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

Tech & Engineering

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 6-Apr-2026 12:16 ET (6-Apr-2026 16:16 GMT/UTC)

Researchers develop novel virtual reality approach to support stroke rehabilitation

University of Jyväskylä - Jyväskylän yliopisto
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A team of researchers at the University of Jyväskylä has developed and tested a new virtual reality (VR) training task designed to help stroke survivors living with visuospatial neglect (VSN), a disabling condition that affects attention and awareness of one side of space. The exploratory case study is among the first to integrate audiovisual cues within a physiotherapy-based VR task to support rehabilitation.

Safer quantum-secured data networks for the AI era

SPIE--International Society for Optics and Photonics
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Artificial intelligence (AI) data centers use huge amounts of electricity and face future risks from quantum computers that could break today’s encryption. To tackle this, researchers developed a new system that combines ultrafast data transmission with quantum key distribution for security. In tests, the system delivered data at terabit-per-second capacity with low power consumption, while generating secure encryption keys in real time, pointing to a promising path for the development of more efficient and secure data transmission systems to handle the surging demands of AI applications such as autonomous vehicles and large language models.

Journal: Advanced Photonics

Microscopic DNA ‘flowers’ could deliver medicine exactly where it’s needed

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the University of North Carolina have created microscopic soft robots shaped like flowers that can change shape and behavior in response to their surroundings, just like living organisms do.

Journal: Nature Nanotechnology

EUROfusion and ITER strengthen scientific cooperation with new agreement

EUROfusion
Business Announcement

At the 2025 IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (FEC), the members of the EUROfusion Consortium and the ITER International Fusion Energy Organization have signed a high-level cooperation agreement to strengthen academic, scientific and technical collaboration in support of ITER’s mission.

The EUROfusion programme has long been focused on addressing the fundamental physics and technological gaps identified by ITER. This new cooperation agreement builds on that foundation to provide a complementary, fast-track framework to deliver agile, targeted solutions to some of ITER’s more immediate design and engineering challenges, particularly those arising from recent changes to its baseline.

Sodium-ion battery breakthrough could power greener energy – and even make seawater drinkable

University of Surrey
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Sodium-ion batteries may be the answer to the future of sustainable energy storage and could be used to make drinking water out of seawater. Scientists at the University of Surrey have discovered a simple way to boost their performance - by leaving the water inside a key component rather than removing it.

Journal: Journal of Materials Chemistry A

Spider-inspired robot crawls the gut to deliver precision therapy

International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, a team of researchers at the University of Macau has unveiled a tiny, spider-inspired robot that may reshape how doctors diagnose and treat diseases of the stomach and intestines. Their soft, magnetically controlled robot can climb in any direction—even upside down—through the body’s most complex digestive landscapes, where traditional endoscopes cannot go.

Journal: International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing

Invisible poison: Airborne mercury from gold mining is contaminating African food crops, new study warns

European Geosciences Union
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New research reveals airborne mercury from unregulated gold mining is contaminating African food crops directly through the leaves, not the soil, as previously thought. This urgent finding shows plants are "breathing in" a neurotoxin, raising urgent concerns for food security and human health in communities reliant on local agriculture.