Engineering
press releases.

Engineering11 Dec 2024

Innovative tissue engineering: Boston University's ESCAPE method explained

When it comes to the human body, form and function work together. The shape and structure of our hands enable us to hold and manipulate things. Tiny air sacs in our lungs called alveoli allow for air exchange and help us breath in and out. And tree-like blood vessels branch throughout our body, delivering oxygen from our head to our toes. The organization of these natural structures holds the key to our health and the way we function. Better understanding and replicating their designs could help us unlock biological insights for more effective drug-testing, and the development of new therapeutics and organ replacements. Yet, biologically engineering tissue ...

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Engineering10 Dec 2024

Breakthrough in the precision engineering of four-stranded β-sheets

A newly developed approach can precisely produce four-stranded β-sheets through metal–peptide coordination, report researchers from Institute of Science Tokyo. Their innovative methodology overcomes long-standing challenges in controlled β-sheet formation, including fibril aggregation and uncontrolled isomeric variation in the final product. This breakthrough could advance the study and application of β-sheets in biotechnology and nanotechnology. In addition to the natural sequence of amino acids that makes up a protein, their three-dimensional arrangement in space is also critical to their function. For ...

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Engineering10 Dec 2024

Nature inspires self-assembling helical polymer

Helical structures are ubiquitous across biology, from the double-stranded helix of DNA to how heart muscle cells spiral in a band. Inspired by this twisty ladder, researchers from Hiroshima University’s Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering have developed an artificial polymer that organizes itself into a controlled helix. They published their results on Oct. 24 in Angewandte Chemie. “Motivated by elegant biological helical structures, considerable effort has been devoted to developing artificial helical organizations with defined handedness ...

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Engineering9 Dec 2024

Not so simple machines: Cracking the code for materials that can learn

It's easy to think that machine learning is a completely digital phenomenon, made possible by computers and algorithms that can mimic brain-like behaviors. But the first machines were analog and now, a small but growing body of research is showing that mechanical systems are capable of learning, too. Physicists at the University of Michigan have provided the latest entry into that field of work. The U-M team of Shuaifeng Li and Xiaoming Mao devised an algorithm that provides a mathematical framework for how learning works in lattices called ...

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Engineering6 Dec 2024

Bird-inspired drone can jump for take-off

“As the crow flies” is a common idiom referring to the shortest distance between two points, but the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems (LIS), led by Dario Floreano, in EPFL’s School of Engineering has taken the phrase literally with RAVEN (Robotic Avian-inspired Vehicle for multiple ENvironments). Designed based on perching birds like ravens and crows that frequently switch between air and land, the multifunctional robotic legs allow it to take off autonomously in environments previously inaccessible to winged drones. “Birds were the ...

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Engineering5 Dec 2024

‘Layer down’ — Thin coating of mxene material could replace thick layers of insulation

In everyday life, materials that conduct electricity well, like metals, also tend to conduct heat. For instance, a metal spoon left in a hot cup of tea will get hot, while the ceramic mug remains cool. This is because good electrical conductors are usually good heat conductors too. However, researchers at Drexel University and Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) in Belgium have discovered that MXenes, a type of material known for its excellent electrical conductivity, actually have very low ...

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Engineering5 Dec 2024

Iberian Neolithic societies had a deep knowledge of archery techniques and materials

• A research team led by the UAB has made exceptional discoveries on prehistoric archery from the early Neolithic period, 7,000 years ago. • The well organic preservation of the remains of the Cave of Los Murciélagos in Albuñol, Granada, made it possible for scientists to identify the oldest bowstrings in Europe, which were made from the tendons of three animal species. • The use of olive and reed wood and birch bark pitch in the making of arrows reveals an unprecedented degree of precision and technical mastery, as highlighted in the study, published in Scientific Reports. ...

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Engineering5 Dec 2024

End food and drink industry’s infiltration of UK children’s education, say experts

An investigation published by The BMJ today reveals widespread influence of food and drink brands in schools and nurseries – through breakfast clubs, nutrition guidance, and healthy eating campaigns - while rates of obesity in the UK have worsened. Experts say the tactics are “subtle but very problematic” and require much greater scrutiny and pushback. Organisations influencing food provision and education in schools include Kellogg’s, Greggs, Nestle, and the British Nutrition Foundation, a “policy development” charity ...

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Engineering4 Dec 2024

Scientists develop coral-inspired material to revolutionise bone repair

Researchers at Swansea University have developed a revolutionary bone graft substitute inspired by coral which not only promotes faster healing but dissolves naturally in the body after the repair is complete. This groundbreaking research, led by Dr Zhidao Xia from Swansea University Medical School in collaboration with colleagues from the Faculty of Science and Engineering and several external partners*, has been patented and published in the leading journal Bioactive Materials. Bone defects caused ...

