The performance and stability of smartphones and artificial intelligence (AI) services depend on how uniformly and precisely semiconductor surfaces are processed. KAIST researchers have expanded the concept of everyday “sandpaper” into the realm of nanotechnology, developing a new technique capable of processing semiconductor surfaces uniformly down to the atomic level. This technology demonstrates the potential to significantly improve surface quality and processing precision in advanced semiconductor processes such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM).

KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on the 11th of February that a research team led by Professor Sanha Kim of the Department of Mechanical Engineering has developed a “nano sandpaper” that utilizes carbon nanotubes—tens of thousands of times thinner than a human hair—as abrasive materials. This technology enables more precise surface processing than existing semiconductor manufacturing processes, while also reducing environmental burdens generated during fabrication, presenting a new planarization technique.

POSTECH, the National Disaster Management Research Institute, and the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements analyze society’s view of disasters using AI.

Compressed carbon dioxide (CO2) energy storage (CCES) has emerged as a promising large-scale energy storage technology, characterized by high energy density, moderate critical temperature, and operational flexibility. Concurrently, carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology represents a critical pathway toward carbon neutrality for energy systems. The integration of CCES with CCUS is attracting growing research interests due to its unique potential to synergize energy and carbon flows within a closed-loop framework. This paper provides a comprehensive literature review of technological advancements in CCES and offers a perspective on its integration with CCUS. First, the fundamental working principle, system configurations, key performance indicators, and emerging demonstration projects of CCES are introduced. Subsequently, cutting-edge research and key challenges of CCES system are reviewed, focusing on optimization of CO2-based mixed working media, efficient liquefaction of low-pressure CO2, development of low-cost and safe CO2 storage facilities, enhancement of system performance through integration, and evaluation of dynamic behaviors. A central focus is placed on the integration of CCES with CCUS, highlighting how this synergy transforms CCES from a pure storage technology into a multi-functional tool for carbon management. This integration enables infrastructure sharing, dual-function storage (for energy and CO2), and improved economics. Finally, this review identifies key directions for future research, including advancing efficient system integration, developing high-precision transient simulation models and dynamic control algorithms, ensuring long-term safety of geological reservoirs under cyclic injection-extraction operations, and establishing multi-objective optimization and multi-criteria assessment frameworks to support the commercial deployment of integrated CCES-CCUS systems.

With the global push for energy conservation and the rapid development of low-power, flexible and wearable optical displays, the demand for electrochromic technology has surged. Gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs), a crucial component of electrochromic devices (ECDs), show great promise in applications. This is attributed to their efficient ion-transport capabilities, excellent mechanical properties and strong adhesion. All of these characteristics are conducive to enhancing the safety of the devices, streamlining the packaging process, significantly improving the electrochromic performance of ECDs and boosting their commercial application potential. This review provides a comprehensive overview of GPEs for ECDs, focusing on their basic designs, functional modifications and practical applications. Firstly, this review outlines the fundamental design of GPEs for ECDs, encompassing key performance index, classification, gelation mechanism and preparation methods. Building on this foundation, it provides an in-depth discussion of functionalized GPEs developed to enhance device performance or expand functionality, including electrochromic, temperature-responsive, photo-responsive and stretchable self-healing GPE. Furthermore, the integration of GPEs into various ECD applications, including smart windows, displays, energy storage devices and wearable electronic, are summarized to highlight the advantages that the design of GPEs brings to the practical application of ECDs. Finally, based on the summary of GPEs employed for ECDs, the challenges and development expectations in this direction were indicated.

Layered oxides have attracted significant attention as cathodes for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to their compositional versatility and tuneable electrochemical performance. However, these materials still face challenges such as structural phase transitions, Na⁺/vacancy ordering, and Jahn–Teller distortion effect, resulting in severe capacity decay and sluggish ion kinetics. We develop a novel Cu/Y dual-doping strategy that leads to the formation of "Na–Y" interlayer aggregates, which act as structural pillars within alkali metal layers, enhancing structural stability and disrupting the ordered arrangement of Na⁺/vacancies. This disruption leads to a unique coexistence of ordered and disordered Na⁺/vacancy states with near-zero strain, which significantly improves Na⁺ diffusion kinetics. This structural innovation not only mitigates the unfavorable P2–O2 phase transition but also facilitates rapid ion transport. As a result, the doped material demonstrates exceptional electrochemical performance, including an ultra-long cycle life of 3000 cycles at 10 C and an outstanding high-rate capability of ~70 mAh g⁻¹ at 50 C. The discovery of this novel interlayer pillar, along with its role in modulating Na⁺/vacancy arrangements, provides a fresh perspective on engineering layered oxides. It opens up promising new pathways for the structural design of advanced cathode materials toward efficient, stable, and high-rate SIBs.

In a study published in Robot Learning journal, researchers propose a new learning-based path planning framework that allows mobile robots to navigate safely and efficiently using a Transformer model. By learning from Improved RRT* with Reduced Random Map Size path-planning algorithms and combining this knowledge with a modified right-of-way rule, the system enables reliable navigation and replanning in dynamic multi-robot environments.

As an innovative subtype of invasive brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), the Endovascular Brain-Computer Interface (EBCI) enables electrode delivery to target brain regions via endovascular intervention without craniotomy, combining high signal acquisition precision with minimally invasive safety.