Traditional solid oxide cell cathodes have insufficient electrocatalytic activity and poor CO₂ tolerance. High-entropy perovskite cathodes are synthesized via temperature regulation to tailor crystal structures. The optimized cathode reaches an area-specific resistance of 0.040 Ω·cm² and a power density of 1.38 W·cm^-2, running stably for over 260 h. This approach facilitates the commercial development of high-performance reversible solid oxide cells.

Factors that contribute to rubber friction have been widely characterized, but few studies have focused on methods by which rubber grip can be improved in the presence of lubricants. A team of scientists recently compiled a comprehensive review designed to help researchers weigh the benefits and drawbacks of various rubber grip-enhancing approaches in the presence of common lubricants to enhance the safety of everyday products.

Scientists are looking to nature for bioinspired adhesion and friction materials. Geckos, tree frogs and octopuses all provide scientists with the inspiration for these materials. Current research focuses mostly on a single environment or single performance for these materials, lacking a systematic framework across scales, media, and disciplines. A research team has proposed a framework that overcomes these barriers by creating highly adaptable, multifunctional systems for bioinspired adhesion and friction materials. Potential applications range from space environments that are tolerant of robotics for lunar exploration to self-adjusting biomedical devices for health monitoring.

Large AI model training data sets often require a significant amount of human labor to annotate and/or format prior to model training. Researchers recently wrote a review paper highlighting self-supervised learning methods for 3D pre-training and provide a unified perspective on comparison and prediction techniques.

The primary failure in mechanical elements is gear contact fatigue — but it’s not clear how exactly these failures occur, according to an international team of researchers. They recently reviewed the latest developments in the field to frame out what’s known and the remaining questions for further work. In addition, they conducted their own gear fatigue assessments with multiple materials and production methods, from which they have proposed formulas for others to use in their evaluations.