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Engineering2 Dec 2024

Dynamics of structural transformation for liquid crystalline blue phases

Fukuoka and Tsukuba, Japan—Researchers have uncovered key insights about how liquid crystals, materials capable of forming complex ordered structures, transform between different phases. Published in PNAS, the study provides a clearer understanding of how these materials change their structures at the microscopic level. This research could provide a means to give a deeper insight into the transformation between different structures in a wider variety of materials. Liquid crystals are materials that exhibit properties of both liquids and solids. They flow like liquids but can also ...

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Engineering27 Nov 2024

In major materials breakthrough, UVA team solves a nearly 200-year-old challenge in polymers

Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed a new polymer design that appears to rewrite the textbook on polymer engineering. No longer is it dogma that the stiffer a polymeric material is, the less stretchable it has to be. “We are addressing a fundamental challenge that has been thought to be impossible to solve since the invention of vulcanized rubber in 1839,” said Liheng Cai, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering, and chemical engineering. That’s when Charles Goodyear accidentally discovered that heating natural rubber with sulfur ...

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Engineering27 Nov 2024

Newly designed nanomaterial shows promise as antimicrobial agent

HOUSTON – (Nov. 27, 2024) – Newly developed halide perovskite nanocrystals (HPNCs) show potential as antimicrobial agents that are stable, effective and easy to produce. After almost three years, Rice University scientist Yifan Zhu and colleagues have developed a new HPNC that is effective at killing bacteria in a biofluid under visible light without experiencing light- and moisture-driven degradation common in HPNCs. A new method using two layers of silicon dioxide that Zhu and colleagues developed over years of work was used in experiments with lead-based and bismuth-based HPNCs to test their antimicrobial efficacy and stability in water. ...

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Engineering26 Nov 2024

Engineering hypoallergenic cats

Gene editing could create hypoallergenic cats, according to a sequence analysis of the protein that triggers allergies to cats. Some 15% of people are allergic to cats, and symptoms can be severe. Martin D. Chapman and colleagues investigated CH1 and CH2, genes that code for the allergen, Fel d 1. Cats produce Fel d 1 in their sebaceous, salivary, perianal, and lachrymal glands. The function of Fel d 1 is unknown but comparisons of Fel d 1 sequences and homologs from 276 domestic or exotic cats—including cougars, cheetahs, lions, tigers, and jaguars, among others—suggests that CH1 and CH2 have been under active selection, and ...

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Engineering25 Nov 2024

To design better water filters, MIT engineers look to manta rays

Filter feeders are everywhere in the animal world, from tiny crustaceans and certain types of coral and krill, to various molluscs, barnacles, and even massive basking sharks and baleen whales. Now, MIT engineers have found that one filter feeder has evolved to sift food in ways that could improve the design of industrial water filters. In a paper appearing this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team characterizes the filter-feeding mechanism of the mobula ray — a family of ...

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Engineering25 Nov 2024

Building a better path to recovery for OUD

A new study led by Thomas Jefferson University researchers highlights critical healthcare gaps that hinder long-term recovery for people living with opioid use disorders (OUD) in Philadelphia. The researchers conducted 13 focus groups with 70 participants accessing various types of OUD treatment. Participants reported several challenges, such as lengthy and restrictive assessment processes, inadequate operating hours and lack of sufficient withdrawal management. Participants also reported broader socio-economic needs, such as housing and income support, as barriers to their recovery. Meghan Reed, PhD, MPH, senior ...

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Engineering21 Nov 2024

Engineering nature’s blueprint: Dendron-based assemblies for chlorophyll’s materials

Researchers often look to photosynthesis—a process that turns sunlight into chemical energy in plants and bacteria—as a model for innovation. Photosynthesis is in turn linked to chlorophyll pigments, tiny green molecules that play a key role in harvesting light. Naturally, these chlorophyll molecules are organized into precise structures to optimize light absorption in plants and bacteria, and efficiently capture sunlight for energy. Inspired by this natural structure, scientists have explored ways to synthetically assemble chlorophyll-based ...

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Engineering20 Nov 2024

Northerners, Scots and Irish excel at detecting fake accents to guard against outsiders, Cambridge study suggests

UNDER STRICT EMBARGO UNTIL 00:01AM (UK TIME) ON WEDNESDAY 20TH NOVEMBER 2024 People from Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin and the north-east of England are better at detecting someone imitating their accent than people from London and Essex, new research from the University of Cambridge has found. People from Belfast proved most able to detect someone faking their accent, while people from London, Essex and Bristol were least accurate. The study, published today in Evolutionary Human Sciences found that the ability of participants ...

