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Tech & Engineering

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 29-Oct-2026 11:16 ET (29-Oct-2026 15:16 GMT/UTC)

Space cargo costs could fall more than 90% by 2040, transforming the marketplace of space

University of Cambridge
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The cost of reaching orbit is now falling faster than that of steamship freight during the 1800s, a shift that economists say will once again transform global commerce.

Journal: PNAS Nexus

New plug-and-play software simplifies engineering design

University of Central Florida College of Engineering and Computer Science
Business Announcement

CRAFTS is a new plug-and-play software for engineers that makes design faster, easier and customizable. It uses a customizable library of templates with a drag-and-drop interface that allows users to design, build and test the products of their imagination.

Funder: Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy

China's water quality gains came at a cost to agriculture

Cornell University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The study found that agricultural value added fell 58% in communities facing the greatest pressure to reduce pollution, highlighting the uneven economic effects of China's environmental regulations.

Journal: Journal of Environmental Economics and Management

UT San Antonio study finds word choice is linked to depression and anxiety symptoms in 911 dispatchers

University of Texas at San Antonio
Reports and Proceedings

Emergency call takers and dispatchers serve as the invisible frontline of public safety, navigating life-or-death crises over phone lines and radios without ever seeing the outcomes of their efforts. Now, a new study from UT San Antonio reveals that the specific words these workers use to describe their most stressful calls can provide early, hidden warning signs of depression and anxiety.

Journal: PLOS One

Highly sensitive SWCNT-based pyroelectric phototransistors enable broadband room-temperature infrared detection

Editorial Office of Opto-Electronic Journals Group
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology have built an infrared detector that works at room temperature, removing the bulky cooling that conventional high-sensitivity sensors require. By placing a sparse network of single-walled carbon nanotubes onto a polar face of a pyroelectric lithium niobate crystal, the team created a phototransistor that responds across a broad infrared band and reaches specific detectivities beyond comparable graphene devices, approaching the theoretical limit for thermal photodetectors.

Journal: Opto-Electronic Advances
Funder: RSF grant

Chinese Neurosurgical Journal highlights robot-guided approach for complex brain abscesses

Chinese Neurosurgical Journal
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Brain abscesses located deep within the brain can rapidly become life-threatening and are often difficult to treat through conventional surgery. In a single-patient case report, researchers describe how robot-guided stereotactic surgery was used to drain six intracranial abscesses through four carefully planned trajectories during a single operation. Combined with targeted antimicrobial therapy and controlled edema management, the minimally invasive approach led to rapid neurological recovery and complete functional restoration with no evidence of recurrence.

Journal: Chinese Neurosurgical Journal

Damage growth in metals under shear loading

Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The resistance of material against mechanical loads is a decisive factor for component safety – such as in aircraft. Working in an international team, researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have found a previously unknown damage mechanism in metals: Contamination in the form of stiff particles can make the volume of voids grow up to sixfold when exposed to deformation by shear loading. The results of the study are particularly relevant to the ductility and safety of materials in recycling processes. Publication in the International Journal of Plasticity. (DOI: 10.1016/j.ijplas.2026.104724)

Journal: International Journal of Plasticity

First-of-its-kind computer model of bacterial biofilms could support antibiotic resistance research

University of Surrey
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Faster and more effective ways to treat pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the most life-threatening pathogens, could be on the cards thanks to a first-of-its-kind 3D computer model developed by the University of Surrey.

Journal: npj Biofilms and Microbiomes

Testing the limits of what’s possible (and what isn’t) with AI

University of Cambridge
Peer-Reviewed Publication

When can we trust the results we get from AI, and when is learning impossible? Researchers have shown that there are some problems that even the most powerful AI can reliably solve, no matter how much data it’s given.

Journal: Nature Communications