EurekAlert! News by Subject: Tech & Engineering - News by Subject: Tech & Engineering

Tech & Engineering

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 4-Apr-2026 17:16 ET (4-Apr-2026 21:16 GMT/UTC)

3-Apr-2026

New farming strategy boosts rice yields while saving water and cutting pollution

Biochar Editorial Office, Shenyang Agricultural University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study offers a promising solution to one of agriculture’s toughest challenges: how to grow more food while using less water and reducing environmental harm. Researchers have demonstrated that combining a water-saving irrigation technique with an engineered biochar fertilizer can significantly improve rice production while lowering nitrogen pollution.

Journal: Biochar

3-Apr-2026

Biochar boosts soil carbon storage through microbial pathways, but effects vary with soil depth

Biochar Editorial Office, Shenyang Agricultural University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new long-term field study reveals that biochar, a carbon-rich material derived from biomass, can significantly enhance soil carbon storage by stimulating microbial processes. However, the benefits are not uniform throughout the soil profile, highlighting the importance of looking deeper beneath the surface.

Journal: Biochar

3-Apr-2026

Evaluating the ethics of autonomous systems

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Reports and Proceedings

SEED-SET is a new evaluation framework that can test whether recommendations of autonomous systems are well-aligned with human-defined ethical criteria. It can also pinpoint unexpected scenarios that violate ethical preferences.

Funder: U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

3-Apr-2026

Study provides answers to progressive heart problems in muscular dystrophy and potential reversibility

Baylor College of Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine focused on the effects of myotonic dystrophy 1 (DM1) in the heart. Their findings help answer questions about why the disease worsens over time and whether the damage can be reversed once it has begun.

Journal: JCI Insight

3-Apr-2026

“Perfectly symmetrical” 2D perovskites boost energy transport

Rice University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Rice scientists have created a new type of 2D semiconductor that comes closer than ever to a “perfect” crystal.

Journal: Nature Synthesis
Funder: China Scholarship Council, European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, French National Research Agency, American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, France’s National Center for Scientific Research, Academic Institute of France

3-Apr-2026

[Research Articles] Assessing future risk of humanitarian crises using projections of climate-related hazards, population, conflict and other socioeconomic variables within the INFORM framework

Big Earth Data

A new study published in Big Earth Data applies the INFORM Climate Change model to project future risks of humanitarian crises and disasters by integrating climate hazards, population dynamics, conflict, and socioeconomic development pathways. Incorporating forward-looking projections of vulnerability and coping capacity under different Shared Socioeconomic Pathways, the analysis shows that global risk may decline under moderate and rapid development scenarios but could rise sharply in the high-emission, fragmented SSP3 pathway. The findings provide evidence for prioritizing vulnerable regions and guiding targeted risk reduction and climate adaptation strategies.

Journal: Big Earth Data

3-Apr-2026

Researchers create an injectable particle to make surgery safer for infants

North Carolina State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Biomedical researchers have designed an injectable microgel to help reduce bleeding in infants who require surgical care. In an animal model, the engineered microgel reduced bleeding by at least 50%.

Journal: Science Advances
Funder: American Heart Association