Material Science

Researchers in Korea have developed a method to synthesize a polyester and polyamide hybrid polymer with a tensile strength of 109 MPa. The polymer decomposes by 92% in 12 months in marine environments. The research team published their findings in Advanced Materials. A possible substitute for nylon Nylon-based products such as fishing nets degrade exceptionally…

For many people, the personal-care aisle may be the last place you associate with machine learning. But for UK-based Unilever, decades of hair-protein data and more than 500 live AI projects have turned those shampoo and skin care shelves into a proving ground. Creating that foundation has been something of a “journey” over the years,…

In a reported first, researchers have successfully used CRISPR gene editing in spiders, inserting the gene for a red fluorescent protein into the major ampullate silk gene of Parasteatoda tepidariorum. The edited orb weaver spun crimson fibers and passed the glow to its young, evidence that spider silk can now be genetically tuned for bespoke…

Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) researchers, working with Seoul National University, say they have designed a fiber‑based supercapacitor that endures more than 100,000 charge‑discharge cycles without performance loss and stays stable in high‑voltage settings. “This technology overcomes the shortcomings of supercapacitors by using single‑walled carbon nanotubes and conductive polymers,” said Bon‑Cheol Ku, Ph.D.,…

A recent paper published in Nature Materials  notes that warm rolling, the same core process that turns aluminum ingots into beverage-can stock, can strengthen silver and copper chalcogenides. It notes, for instance, that “narrow-gap semiconductor Ag2Se can be plastically manufactured by warm metalworking.” Yield and tensile strengths climb significantly in Ag₂Se, Cu₂Se, AgCuSe and AgCuS…

Quantum dots hold significant promise for next-generation sensors and displays, but manufacturing hurdles often stand in the way of widespread use. Traditional methods struggle to evenly coat the complex, textured surfaces ideal for advanced devices, especially over large areas or in precise patterns. To tackle such hurdles, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers have conformally coated…

The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment has lowered the upper limit on a neutrino’s mass to 0.45 electron-volts, roughly half its own 2022 record and more than a million-fold lighter than an electron. The result, published April 11 in Science (DOI: 10.1126/science.adq9592), tightens the screws on cosmological models that rely on neutrino mass to explain…

A Florida Atlantic University team infused red oak with ferrihydrite nanoparticles, boosting cell-wall strength without adding bulk or sacrificing flexibility. The one-pot, low-cost process nudged wood toward construction-grade strength, reportedly with only a “small amount of extra weight,” according to mechanical tests spanning AFM to full-beam bending. Working with colleagues at the University of Miami…

Developed at MIT and detailed in the journal Nature, an ultrathin device for far-infrared sensing registers tiny changes in heat, reads the complete far-infrared spectrum, and needs no active cooling. All of those qualities are packaged in a film just 10 nanometers thick. The device’s compactness supports lightweight, portable formats such as eyeglasses. Corresponding authors…

Caltech engineers have taken their flexible “lab-on-skin” bandage out of the animal lab and onto the wards, logging round-the-clock data from 20 human patients with stubborn wounds that resist healing. In the first peer-reviewed report of the device’s performance in people, the researchers show that the stamp-sized patch can scoop up fresh fluid from chronic…

The discovery of lariocidin could be the first completely new class of antibiotics in nearly 30 years. Unearthed from soil collected in a Canadian lab technician’s garden, this lasso-shaped peptide hits drug-resistant Gram-negatives by locking onto a ribosomal site no marketed drug touches, wiping out pan-resistant pathogens while sparing mammalian cells. A paper in Nature…

The continents of Europe, Asia, and the Americas are widely recognized as sources of innovation, but Africa is less known for its R&D efforts. Yet, despite certain economic challenges, Africa is beginning to take its place on the world stage for invention. Recent patenting activity can identify the seeds of such nascent creativity.  Patent protection…

