EurekAlert! News by Subject: Tech & Engineering

Tech & Engineering

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 22-Oct-2026 03:16 ET (22-Oct-2026 07:16 GMT/UTC)

14-Oct-2026

Quantum calculations reveal how quantum defects lose energy

University of Chicago
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) have built a computational framework that captures the full optical cycle of spin defects, including the prediction of internal conversion, a process particularly hard to model. Their results, published in Physical Review Letters, shed light on how to use the defects in the design of quantum materials and could also be applied to a different class of systems used in renewable energy conversion and storage.

Journal: Physical Review Letters

14-Oct-2026

UBC researchers uncover new cyber threat to water and energy networks

University of British Columbia
Reports and Proceedings

University of British Columbia researchers have uncovered a vulnerability that could allow hackers to target and disrupt critical infrastructure such as water treatment plants and energy grids without needing to break into a facility’s own systems or crack its encryption.

14-Oct-2026

Google.org awards $2.3 million USD to University of Toronto researchers to advance AI-powered peptide drug discovery

University of Toronto - Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy
Grant and Award Announcement

A University of Toronto-led research team is developing OpenPep, a new AI-powered platform that could transform how scientists discover peptide-based medicines. Supported by $2.3 million USD from Google.org, the initiative will address a critical gap in drug discovery by creating an open-access database of peptide-protein interactions, enabling researchers worldwide to predict promising therapeutic candidates and accelerate the development of potential new treatments.

Funder: Google.org

14-Oct-2026

Erika Cyphert, Ph.D., of the University of California San Diego receives 2026 Sagol Network Geromic Award for Junior Faculty

American Federation for Aging Research
Grant and Award Announcement

The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2026 Sagol Network GerOmic Award for Junior Faculty: Erika Cyphert, PhD, Assistant Professor of Shu Chien-Gene Lay Bioengineering Department, Jacobs School of Engineering, University of California San Diego. Established in 2020, the Sagol Network GerOmic Award for Junior Faculty is a one- to two-year award of $160,000 given to junior faculty (MDs and PhDs) to conduct aging-related Omics (GerOmics) research.

14-Oct-2026

Social service agencies need safeguards when using AI

University of Iowa
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A former social worker and a researcher in a new study reports social service agencies need to establish guidelines for how AI is used. In the study, the researcher recommends that agencies keep people involved in decisions, regularly check AI systems for discrimination, and leverage AI to connect vulnerable people with needed resources and services. The study is published in the journal Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research.

Journal: Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research

14-Oct-2026

Most patients won't endorse AI medical responses without a clinician's review, Columbia Nursing study in JAMA Network Open finds

Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a Columbia University School of Nursing study surveying 1,185 U.S.-based adults about AI use in secure medical portals, 63% of patients said they would not endorse AI-generated medical responses without a clinician's review. The study, “Public Perceptions of Timeliness for AI Use and Human Oversight,” was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network Open on October 14, 2026.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

14-Oct-2026

New chip-scale gyroscope measures rotation with unprecedented sensitivity

Optica
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from UC Santa Barbara, Caltech, and the Air Force Research Laboratory have developed a CMOS-compatible, chip-scale optical ring-laser gyroscope capable of measuring rotation speeds as low as 37 degrees per hour. This represents a nearly 2,000-fold sensitivity improvement over prior silicon nitride Brillouin gyroscopes (72,000 deg/h) and approaches Earth's rotation rate (15 deg/h).

Journal: Optics Letters

14-Oct-2026

The stubby legs of ancient sled dogs helped people traverse the Arctic for the past 9,000 years

Cell Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

For centuries, dogs have helped people travel across the Arctic, hauling supplies, equipment, and other goods through snowy landscapes where other domesticated animals struggled to venture. Now, a new study publishing October 14 in the Cell Press journal iScience finds that sled dogs might have evolved shorter legs that helped them pull loads more efficiently. By examining the ancient remains of ritually buried dogs, the team found that both current sled dogs and dogs that were alive 2,000 ago had 6% shorter leg bones than other similar species—a finding that could help researchers trace the origins of sled dogs and better understand how dog-powered transportation spread across the cold regions of the world over the past 9,000 years.

Journal: iScience

14-Oct-2026

Researchers improve weather forecasts looking two to six weeks out

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new technique significantly improves weather forecasting beyond two weeks. Researchers developed a machine-learning model that learns to correct errors in existing forecasting models to make their output more accurate over the two-to-six-week time frame, a key window for emergency planning.

Journal: Nature
Funder: Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Research Support, European Union