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Briefs Energy
Smoothing Over Rough Edges in Batteries
Battery performance suffers over time, like when a phone needs to be charged more frequently after years of use. A thin film that forms on the metal anode when the battery is charging and discharging plays a part in that issue. This film has benefits, but its roughness gradually wears the battery down. Researchers have discovered a temporary version of this film that appears at rapid discharge speeds and dissolves back into the battery when the process finishes. Read on to learn more.
Briefs Materials
Diagnosing a Dud May Lead to a Better Battery
A team of chemists led by Feng Lin and Louis Madsen found a way to see into battery interfaces, which are tight, tricky spots buried deep inside the cell. Read on to learn what this means.
Briefs Energy
How Can We Optimize Solid-State Batteries? Try Asking AI
Researchers at Tohoku University developed a data-driven AI framework that points out potential solid-state electrolyte candidates that could be “the one” to create an ideal sustainable energy solution. Read on to learn more.
Briefs Materials
Spray Drying Tech Used in Instant Coffee Applied to High-Capacity Battery Production
The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) and the Korea Institute of Materials Science have jointly developed spray drying technology-based high-performance dry electrode manufacturing technology for the realization of high-capacity secondary batteries. Read on to learn more.
Technology Report Transportation
Sharper Testing Delivers Better AV Performance
As self-driving car technology moves towards commercial deployment, engineers encounter a scaling challenge that mirrors issues seen in other complex critical safety systems: validation....
Briefs Aerospace
NanoAvionics Satellite Suffers Space Debris Impact, Selfie Image Shows Damage
The MP42 satellite, which launched into low Earth orbit two and a half years ago aboard the SpaceX Transporter-4 mission, recently took an unexpected hit from a small piece of space debris or micrometeoroid. The impact created a 6 mm hole, roughly the size of a chickpea, in one of its solar panels. Read on to learn more.
Briefs RF & Microwave Electronics
In-Orbit Testing of Autonomous ‘Swarm’ Satellites
Someday, instead of large, expensive individual space satellites, teams of smaller satellites – known by scientists as a “swarm” – will work in collaboration, enabling greater accuracy, agility, and autonomy. Among the scientists working to make these teams a reality are researchers at Stanford University’s Space Rendezvous Lab, who recently completed the first-ever in-orbit test of a prototype system. Read on to learn more.
Briefs Aerospace
A Satellite to Detect Short Gamma-Ray Burst Emissions
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), in partnership with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), has developed StarBurst, a small satellite (SmallSat) instrument for NASA’s StarBurst Multimessenger Pioneer mission, which will detect the emission of short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), a key electromagnetic (EM) signature that will contribute to the understanding of neutron star (NS) mergers. Read on to learn more.
Briefs Manned Systems
Improving Electric Propulsion Thrusters for Future Spacecraft Missions
Go faster, farther, more efficiently. That’s the goal driving spacecraft propulsion engineers like Chen Cui, a new assistant professor at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science. Cui is exploring ways to improve electric propulsion thrusters — a key technology for future space missions. Read on to learn more.
Briefs Energy
Thermoelectric Generators Could Convert Waste Heat to Clean Energy in Jet Engines and Spacecraft
Thermoelectric generators that can convert waste heat to clean energy could soon be as efficient as other renewable energy sources, like solar, according to a team led by Penn State scientists. Using high-entropy materials, the researchers created more efficient thermoelectric materials than previously possible, an advancement that they said could even help make long-distance space exploration possible. Read on to learn more.
Technology Report Power
New York Auto Show 2025: News from the Floor
The 2025 edition of the New York International Auto Show proved some automakers still value the attention that comes with debuting a vehicle on a flashy convention center stage. Hyundai, Kia and...
Briefs Energy
Better Texture for Better Batteries
To create the new batteries needed for EVs, mobile devices, and renewable energy storage, researchers have explored new materials, new designs, new configurations, and new chemistry. But one aspect — the texture of the metals used — has been historically overlooked. Read on to learn more.
Briefs Design
A Successful Catalyst Design for Advanced Zinc-Iodine Batteries
Aqueous zinc-ion batteries have attracted extensive attention due to their high safety, abundant reserves, and environmental friendliness. However, the low electrical conductivity of iodine hinders the redox conversion for an efficient energy storage process with zinc. Read on to learn how a research team addressed the existing issues in Zn-I2 batteries.
