https://techxplore.com/engineering-news/ en-us The latest news on engineering technology, engineering science, computer engineering , civil engineering, chemical engineering, aerospace engineering and environmental engineering. Table tennis has been played for decades as a more accessible version of tennis. The sport is particularly beginner-friendly while maintaining a rich level of competitive play. However, like many sports, it remains inaccessible to people who are blind or have low vision. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-table-tennis-accessible-players.html Engineering Tue, 05 Dec 2023 18:20:01 EST news620989333 International collaboration to create standards and policies for the construction industry is vital to bring down the industry's carbon footprint, argues Professor Matti Kuittinen of Aalto University in a paper published in Buildings & Cities. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-global-policy-low-carbon.html Engineering Tue, 05 Dec 2023 17:07:03 EST news621018422 Soft grippers have advantages in human-machine interactions, but most of them suffer from low response time. Bistable structures could improve this characteristic, but the performance of current bistable grippers is limited by their predefined structural parameters and grasping modes. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-reprogrammable-bistable-soft-gripper-human-machine.html Robotics Tue, 05 Dec 2023 15:57:35 EST news621014253 Scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a portable, self-powered ultraviolet-C device called the Tribo-sanitizer that can inactivate two of the bacteria responsible for many foodborne illnesses and deaths. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-lightning-scientists-ultraviolet-c-device-food.html Engineering Tue, 05 Dec 2023 15:56:42 EST news621014199 Simulations from West Virginia University researchers demonstrate their use of two kinds of industrial wastewater to decontaminate each other has the potential to slash a power plant's total water use. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-power-recycle-wastewater-oil-gas.html Engineering Tue, 05 Dec 2023 12:58:12 EST news621003488 Researchers from Cornell Tech have developed a method to identify delays in the reporting of incidents such as downed trees and power lines, which could lead to practical insights and interventions for more equitable, efficient government service. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-method-cities-responses-resident.html Engineering Tue, 05 Dec 2023 12:42:23 EST news621002539 Engineers have added graphene oxide to cement mixture to make stronger 3D-printed concrete that is easier to print, paving the way to create potential "smart" walls that can monitor cracks. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-graphene-oxide-case-smart-concrete.html Engineering Tue, 05 Dec 2023 12:08:03 EST news621000481 Simultaneous measurements of the pressure and temperature find diverse applications in various fields including aerospace, environmental monitoring, and biomedical engineering. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-microsensor-simultaneous-pressure-temperature.html Engineering Tue, 05 Dec 2023 11:11:10 EST news620997068 Researchers from EPFL have resolved a long-standing debate surrounding laser additive manufacturing processes with a pioneering approach to defect detection. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-laser-additive-defects.html Engineering Tue, 05 Dec 2023 11:00:05 EST news620996401 Amid the rubble of large-sale earthquake, war or other disaster—and as aging buildings and infrastructure are replaced—mountains of concrete are often taken to landfill or pounded into rubble for roads. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-recycling-concrete-carbon-emissions.html Engineering Tue, 05 Dec 2023 10:20:02 EST news620994001 In a move to embrace sustainable steelmaking, British Steel has unveiled a £1.25 billion plan to replace two blast furnaces at its Scunthorpe plant with electric arc furnaces. This follows the UK government's commitment in September to invest up to £500 million towards an electric arc furnace at Tata Steel's Port Talbot plant in south Wales. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-electric-arc-furnaces-technology-poised.html Engineering Mon, 04 Dec 2023 12:18:19 EST news620914697 Inspired by a small and slow snail, scientists have developed a robot protype that may one day scoop up microplastics from the surfaces of oceans, seas and lakes. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-snail-inspired-robot-scoop-ocean-microplastics.html Robotics Mon, 04 Dec 2023 11:51:03 EST news620913061 Often referred to as the "dream batteries," all-solid-state batteries are the next generation of batteries that many battery manufacturers are competing to bring to market. Unlike lithium-ion batteries, which use a liquid electrolyte, all components, including the electrolyte, anode, and cathode are solid, reducing the risk of explosion, and are in high demand in markets ranging from automobiles to energy storage systems (ESS). https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-degradation-mechanism-all-solid-state-batteries-commercialization.html Engineering Mon, 04 Dec 2023 10:26:04 EST news620907961 Offering citizens information that promotes physical accessibility with the help of technology and navigation devices would make cities smarter and more inclusive. A young researcher at Politecnico di Milano has used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify the differences between streets and pavements made of cobblestones, sanpietrini and bricks, with widely varying heights and widths, which characterize and make historical cities typical but also are an element of difficulty for the elderly and people with motor disabilities. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-ai-historic-city-centers-accessible.html Engineering Fri, 01 Dec 2023 10:24:24 EST news620648662 The human ability to notice the world around us is made possible by our sense organs—eyes, ears, nose, skin and tongue—which are so efficient that most people don't consciously think about them. Others, like Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering Ron Miles, have always had a "sense" for them. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-spider-silk-kind-microphone.html Engineering Fri, 01 Dec 2023 10:21:34 EST news620648491 The eastern bluebird is a special bird. The blue of its feathers is unique. However, this color is not based on pigments but on the special structure of the feather. Viewed under the microscope, the feathers are traversed by a network of channels with a diameter of just a few hundred nanometers. