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Tech & Engineering

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 24-Oct-2026 12:17 ET (24-Oct-2026 16:17 GMT/UTC)

A comprehensive review on therapeutic potential of mitragyna speciosa (kratom)

Bentham Science Publishers
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Kratom, a tropical tree whose leaves have been chewed or brewed as tea for generations in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Myanmar for pain relief and general wellness, has attracted scientific attention primarily because of its two main active alkaloids, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, which interact with opioid receptors to produce analgesic, mood-modulating, and potentially neuroprotective effects.

Journal: The Open Medicinal Chemistry Journal

Predicting urban building damage even from cloud-obscured satellite images: SNU professor In Ho Cho’s team develops scientific AI framework

Seoul National University College of Engineering
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new technology has been developed that can rapidly predict city-scale structural damage even when portions of satellite imagery are obscured by clouds or smoke immediately after a disaster.

Journal: Scientific Reports
Funder: New Faculty Startup Fund, Seoul National University

Optical flaws repurposed to propel boiling droplets uphill and around corners

International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing
Peer-Reviewed Publication

When cold water hits a scorching frying pan, it beads into trembling spheres that skate effortlessly on a pocket of their own steam, a phenomenon that normally chokes cooling systems in high-power microchips and nuclear reactors because trapped steam blocks heat escape. Yet moving liquids through these extreme-heat environments without mechanical pumps has long eluded engineers. Now in the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, researchers have flipped a notorious manufacturing flaw on its head: by intentionally misaligning ultrafast laser beams, they have carved microscopic ramps onto metal surfaces that harness that very steam cushion, turning chaotic boiling into a directional engine that propels droplets uphill and around curves without a single moving part.

Journal: International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing

Plants, people and progress for native prairie seeds

South Dakota State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Native seed systems are a crucial part of prairie restoration and have been studied from ecological, production and trouble-shooting angles, but never from a social science perspective, until now. Researchers from South Dakota State University conducted more than 60 interviews to better understand the people and relationships within the native seed system of the Northern Great Plain Region to help identify the best ways to support the local network.

Journal: People and Nature

The world’s oyster reefs could add $12 trillion to planetary health each year – if they were better managed

Frontiers
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists calculated the total gross ecosystem product that the world’s oyster reefs could deliver to planetary health and human wellbeing, given adequate interventions for habitat restoration and protection. They estimated that the combined potential ecosystem services of oyster reefs, including food production, carbon sequestration, water filtration, and coastline protection, could be worth up to $12 trillion per year. For this potential to be realized, 90% of sites suitable for oyster reefs would require restoration, while 80% would need protection through conservation efforts.

Journal: Frontiers in Marine Science

SKKU research team recreates viral transmission and herd immunity on a chip

Sungkyunkwan University External Affairs Division (PR team)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A compact, centimeter-scale microfluidic chip uses 444 interconnected hexagonal microchambers to model population density, spatial contact, and social distancing.

Journal: Advanced Science

“Image quality remains intact even when stretched like a rubber band”: DGIST develops world’s brightest “stretchable quantum dot display”

DGIST (Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

- Professor Ji-Woong Yang’s team, in collaboration with UNIST and IBS, develops the first ultra-high-resolution stretchable quantum dot display (QLED) - Establishes key foundational technology expected to accelerate the commercialization of next-generation form factors, including wearable devices and electronic skin; published in Nature Nanotechnology, a leading journal in the field of nanotechnology

Journal: Nature Nanotechnology

Against the odds: why some ecosystems thrive

University of Sydney
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Global study reveals the common ingredients behind conservation success: valuing local knowledge alongside science; community role in decision-making; and management adapting to local social and environmental conditions.

Journal: Nature Ecology & Evolution
Funder: Australian Research Council, National Geographic Society

Three scientists honored with $250,000 Blavatnik Awards for breakthroughs in organic chemistry, gene editing and bioelectronics

New York Academy of Sciences
Grant and Award Announcement

Three exceptional scientists each received $250,000 – the largest unrestricted scientific award available to early-career scientists in the United States – at the 2026 ceremony of the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists for their work in organic chemistry, genome engineering, and bioelectronics.

The Blavatnik Awards announced the Laureates at its 20th anniversary gala, a black-tie awards ceremony held October 6 at the American Museum of Natural History, hosted by Len and Emily Blavatnik and presented by Robert P. Lifton, MD, PhD, President of The Rockefeller University.

CHEMICAL SCIENCES LAUREATE: David Nagib, The Ohio State University

LIFE SCIENCES LAUREATE: Patrick Hsu, Arc Institute and Stanford University

PHYSICAL SCIENCES & ENGINEERING LAUREATE: Jonathan Rivnay, Northwestern University

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