Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) are a safer, more cost-effective energy storage option than lithium-ion batteries, but cathode material limitations hinder the practicality of the technology. A team of researchers recently produced ball-milled manufactured electrolytic manganese dioxide (MnO₂), which introduces oxygen vacancies that improve material performance as an AZIB cathode, bringing the technology closer to reality.

FAU’s video-compression technology portfolio has been acquired by Dolby Laboratories, underscoring the global impact of its research. The portfolio includes 683 intellectual property assets, 250 granted patents and 73 U.S. patents, including 16 U.S. patents essential to the international VVC/H.266 standard. The technology enables video to be delivered using about 50% less data without sacrificing quality, advancing streaming, broadcasting, defense communications, autonomous systems, robotics and AI worldwide.

University of Waterloo researchers have developed an AI-powered system that uses data from experimental house fires to better understand how modern homes burn and produce toxic smoke. The technology could help improve evacuations, inform building codes and support emergency responders by predicting dangerous changes in fire behaviour.

It has long been recognized that chiral materials can selectively transport electron spins, yet their role in electrochemical energy storage remained unclear. Now, writing in National Science Review, researchers led by Prof. Hongsen Li at Qingdao University demonstrate that regulating the chiral asymmetry factor enhances spin polarization at catalytic sites, accelerates sulfur redox reactions, and significantly improves the electrochemical performance of lithium–sulfur batteries.

In a paper published in SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences, a research team led by Professor Chengbang An reconstructed 4,000 years of dietary evolution in the central-eastern Eurasian Steppe from the Bronze Age to the Tang Dynasty, revealing synchronized dietary shifts across multiple regions: increased millet and meat consumption from the Early Iron Age to the Han Dynasty, followed by a return to wheat- and barley-based C₃ diets during the Jin-Tang periods. The study further demonstrates that these transitions were jointly driven by climate change, intensified interregional interaction among pastoralist groups, and innovations in grain processing technology. This work provides a critical reference for understanding human-environment interactions in the Eurasian Steppe.

The new technology identifies the tumor's biological fingerprint with more than 90% accuracy and could complement CT scans in monitoring patients' response to treatment.

Conventional tribotronic devices, that convert mechanical stimuli like touch into electrical signals, offer fixed sensitivity and pose challenges in large-area integration. In a new study, researchers have developed a new vertically integrated dual-gated tribotronic transistor architecture, that offers tuneable sensitivity, reliable contact and proximity detection, as well as minimal pixel footprint for high-density array integration. This technology can pave the way for electronic skin systems that allow robots and prosthetics to reliably perceive human touch.

Soft, shape-changing materials are attracting growing interest in applications ranging from robotics to wearable devices, but conventional 3D printing methods are limited to a single actuation mode in each printed component. A new study demonstrates the first 3D-printable smectic liquid crystal elastomer ink that can switch molecular alignment during printing, allowing the same filament to either elongate or contract when heated. The advance could enable more versatile soft robots, adaptive surfaces, and minimally invasive biomedical devices.