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Engineering19 Nov 2024

Thermochemical tech shows promising path for building heat

Energy stored in thermochemical materials can effectively heat indoor spaces, particularly in humid regions, according to researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Working with industry representatives and researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the scientists determined a realistic configuration for integrating thermochemical materials (TCMs) into a building’s HVAC system. Salt-hydrate TCMs are considered promising candidates for providing load flexibility to a building’s heating system. This flexibility could allow for reduced electrical requirements for the heating system or load shifting to times ...

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Engineering19 Nov 2024

Building roots in glass, a bio-inspired approach to creating 3D microvascular networks using plants and fungi

Fukuoka, Japan— Microfluidic technology has become increasingly important in many scientific fields such as regenerative medicine, microelectronics, and environmental science. However, conventional microfabrication techniques face limitations in scale and in the construction of complex networks. These hurdles are compounded when it comes to building more intricate 3D microfluidic networks. Now, researchers from Kyushu University have developed a new and convenient technique for building such complex 3D microfluidic networks. Their tool? Plants and fungi. The team developed a ‘soil’ medium using nanoparticles of glass (silica) and a cellulose ...

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Engineering14 Nov 2024

Industrial snow: Factories trigger local snowfall by freezing clouds

Anthropogenic aerosols, tiny solid and liquid air pollution particles, have masked a fraction of global warming caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gases. Climate researchers have known for decades that anthropogenic aerosols perturb liquid clouds by enabling the formation of a larger number of cloud droplets, making clouds brighter. A new landmark study led by the University of Tartu suggests that anthropogenic aerosols may also influence clouds by converting cloud droplets to ice at temperatures below zero degrees Celsius. Powerplant Snow Using satellite observations, climate researchers discovered unique plumes of ice clouds and reduced cloud cover downwind of industrial hot spots ...

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Engineering14 Nov 2024

Breakthrough in capturing 'hot' CO2 from industrial exhaust

Industrial plants, such as those that make cement or steel, emit copious amounts of carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas, but the exhaust is too hot for state-of-the-art carbon removal technology. Lots of energy and water are needed to cool the exhaust streams, a requirement that has limited adoption of CO2 capture in some of the most polluting industries. Now, chemists at the University of California, Berkeley, have discovered that a porous material can act like a sponge to capture CO2 at temperatures close to those of many industrial exhaust streams. ...

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Engineering13 Nov 2024

MIT engineers make converting CO2 into useful products more practical

As the world struggles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, researchers are seeking practical, economical ways to capture carbon dioxide and convert it into useful products, such as transportation fuels, chemical feedstocks, or even building materials. But so far, such attempts have struggled to reach economic viability. New research by engineers at MIT could lead to rapid improvements in a variety of electrochemical systems that are under development to convert carbon dioxide into a valuable commodity. ...

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Engineering13 Nov 2024

A phase-transformable membrane for efficient gas separation could revolutionize industrial applications

Industrial gas separation, essential for clean energy and environmental protection, demands efficiency and adaptability. Current materials, however, lack the flexibility to selectively separate gases like carbon dioxide (CO₂) and hydrogen (H₂) while remaining energy-efficient. Researchers at the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (WPI-iCeMS) at Kyoto University and the Department of Chemical Engineering at National Taiwan University have developed a phase-transformable membrane that could meet these needs. This innovative membrane design relies on a unique combination of metal-organic polyhedra (MOP) with polyethylene glycol (PEG) chains. “Traditional ...

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Engineering13 Nov 2024

Enhancing compatibility and biodegradability of PLA/biomass composites via forest residue torrefaction

With an increasing focus on environmental sustainability, researchers are seeking ways to improve the biodegradability and mechanical properties of bioplastics, particularly polylactic acid (PLA). A recent study by June-Ho Choi and colleagues, published in the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, presents a promising approach that enhances the compatibility and decomposition of PLA when combined with biomass through a process called torrefaction. This innovation offers practical improvements for sustainable material applications, positioning PLA as a viable, eco-friendly alternative in various industries. PLA, ...

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Engineering12 Nov 2024

Building a diverse wildland fire workforce to meet future challenges

Every year around this time, California’s wildland firefighters hold their breath as hot, dry winds threaten to spread flames across the state. As such conflagrations grow in size and severity throughout the Western U.S., the strain on fire managers has intensified. A new report from Stanford University’s Climate and Energy Policy Program provides a blueprint for fostering a more inclusive, diverse and well-supported workforce to meet the increasing need for fire mitigation and management. “The wellbeing of the wildland fire workforce has ...

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