Category: Science & Technology News

Gallium nitride (GaN)-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have revolutionized the lighting industry, offering superior energy efficiency, extended operating life, and enhanced environmental sustainability over conventional lighting technologies. Recently, the push toward miniaturizing LEDs has gained momentum, driven by advancements in display devices, augmented reality, virtual reality, and other emerging technologies. However, the lack of cost-effective native substrates and high threading dislocation density in heteroepitaxial films grown on sapphire substrates remain significant obstacles to improving device performance. Additionally, Fresnel reflections at the epitaxy-substrate interface, caused by abrupt changes in refractive indices, further reduce light energy utilization.

Inspired by the compound eyes of moths, which exhibit excellent anti-reflective properties and strong light-absorption capabilities, researchers have sought to improve light utilization in LEDs. The challenge, however, lies in the rapid and precise processing of microstructures on the curved surfaces of optoelectronic devices. “Common projection lithography methods are highly sensitive to substrate shape, leading to reduced accuracy in microstructure definition on substrates with large warps or irregular shapes,” explains Professor Shengjun Zhou. “We propose a flexible nanoimprint lithography technique that enables high-throughput and high-quality processing of bionic microstructures on curved surfaces.”

In a world where many regions struggle to secure enough water, MIT researchers have developed a new water harvester capable of extracting sufficient fresh water from the air to meet the daily needs of several people.

Water harvesters typically use adsorbent materials to collect water on their surfaces. This new device from MIT maximizes exposure to air with a series of vertical fins spaced 2 mm (0.08 in) apart. These fins are constructed from copper sheets sandwiched in copper foams and coated with a specialized zeolite material, renowned for its water adsorption properties. After an hour, the fins become saturated with water, at which point the copper sheets are heated to release the collected water. Repeating this cycle 24 times a day in air with 30% humidity (considered arid), the harvester can produce up to 1.3 L (0.3 gal) of drinkable water per day per liter of the adsorbent coating. When scaled up, this equates to 5.8 L (1.5 gal) per kilogram (2.2 lb) of material used per day, enough to meet the daily water needs of several people.

A groundbreaking Nano Transparent Screen (NTS) has been developed and commercialized for the first time in the world. This innovative screen can adjust its transparency according to the environment and can be produced at a low cost, paving the way for the widespread adoption of large transparent screens, which until now have been prohibitively expensive. The newly developed screen is expected to find applications across various products, such as transparent displays in department stores and supermarkets, smart windows for buildings, and versatile transparent displays suitable for both indoor and outdoor promotional uses.

The research team, led by Principal Researcher Jun-Ho Jeong of the Nano-lithography and Manufacturing Research Center at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM), in collaboration with Meta2People, has successfully commercialized a 100-inch large-sized NTS. This screen’s transparency can be freely adjusted depending on the surrounding lighting and images. The NTS was installed in the outdoor space of the “Youth Mall” located in Chungju in June and will be showcased at the International Nano Technology Exhibition, known as “Nano Korea 2024,” from July 3 to July 5, 2024, at KINTEX in Ilsan.

Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have developed an innovative technology that addresses two significant environmental challenges: utilizing industrial waste heat and generating clean water. This breakthrough was highlighted in a recent university press release.

Industrial heat is a major component of global energy consumption. After being used in industrial processes, a significant portion of this heat is typically wasted, released into oceans or the atmosphere. In Norway alone, it is estimated that 20 TWh of heat is wasted annually—equivalent to half the energy demand of Norwegian households or the energy used for heating homes. Kim Kristiansen, a doctoral researcher in NTNU’s Department of Chemistry, sought a more efficient way to repurpose this wasted energy.

British-Australian mining company Rio Tinto is set to debut a novel carbon-free aluminum smelting technology at its facility in Canada. This initiative aims to accelerate the shift to more environmentally friendly production methods and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Elysis technology, which replaces traditional smelting processes, promises to eliminate all direct greenhouse gases, producing oxygen instead. This groundbreaking technology will be installed at Rio Tinto’s Arvida smelter in Quebec, where the company will design, engineer, and build a demonstration plant with ten pots operating at 100 kiloamperes (kA).

