Ultrahigh frequency bandwidths are easily blocked by objects, so users can lose transmissions walking between rooms or even passing a bookcase. Now, researchers at Princeton engineering have developed a machine-learning system that could allow ultrahigh frequency transmissions to dodge those obstacles.

Radio-photovoltaic cells, as a kind of nuclear battery, have a high energy density but low energy conversion efficiency (ECE). Scientists in China have developed a high-efficiency RPVC using multilayer-stacked GAGG:Ce scintillation waveguides and ⁹⁰Sr radioisotopes, which achieves a record ECE of 2.96%. Remarkably, the cells retain 86.2% of its initial performance after exposure to 50 years of equivalent irradiation at a milliwatt-level output. This breakthrough provides a maintenance-free power solution for extreme environments such as deep-sea exploration and space missions.

Dr. Seon Joon Kim and his team at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)'s Convergence Research Center for SEIF have developed a "high-conductivity amphiphilic MXene" material that can be dispersed in water, polar and nonpolar organic solvents.

Current robotic grippers employ soft and flexible materials to mimic human like grasping behavior. However, they require continuous energy input to maintain their grasp, limiting practical applications. In a new study, researchers develop an innovative bio-inspired bistable robotic gripper, that maintains its grasp with no energy input. It can also adjust the force required for switching between open and closed states, making it suitable for diverse tasks.

KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced that a joint research team—led by Professor Seung-Jae V. Lee of the Department of Biological Sciences at KAIST and the Research Center for RNA-mediated Healthy Longevity, Professor Jinsoo Seo of Yonsei University (President Dong-Sup Yoon), and Professor Kwang-Pyo Lee of the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB, President Suk Yoon Kwon) under the National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST, Chairman Yeung-Shik Kim—has discovered that the protein ‘PELOTA*’, which plays a key role in ribosome-associated quality control, regulates the pace of aging.

Plants and microbes often have a symbiotic relationship, relying on each other for nutrients or shelter. Understanding and engineering such symbioses is an essential step in the journey towards tackling global challenges such as food security, carbon capture and ecosystem restoration. Now in The ISME Journal, researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have reported in depth on the symbiotic relationships and microbial communities within Azolla ferns, bringing new insights to these important plants.