EurekAlert! News by Subject: Tech & Engineering - News by Subject: Tech & Engineering

Tech & Engineering

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 23-Aug-2025 21:11 ET (24-Aug-2025 01:11 GMT/UTC)

Quick, powerful, and energy-efficient grasping with bio-inspired bistable robotic grippers

Research
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Current robotic grippers employ soft and flexible materials to mimic human like grasping behavior. However, they require continuous energy input to maintain their grasp, limiting practical applications. In a new study, researchers develop an innovative bio-inspired bistable robotic gripper, that maintains its grasp with no energy input. It can also adjust the force required for switching between open and closed states, making it suitable for diverse tasks.

Journal: Research
Funder: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of CPSF

KIOST validates prototype ultrasonic desalination instrument of sea sand

Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

KIOST has developed an ultrasonic washing device that effectively removes salt (NaCl) from sea sand. KIOST’s world-first research and validation results have been published in Scientific Reports, a journal of Nature Portfolio.

Journal: Scientific Reports

KAIST identifies key to slowing aging via RNA regulation...unlocks mechanism for longevity

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced that a joint research team—led by Professor Seung-Jae V. Lee of the Department of Biological Sciences at KAIST and the Research Center for RNA-mediated Healthy Longevity, Professor Jinsoo Seo of Yonsei University (President Dong-Sup Yoon), and Professor Kwang-Pyo Lee of the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB, President Suk Yoon Kwon) under the National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST, Chairman Yeung-Shik Kim—has discovered that the protein ‘PELOTA*’, which plays a key role in ribosome-associated quality control, regulates the pace of aging.

Funder: National Research Foundation of Korea

Fern leaf pockets hide secrets of plant-microbe symbiosis

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Plants and microbes often have a symbiotic relationship, relying on each other for nutrients or shelter. Understanding and engineering such symbioses is an essential step in the journey towards tackling global challenges such as food security, carbon capture and ecosystem restoration. Now in The ISME Journal, researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have reported in depth on the symbiotic relationships and microbial communities within Azolla ferns, bringing new insights to these important plants.

Journal: The ISME Journal
Funder: USDA NIFA Postdoctoral Fellowship, Rice University, DOE/US Department of Energy, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University

Satellite imagery-driven models support chickpea farmers in the field

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study introduces a machine learning tool that combines satellite imagery and weather data to monitor chickpea crop health. The system accurately estimates Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Leaf Water Potential (LWP) across commercial fields, helping farmers make smarter irrigation decisions and improve yields. This research marks the first large-scale application of such technology in chickpea farming.

Journal: European Journal of Agronomy

Why some SMEs thrive with AI -- and others don’t

Bentham Science Publishers

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic concept for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging economies—it’s already reshaping how they design, produce, and compete. But a new study warns: technology alone isn’t enough. Published in Data Science and Management, the study analyzed how AI adoption influences innovation in Pakistani SMEs. While firms that adopted AI saw tangible gains in product development and operational processes, the benefits only materialized when three elements aligned: leadership commitment, digital readiness, and competitive drive. “Placing AI tools in an SME without strategic backing is like installing solar panels in the shade,” said Dr. Haq, the study’s lead author. “It’s leadership that sets the direction—and organizational readiness that makes the path walkable.”

Journal: Data Science and Management

Students’ image tool offers sharper signs, earlier detection in the lab or from space

University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A group of UBC Okanagan students has helped create technology that could improve how doctors and scientists detect everything from tumours to wildfires.

Working under the guidance of Associate Professor Xiaoping Shi from UBCO’s Department of Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics, the students designed and tested a system called an adaptive multiple change point energy-based model segmentation (MEBS).

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