A new 0.36-mm² photonic chip is set to advance industrial swept-source optical coherence tomography, according to a study in PhotoniX Synergy. The compact system demonstrated high-precision performance, including imaging a smartphone camera, measuring silica wafers with sub-2 µm absolute error, and gauging photoresist height with a relative error of less than 0.12%. Additionally, the integration of a ball-lens fiber probe allows for 3D imaging inside narrow, hard-to-reach industrial components

Carbon quantum dot-mediated Fe₁₁ polyoxometalate (Fe₁₁POM) enrichment for accelerated photocatalytic H₂ evolution in a Zn_0.5Cd_0.5S system. The schematic illustrates the ternary Fe₁₁POM@CQD@Zn_0.5Cd_0.5S photocatalyst. Zn_0.5Cd_0.5S harvests visible light, carbon quantum dots relay photogenerated electronsand Fe₁₁POM accepts the transferred electrons to drive proton reduction to H₂. Lactic acid consumes photogenerated holes, helping suppress charge recombination and sustain hydrogen generation.

With the increasing scale of space infrastructure such as large space telescopes, antenna arrays, and solar power stations, the payload fairing size of launch vehicles has become a critical bottleneck constraining their development. On-orbit autonomous assembly via deployable modules has emerged as an important technical approach to overcome this limitation. Deployable modules typically exhibit high packaging ratios; however, the geometric deviations caused by residual strain, assembly tolerances, and dynamic coupling effects after deployment can significantly affect docking accuracy and structural stability, and may even lead to assembly failure. Nevertheless, existing studies have mostly focused on post-deployment final configuration accuracy optimization, with insufficient attention paid to the cooperative strategies between real-time deformation control and motion control during the assembly process. Moreover, a dynamic modeling method capable of accurately describing the coupling between variable-length flexible components and rigid bodies is still lacking. Therefore, how to achieve active configuration correction and coordinated position–attitude control of deployable modules on orbit has become a key challenge in the autonomous assembly of large space structures.

A new method developed by TU Wien makes it possible to precisely determine the inner state of thermal energy storage systems using just a few sensors. This opens up new possibilities for the more efficient use of industrial waste heat.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) researcher Zhenglun “Alan” Wei is aiming to improve prenatal diagnosis of the most common cardiac birth defect by going with the flow … of blood in tiny hearts. Wei, an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, is leading a four-year project funded with $2,915,519 from the National Institutes of Health to develop a personalized model that will use detailed blood flow information collected from noninvasive tests to detect obstructions of the aorta in fetuses.