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

Tech & Engineering

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 15-Dec-2025 12:11 ET (15-Dec-2025 17:11 GMT/UTC)

Inequality in agri-food chains: the Global South produces the food, but the Global North keeps the wealth

Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In the global agri-food system, most agricultural goods are produced in the Global South but value is captured by countries of the Global North through growth and control of the post farmgate sectors.

Journal: Global Food Security

Research shows significant association between emergency department visits for firearm and motor vehicle-related crashes

American Academy of Pediatrics
Reports and Proceedings

One in four patients treated in an emergency department for firearm injuries had been treated in a prior visit for injuries caused by a motor vehicle crash or other violent incident, according to new research presented during the American Academy of Pediatrics 2025 National Conference & Exhibition. The significant association between types of injuries could indicate a pattern of risky behaviors. The authors of an abstract, “Associational Analysis for Pediatric Firearm Injury Risk,” found that children and youth with firearm, non-firearm violent, and motor vehicle crash injuries visited a Midwest hospital system’s emergency department on multiple occasions within a four-year period. They will present their findings during the AAP national conference at the Colorado Convention Center from Sept. 26-30.

Meeting: American Academy of Pediatrics 2025 National Conference & Exhibition

Lightweight UAV object detection with reparameterized convolutions and shallow fusion networks

Osaka Metropolitan University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University have developed SORA-DET, a lightweight and high-performance deep learning model for UAV-based remote sensing. By introducing innovative feature extraction and fusion techniques, SORA-DET achieves state-of-the-art detection accuracy while being up to 88% smaller and faster than conventional models. Its compact design enables real-time deployment directly on UAVs, making it highly effective for applications such as disaster response, search-and-rescue, and environmental monitoring.

Journal: Scientific Reports

Designed protein switches may lead to safer, smarter medicines

University of Washington School of Medicine/UW Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new molecular switch, created through protein design, may be a potential way to control when drugs are active or inactive in the body. Researchers hope this approach is a starting point for further developments to reduce side effects from cancer drugs or antibody therapies. This type of designed molecular switch has already been shown to increase the speed of a COVID test. The scientists have also created a switchable version of interleukin-2 in a effort to manage the side effects of this potentially powerful cancer drug.

Journal: Nature
Funder: Audacious Project, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Nordstrom Barrier Institute for Protein Design Directors Fund, Microsoft, NIH/National Institutes of Health, NIH/National Cancer Institute, U.S. National Science Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, U.S. Department of Energy, CRI Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship

Ultrasonic-responsive phosphorescence in aqueous solution by rigid framework engineering

Light Publishing Center, Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics And Physics, CAS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Solid-state phosphorescent materials with stimulus-responsive properties have been widely developed for diverse applications. However, the task of generating excited states with long lifetimes in aqueous solution remains challenging due to the ultrafast deactivation of the triplet excitons and the difficulty in regulating stimulation sites in an aqueous environment. Here, we present a microscale rigid framework engineering strategy that can be used to modulate the phosphorescence properties of carbon nanodots (CNDs). Ultrasound-responsive phosphorescent CNDs with a lifetime of 1.25 seconds in an aqueous solution were achieved.

Journal: Light Science & Applications
Funder: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Key Research and Promotion Projects in Henan Province, Joint Fund of Henan Province Science and Technology R&D Program, Science and Technology Major Project of Henan Province, Henan Science and Technology Major Project of the Department of Science and Technology of Henan Province

Beyond adsorption: Dalian scientists uncover biochar’s hidden superpower—direct pollutant destruction

Biochar Editorial Office, Shenyang Agricultural University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

What if we told you that one of nature’s simplest materials—biochar, the black gold of sustainable tech—can do more than just soak up pollution? Spoiler: it can actually destroy it directly, like a microscopic superhero with an electric punch. And the best part? This isn’t sci-fi. It’s real science, just published on July 10, 2025, in Carbon Research—led by Dr. Yuan Gao from the Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Ministry of Education), School of Environmental Science and Technology at Dalian University of Technology, China. This team didn’t just study biochar—they redefined it.

Journal: Carbon Research

How could AI help (and hurt) forestry?

Northern Arizona University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers recently interviewed 20 forestry professionals in the Southwest to understand what the field has to gain—and lose—with artificial intelligence. While the forestry professionals agree AI could help them save time on monotonous tasks, they worry it could also use inaccurate data to influence policy decisions.

Journal: Forest Policy and Economics