Humanity’s return to the Moon, and eventual journeys to Mars, hinge on our ability to build reliable, permanent structures. Think habitats, landing pads, power stations and the like. But transporting fully assembled structures from Earth is prohibitively expensive and complex. The logical alternative is in-situ assembly, and a fundamental process for joining metal components is…

Thermo Fisher Scientific has introduced its next-generation Krios 5 Cryo-Transmission Electron Microscope (Cryo-TEM). The firm boasts that the microscope delivers up to a 25% increase in throughput for atomic-resolution analysis compared to previous models. This performance leap stems from enhanced optical precision combined with new AI-assisted automation features, including the the company’s Smart EPU Software,…

With just two days to work before their microscopic sample of ultra-rare berkelium degraded, scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory created “berkelocene”—a brand-new molecule that could offer insights for safely managing nuclear waste. While berkelocene itself won’t be directly used in nuclear waste management, the research holds clues for safer approaches. Nuclear waste contains problematic…

Most people bring a blanket to the beach to soak up the sun — this “blanket” soaks up pollution instead. Researchers at Ohio State University have created a solar-activated “nanomat” that floats on water like a beach mat, but instead of providing comfort, it goes to work cleaning up harmful contaminants. The lightweight, reusable material…

Picture this: A GPU-accelerated CT X-ray inspection machine peering into circuit boards at 0.2 µm/pix resolution, paired with a virtual human assistant that explains, tweaks, and optimizes the process in plain language. That’s precisely what industrial automation giant OMRON showcased at NVIDIA’s GTC 2025 last week. At the heart of the demo was OMRON’s VT-X…

Penn State and Université Paris-Saclay researchers report a new way to control light by embedding “nanodots” in ultra-thin, two-dimensional (2D) materials. The team says this precision could lead to higher-resolution screens and advances in quantum computing technologies. In a study published in ACS Photonics, the scientists demonstrated how these nanodots — tiny islands of a…

For decades, the strength and durability of composite adhesives such as epoxy resins have made them essential in everything from construction to aerospace. However, this exceptional strength presents a frustrating downside: these materials become stubbornly permanent once bonded. Recently, researchers have unveiled a new class of composite materials that are equally robust but feature a…

Ethylene oxide quietly underpins modern life, from the plastics in our homes to the disinfectants we rely on. But its production comes at a cost: millions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions and a reliance on toxic chlorine. Researchers have found a way to make this essential chemical cleaner and safer. A research team led…

For years, 3D-printed metamaterials have teased engineers with their wispy, featherweight promise. But in reality, many of them have crumbled under pressure. “Toughness is a limiting factor in not all, but many 3D-printed mechanical metamaterials,” said Kevin Turner, Professor and John Henry Towne Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM) at Penn Engineering,…

Picture this: rapid, stimulus-free self-healing of electronic skin in 10 seconds. That’s the core innovation that scientists at the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation have announced in a study published in Science Advances. But it’s not just fast, its healing is relatively sound with the E-Skin tech recovering over 80% of its functionality within that…

A recent paper published in Langmuir claims that a low-voltage droplet-scale anodization process can convert ordinary aluminum into an amorphous, transparent oxide layer—reigniting talk of “transparent aluminum.” But the online response, including Hackaday’s skeptical coverage, shows many are scratching their heads over whether this is a game-changing technique or merely a thin—and not entirely new—twist…

A substantial fire disrupted operations at SPS Technologies’ manufacturing facility in Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 17, 2025. SPS, a notable producer of aerospace fasteners—including Space Shuttle components—employs high-temperature forging, fine metal powder milling, and chemical electroplating to craft superalloy-based products. These hazardous-material processes had faced prior EPA citations for waste management lapses.…

Despite all of the bluster surrounding AI’s transformative promise, some R&D projects—especially in areas like battery materials development and drug discovery—face significant bottlenecks when relying on these tools, often requiring days and sometimes weeks or even months of GPU processing time on enormous datasets. Enthought—among other organizations—are investigating leaner approaches to tackle these limits, which…