in the electric car sector, Chinese companies have been quietly consolidating their position in the lesser-watched trucking scene—but foreign tariffs and a perceived quality gap could signal roadblocks ahead, experts warn. The domestic supply chain and low-price strategy that helped make China’s EV car industry world-leading are being leveraged by established automakers and start-ups […]

In the past, gaming laptops would last anywhere from two to four hours on a single charge — a woefully short duration compared to their non-gaming counterparts. Powerful hardware like heavy-duty graphics cards requires a lot of energy to run, thus draining the battery. But trends have changed in recent years thanks to advances in […]

The drive system of a rail vehicle is the largest energy consumer in operation, followed by the systems for temperature management of the passenger compartment and the drive system—regardless of the type of train propulsion. Batteries or fuel cells must be maintained at an optimal operating temperature in electrically powered trains without energy supply via […]

An invention made from waste polystyrene that generates static electricity from motion and wind could lower power usage by recycling waste energy in air conditioners and other applications. More than 25 million tonnes of single-use, polystyrene packaging materials are made globally each year, but only a tiny fraction is recycled—most of it goes to landfill […]

Plastics make up around a quarter of the materials contained in electronic waste (e-waste). The proportion that is recycled is comparatively low—the majority is simply incinerated. The first step to improve recycling is the identification of polymer materials, so that they can be selectively sorted and processed in a way that preserves their function. Researchers […]

Blue Evolution, a California-based regenerative ocean farming company, announced Thursday it has merged with Blu3, a company specializing in regenerative ocean technologies. The move, Blue Evolution said, creates a combined entity that will leverage enhanced R&D capabilities to drive innovation and commercialize new seaweed-based products across multiple sectors – agriculture, biomaterials – and critical minerals. […]