Living brain cells wired into organoid-on-a-chip biocomputers can now learn to drive robots, thanks to an open-source intelligent interaction system called MetaBOC. This groundbreaking project aims to integrate human brain cells with artificial bodies.

Biocomputing is one of the most astonishing frontiers in emerging technology, enabled by the fact that our neurons communicate using electrical signals, the same language as computers. Human brain cells, grown in large quantities onto silicon chips, can receive electrical signals from a computer, process them, and respond. More impressively, they can learn. The concept was first demonstrated in the DishBrain project at Monash University, Australia. Researchers grew about 800,000 brain cells onto a chip, placed it into a simulated environment, and observed as this biocomputer learned to play Pong within five minutes. This project was swiftly funded by the Australian military and evolved into a company called Cortical Labs.

When Rodney Brooks talks about robotics and artificial intelligence, it’s worth paying attention. As the Panasonic Professor of Robotics Emeritus at MIT and a co-founder of influential companies such as Rethink Robotics, iRobot, and Robust.ai, Brooks has a wealth of experience and insight. He also led the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) for a decade, starting in 1997.

Brooks frequently makes predictions about AI’s future and even keeps a scorecard on his blog to track his accuracy. Despite the current excitement surrounding generative AI, Brooks suggests it may be time to temper expectations. He acknowledges the technology’s impressive capabilities but warns that it isn’t as all-encompassing as some believe.

A Northwestern University-led team of engineers has discovered an innovative way to store carbon dioxide (CO2) in concrete by using a carbonated water-based solution during the manufacturing process. This new method not only helps sequester CO2 from the atmosphere but also produces concrete with uncompromised strength and durability.

In laboratory experiments, the process achieved a CO2 sequestration efficiency of up to 45%, meaning nearly half of the CO2 injected during concrete manufacturing was captured and stored. This breakthrough could significantly offset CO2 emissions from the cement and concrete industries, which are responsible for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The growing prevalence of high-speed wireless communication devices, from 5G mobile phones to sensors for autonomous vehicles, is leading to increasingly crowded airwaves. This makes the ability to block interfering signals that can hamper device performance an even more important and challenging problem.

To address these challenges, MIT researchers have demonstrated a new millimeter-wave multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) wireless receiver architecture. This innovative design can handle stronger spatial interference than previous models. MIMO systems, which have multiple antennas, can transmit and receive signals from different directions. The new wireless receiver senses and blocks spatial interference at the earliest opportunity, before unwanted signals are amplified, thus improving performance.

A collaboration of researchers from multiple universities in the US has successfully demonstrated the use of adsorbent fins to harvest water from the air. This innovative approach is more efficient than previous water harvesting technologies and could help secure water supplies in dry and arid regions, according to a press release.

As the planet warms and climatic conditions become more extreme, access to clean water is expected to trouble millions of people. Traditionally, our water supplies have been dependent on the availability of local water bodies. However, advances in technology now make it possible to extract water from the air.

A groundbreaking satellite named LignoSat, developed by a team at Kyoto University in collaboration with logging company Sumitomo Forestry, is set to revolutionize space technology with its unique construction from magnolia wood. This 10-centimeter cube aims to pave the way for environmentally friendly satellites that completely burn up upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere.

The LignoSat project began in April 2020, with researchers evaluating various types of wood for their durability in harsh space conditions. Magnolia emerged as the top choice due to its strength and workability. Using traditional Japanese joinery techniques, the satellite’s wooden panels are seamlessly joined without screws or glue.

A groundbreaking power transmission technology has emerged in Woburn, Massachusetts, promising to redefine energy distribution efficiency while minimizing visual impact. VEIR, a startup co-founded by MIT alumnus Tim Heidel, has developed an innovative approach using superconducting cables and an advanced cooling system. This technology boosts transmission capacity, surpassing conventional lines by five to ten times, addressing the urgent global need for robust transmission infrastructure to support renewable energy integration and grid resilience.

VEIR’s technology relies on superconducting cables and an advanced cooling system, enabling their lines to initially carry up to 400 megawatts of power, with plans for even higher capacities in the future. “We can deploy much higher power levels at much lower voltage, and so we can deploy the same high power but with a footprint and visual impact that is far less intrusive,” said Heidel. This breakthrough not only increases capacity but also addresses regulatory and community opposition that have hindered many transmission projects.