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Tech & Engineering

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 3-Apr-2026 06:15 ET (3-Apr-2026 10:15 GMT/UTC)

Leak-free thermal batteries from shell waste: Chitin aerogel locks in heat

Maximum Academic Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A research team has developed a sustainable, leak-free thermal energy storage material by embedding stearic acid (SA) into a carbon aerogel derived from chitin, a naturally abundant biopolymer.

Microscale “charosphere” around biochar particles cuts cadmium uptake in wheat

Maximum Academic Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A research team reveals that biochar does not simply dilute contaminants in soil—it creates a powerful microscale “charosphere” around each particle that actively controls heavy metal mobility.

World’s first soulmate AI semiconductor: A personalized digital soulmate developed

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Reports and Proceedings

While Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are adept at answering countless questions, they often remain unaware of a user's minor habits or previous conversational contexts. This is why AI, despite being deeply integrated into our daily lives, can still feel like a "stranger." Overcoming these limitations, researchers at KAIST have developed the world’s first AI semiconductor, dubbed "SoulMate," which learns and adapts to a user’s speech style, preferences, and emotions in real-time—becoming a true "digital soulmate."

Funder: Ministry of Science and ICT, Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation

AI-designed photosensitizer achieves record performance for cancer photodynamic therapy

AI for Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from City University of Hong Kong, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed an artificial intelligence-driven workflow called AAPSI (AI-Accelerated PhotoSensitizer Innovation) that integrates expert knowledge, scaffold-based molecule generation, and Bayesian optimization to accelerate the discovery of novel photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy (PDT). Through this workflow, the team generated 6,148 candidate molecules and experimentally validated a hypocrellin-based compound, HB4Ph, which achieves a singlet oxygen quantum yield (ϕ_Δ) of 0.85 and absorption maxima (λ_max) of 645 nm — outperforming all clinical and trial-stage photosensitizers. The work is published in AI for Science .

Scientists take major step towards a working quantum battery

RMIT University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Australian researchers have demonstrated the world’s first proof-of-concept quantum battery, opening new possibilities for faster, more efficient energy storage.

Journal: Light Science & Applications

Light becomes matter: shadowless projection mapping makes images indistinguishable from print

The University of Osaka
Reports and Proceedings

A projection mapping system consisting of many densely arranged projectors was found to effectively remove shadows from a tabletop workspace. To ensure the projected images do not contain blur or visible latency, a blur compensation method independent of the number of projectors was developed. Experiments using the proposed metric ‘sense of projection’ found that shadow removal, blur removal, and low latency improved perception. The results helped determine the number of projectors and their arrangement.

Journal: IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics
Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan Science and Technology Agency
Meeting: 2026 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces

Scientists discover ‘consortium' of bacteria cooperating to eat phthalate plasticizers that single microbes can’t stomach

Frontiers
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists in Germany discovered a cooperative consortium of three species of bacteria that is capable of ‘eating’ various kinds of phthalate esters (PAEs). The analyses of this consortium, found in the scientists’ own laboratory, showed that its superpower is microbial cross-feeding, where intermediate byproducts of digestion by one member serve as nutrients for another. This cross-feeding, which had never been demonstrated in plastic-eating bacteria before, is thought to make the consortium more resilient, adaptable, and reliable.

Journal: Frontiers in Microbiology
Funder: Helmholtz Association

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