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

Tech & Engineering

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 24-Jan-2026 18:11 ET (24-Jan-2026 23:11 GMT/UTC)

15-Oct-2025

This robotic skin allows tiny robots to navigate complex, fragile environments

University of California - San Diego
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers developed a soft robotic skin that enables vine robots that are just a few millimeters wide to navigate convoluted paths and fragile environments. To accomplish this, the researchers integrated a very thin layer of actuators made of liquid crystal elastomer at strategic locations in the soft skin. The robot is steered by controlling the pressure inside its body and temperature of the actuators.

Journal: Science Advances
Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health

15-Oct-2025

‘Metabots’ shapeshift from flat sheets into hundreds of structures

North Carolina State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have created a class of robots made from thin sheets of material that can snap into hundreds of stable shapes – allowing them to execute a wide variety of actions despite the fact that they have no motor and are made of a single, flat material. These “metabots” essentially resemble animated sheets of plastic, capable of moving around a surface or grasping objects.

Journal: Science Advances
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

15-Oct-2025

MIT engineers solve the sticky-cell problem in bioreactors and other industries

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

MIT researchers developed a way to make cells detach from surfaces on demand, using electrochemically generated bubbles. The system could keep bioreactors and other cell-growing systems clean, accelerating the growth of carbon-absorbing algae and lifesaving cell therapies.

Journal: Science Advances

15-Oct-2025

Feeding the future from the soil up

University of Delaware
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study has found that a naturally occurring soil microbe, Streptomyces coelicolor, can boost protein-building amino acids in wheat. The finding could pave the way for nutrient-rich staple crops — helping combat global malnutrition as fluctuations in weather reduce crop quality.

Journal: Frontiers in Microbiology

15-Oct-2025

In the face of extreme weather events’ devastating effects on power grids, study identifies vulnerabilities that drive prolonged outages, suggests ways to reduce disruptions

Carnegie Mellon University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a new study, researchers analyzed power outage data and corresponding weather records from several major service territories on the east coast of the United States. They found that excessive weather stress and planning vulnerabilities at specific grid nodes are key drivers of prolonged local outages, which spread to the whole system. The authors use their findings to suggest ways to reduce customer outages.

Journal: INFORMS Journal on Data Science
Funder: U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Grid Modeling Program

15-Oct-2025

How green infrastructure is revamping city storm sewers

Ohio State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Installing green infrastructure in residential areas can prevent stormwater from flooding sewer systems and significantly curb heavy metal pollution, suggests a new study.

Journal: Journal of Hazardous Materials

15-Oct-2025

In chromosome of key biotech bacterium, different setups bring different strengths

Iowa State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a first-of-its-kind study, an Iowa State University research team found that the way DNA is arranged in a bacterial species used extensively in genetic engineering can change how well it grows, survives stress and infects plants.

Journal: Science Advances