Briefs Energy
Leading the Charge to Better Batteries
A team led by Kelsey Hatzell, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, has uncovered insights that could help power a new type of battery, called an anode-free solid-state battery, past lithium-ion’s limitations.
Briefs Materials
Researchers Develop Efficient Lithium Extraction Method, Setting Stage for Sustainable EV Battery Supply Chains
In the race to meet the growing global demand for lithium, a team of researchers from Rice University’s Elimelech lab has developed a breakthrough lithium extraction method that could reshape the industry. Read on to learn more about it.
Briefs Materials
A Path to Safer, High-Energy Electric Vehicle Batteries
This research has far-reaching implications, offering a path to safer, more efficient batteries that can support the growing demand for electric vehicles. As the world moves towards cleaner energy solutions, these advancements are crucial for making EVs more viable and attractive for consumers. Read on to learn more.
Technology Report Manufacturing & Prototyping
Surviving Nature’s Worst: Why IP Ratings Matter for Bevel Boxes in Harsh Environment
Some areas in the U.S. can average up to 70 inches (178 cm) of rainfall annually. In these conditions, it's essential that critical components like...
Technology Report Manned Systems
GM Picks LMR as Its Future Affordable Battery Technology
Nearly every automaker with an electric car in its lineup has aimed to bring the price of EVs down to parity with their gas-powered counterparts. Concerns about EV tax incentives...
News AR/AI
SkillReal Signs Tier 1 Supplier for NVIDIA-Powered AI Inspection
AI inspection company SkillReal has signed a contract to supply its system to a major Tier 1 global supplier in addition to global OEMs and other suppliers already using the...
News Power
Nissan's Innovative Solid-State Gambit
It’s not hard to find automakers and battery companies that are trying to develop viable solid-state batteries. The technology will open up quicker charging, increased energy density and, more...
Briefs RF & Microwave Electronics
Low Cost Air Traffic Control for Drones
Using a network of small, low-cost radars, engineering professor Cammy Peterson and her colleagues have built an air traffic control system for drones that can effectively and accurately track anything in an identified low-altitude airspace. Read on to learn more about it.
Briefs Power
Lasers Destroy Drones as Additive Manufacturing Builds Them
In February, the Joint Interagency Field Experimentation team at the Naval Postgraduate School executed another highly collaborative week of rapid prototyping and defense demonstrations with dozens of emerging technology companies. Read on to learn more about it.
Briefs Aerospace
Unmanned Aircraft Systems Help Responders in Urban Environments
In November 2024, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Urban Security Technology Laboratory teamed up with Mississippi State University’s Raspet Flight Research Laboratory, and DAGER Technology LLC, to conduct an assessment on selected models of cybersecure “Blue UAS.” The drones are cybersecure and commercially available to assist emergency responders with their public safety operations. Read on to learn more.
Briefs RF & Microwave Electronics
Engineers Enable a Drone to Determine Its Position in the Dark and Indoors
MIT researchers have introduced a new approach that enables a drone to self-localize, or determine its position, in indoor, dark, and low-visibility environments. Self-localization is a key step in autonomous navigation. Read on to learn more about it.
Briefs Manned Systems
Human-Focused Research Aims to Enhance UAS Effectiveness, Readiness
As the capabilities of unmanned aerial systems continue to evolve rapidly in response to the tactical and strategic necessities of the modern battlefield, the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory is exploring a unique approach to improving their operational effectiveness – by focusing on the protection and performance of UAS operators. Read on to learn more about it.
Technology Report Energy
Slate Unveils Bare-Bones EV Mini Truck
The American truck market is huge. The trucks, they're also quite large. Pickups went from workhorse machines to enormous luxury vehicles with equally large price tags. Even the Maverick, Ford’s...
News Manned Systems
ICE and Hybrid-Electric Propulsion Show Staying Power
The internal combustion engine. Hybrid-electric. Full-electric. Plug-in hybrid electric. Pick one, two, or more for the product portfolio.
Technology Report Power
SAE J-3277 Covers Leak Testing for Every EV Battery
North American EV battery manufacturers currently do not test 100% of the cells they assemble into Rechargeable Energy Storage Systems (RESS, or battery packs) for electrolyte leakage....
News Energy
WXC 2025: GM’s Hydrotec-Based EV Charger Takes Center Stage
In 2022, General Motors announced that it was exploring commercial applications for its Hydrotec hydrogen fuel cells. Those efforts have culminated in a mobile hydrogen power...
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