Future Innovations

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are charting a new course in water purification to reduce energy consumption and costs while ensuring safe drinking water.This post was originally […]

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have shown for the first time that ferroelectricity can be directly written into aluminum nitride using a tightly focused helium ion beam at the Center […]

Mechanical engineers have designed a more effective and energy-efficient technology for cooling computer chips. Published in Cell Reports Physical Science, the researchers used a mathematical algorithm and advanced 3D printing method to produce pure copper […]

Contemporary artificial intelligence (AI) systems, such as the models underpinning the functioning of ChatGPT, image generators and AI-powered creative tools, draw inspiration from the human brain’s functions and organization. While many of these systems are […]

There is something universally appealing about the slap bracelet, and the way a simple tap causes it to switch between a straight shape and a curled one. What you probably didn’t know is that a […]

Modern communication networks must handle ever-growing volumes of data, driven by cloud services, connected devices, and real-time applications. At the same time, they face a critical constraint: keeping energy consumption as low as possible. Today, […]

The development of soft materials that can reliably function on the human body is important for the future of bioelectronics and wearable medical devices. These materials need to comfortably conform to the skin while being […]

Materials can store information about their past—like a crease in a piece of paper that has been unfolded is a “memory” of being folded—that can be retrieved or read out and used for various purposes. […]

Over the past decades, technological advances have fueled great innovation in a wide range of fields. Emerging and rapidly developing technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) systems, three-dimensional (3D) and four-dimensional (4D) printing, digital twins […]

Termite mounds are remarkable structures that regulate temperature, balance airflow, and maintain structural stability in some of Earth’s harshest climates. And like other irregular, disordered systems, they can be difficult to replicate with modern engineering […]