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Tech & Engineering

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 12-May-2025 02:09 ET (12-May-2025 06:09 GMT/UTC)

A catalytic two-step: Transforming industrial CO2 into a renewable fuel

Yale University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New Haven, Conn. — Yale scientists have taken a critical next step in creating a scalable process to remove carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the air and “recirculate” it as a renewable fuel.

In a new study published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, Yale chemist Hailiang Wang and his colleagues describe their latest breakthrough in creating methanol — a widely used liquid fuel for internal combustion and other engines — from industrial emissions of CO₂, a primary greenhouse gas contributing to climate change.

The process could have far-reaching applications throughout industry.

Journal: Nature Nanotechnology

A robust and adaptive controller for ballbots

Shibaura Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Ballbots are versatile robotic systems with the ability to move around in all directions. This makes it tricky to control their movement. In a recent study, a team including a researcher from Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan, has proposed a novel proportional integral derivative controller that, in combination with radial basis function neural network, robustly controls ballbot motion. This technology is expected to find applications in service robots, assistive robots, and delivery robots.

Funder: Vingroup Innovation Foundation (VINIF)

Overexploitation of groundwater is compromising river flows in Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study has found that more than half of Brazil’s rivers could suffer a reduction in flow due to the transfer of water to aquifers. Irrigation pumping is one of the main factors. More than 88% of wells operate under illegal conditions.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Unique composite architecture of phosphor-in-glass film coated on different heat-conducting substrates for high-brightness laser lighting

Tsinghua University Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Next-generation high-brightness laser lighting confronts a key challenge in developing static luminescent materials with remarkable optical-thermal performances and low cost. Herein, a unique composite architecture of Y₃Al₅O₁₂:Ce³⁺ (YAG) phosphor-in-glass film coated on different heat-conducting substrates (PiGF@HCSs), i.e., PiGF@sapphire, PiGF@Al₂O₃, PiGF@AlN, and PiGF@BN-AlN composites, was designed and prepared by a simple film printing and low-temperature sintering technology. The heat-conducting substrates significantly affect the luminescence saturation and phosphor conversion of PiGF@HCSs, making the substrates with higher thermal conductivity (TC) can bear higher laser power density (LPD) and higher reflectivity can enable higher luminous efficacy (LE). These findings will provide the guiding idea for the commercial applications of PiGF@HCS converters in high-brightness laser lighting and display.

Journal: Journal of Advanced Ceramics

Lifetime of semiconductor processing equipment parts can be checked in real time

National Research Council of Science & Technology

KRISS has developed a measurement system for real-time diagnosis of components of the semiconductor plasma process. Contaminant particles caused by corrosion can be preemptively prevented to increase semiconductor yield and save costs.

Journal: Journal of the European Ceramic Society
Funder: Ministry of Science and ICT

Call for papers: 14th Asia-Pacific Conference on Transportation and the Environment (APTE 2025)

Tsinghua University Press
Meeting Announcement

We are pleased to announce the call for papers for the 14th Asia-Pacific Conference on Transportation and the Environment (APTE 2025), hosted by the School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, co-organized by Communications in Transportation Research, Journal of Intelligent and Connected Vehicles, and ETS-Data. The conference will be held from 9 to 11 August 2025, in Hangzhou, China.

Novel carbon-based materials to remove hazardous “forever chemicals” in water

Institute of Science Tokyo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New research has emerged on the development of a novel membrane distillation system and an adsorbent (a substance that can trap chemicals on its surface) for the removal of hazardous perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Scientists from Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, utilized carbon-based materials to successfully remove PFAS from water. This innovative approach could contribute to sustainable purification technologies in the future.