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-replicating-bird-feathers-rubber-nanostructures.html Engineering Fri, 01 Dec 2023 10:18:03 EST news620648281 Steel production causes significant emissions of carbon dioxide. To decarbonize steel production and its high carbon dioxide emissions, Fraunhofer researchers, TS ELINO GmbH and Salzgitter AG are working on converting an existing steel mill to climate-neutral production methods. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-steel-mill-climate-neutral-production.html Engineering Fri, 01 Dec 2023 10:09:03 EST news620647741 When a natural disaster such as an earthquake occurs, every minute counts. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are often used to assist the search for survivors as they can provide an initial overview of difficult-to-reach areas and help to detect victims—provided they are visible. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-drone-microphone-arrays-victims-disaster.html Robotics Fri, 01 Dec 2023 10:02:03 EST news620647321 When one of the world's largest container ships crashed into the bank of the Suez Canal in 2021, a major gateway for global trade became blocked with an estimated $9.6 billion in daily commerce being held up. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-disasters-sea-trigger-ship-safety-advances.html Engineering Fri, 01 Dec 2023 08:51:03 EST news620643061 In a step toward more autonomous soft robots and wearable technologies, EPFL researchers have created a device that uses color to simultaneously sense multiple mechanical and temperature stimuli. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-color-based-sensor-emulate-skin-sensitivity.html Robotics Fri, 01 Dec 2023 07:12:03 EST news620637121 Transitioning away from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which offer water- and oil-repelling properties on the outer shells of firefighter turnout gear, could bring potential performance tradeoffs, according to a new study from North Carolina State University. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-firefighter-turnout-gear-pfas.html Engineering Thu, 30 Nov 2023 17:21:03 EST news620587262 In a study published in Geo-spatial Information Science, a research group led by Yuyu Zhou from The University of Hong Kong developed an integrated framework that achieves 94% accuracy in mapping building functions across 50 U.S. cities using multi-source web-based geospatial data, offering potential for worldwide application. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-method-large-scale-urban-function-web-based.html Engineering Thu, 30 Nov 2023 16:55:03 EST news620585702 Researchers from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), in collaboration with the Eindhoven University of Technology and University of L'Aquila, demonstrated a record-breaking data rate of 22.9 petabits per second using only a single optical fiber, which was more than double the previous world record of 10.66 petabits per second. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-world-optical-fiber-transmission-capacity.html Engineering Thu, 30 Nov 2023 16:44:02 EST news620585041 University of Massachusetts Amherst civil and environmental engineers have determined the factors that may help identify the schools and daycare centers at greatest risk for elevated lead levels in drinking water. The most telling characteristic for schools in Massachusetts is building age, with facilities built in the 1960s and 1970s—nearly a third of the facilities tested—at the greatest risk for having dangerously high water lead levels. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-unsafe-school-factors.html Engineering Thu, 30 Nov 2023 16:26:04 EST news620583961 What would the streets look like if a city took half its traffic space and gave it to cycling and e-biking? Would city dwellers use their bikes more often? Might the concept of an "E-Bike City" even be a way to help reduce transport-related CO2 emissions? https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-zurich-roads-e-bikes-cars.html Engineering Thu, 30 Nov 2023 15:46:04 EST news620581562 In the main hall of the research and robotics Arch Tec Lab on Hönggerberg campus, several robotic arms hang from the roof, while half-finished beige-colored curved structures reminiscent of sand sculptures are dotted around the floor. On one side of the room, mysterious parts protrude from wooden crates. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-3d-lightweight-insulating-elements.html Engineering Thu, 30 Nov 2023 14:48:04 EST news620578081 Batteries are challenging to observe and analyze. They can't really be opened up because of their volatile nature. One way to monitor batteries is through X-ray technology. However, the equipment is very expensive and those methods struggle to balance resolution, sensitivity and speed. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-sandpaper-x-ray-technique-batteries.html Engineering Thu, 30 Nov 2023 11:58:00 EST news620567878 A team of engineers at Beihang University, working with a colleague from Tsinghua University, both in China, has designed, built and tested a haptically controlled octopus robot arm that is capable of grasping, lifting and carrying objects on land and underwater. In an article published in the journal Science Robotics, the group describes how they built their robot, how it works and how well it performed when tested under a variety of scenarios. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-octopus-inspired-robot-arm-toy-shark.html Robotics Thu, 30 Nov 2023 10:18:18 EST news620561892 The building sector is the second largest sector in plastic consumption, and is responsible for more than a third of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Manufacturing processes of construction materials pollute air, land, and water. Accordingly, construction materials made from agro-industrial waste become increasingly attractive due to their lower environmental impact. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-rice-husk-recycled-newspaper-eco-friendly.html Engineering Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:01 EST news620492032 The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology has developed a new Contactless Coupler that can efficiently improve the constructability of precast concrete (PC). https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-method-rib-spiral-bars-concrete.html Engineering Wed, 29 Nov 2023 16:26:03 EST news620497561