Future Innovations

A little-known fact: In the year 1900, electric cars outnumbered gas-powered ones on the American road. The lead-acid auto battery of the time, courtesy of Thomas Edison, was expensive and had a range of only […]

An international research team has demonstrated a new approach to 4D-printed shape-morphing implants that opens the door to increasingly personalized health care. The findings, outlined in the journal Additive Manufacturing, highlight how material degradation can […]

It’s a typical workday and you sign onto your computer. Unbeknownst to you, a high-frequency sensing system embedded in your work device is now tracking your heart rate, allowing your employer to monitor your breaks, […]

Soft robots made out of flexible, biocompatible materials are in high demand in industries from health care to manufacturing, but precisely designing and controlling such robots for specific purposes is a perennial challenge. What if […]

Sensors small enough to disappear into the body, microrobots that move without wires, and smart systems hidden inside everyday materials—all require a battery to function. As electronics shrink towards the micrometer scale, conventional batteries become […]

A research team has used advanced 3D printing techniques to develop low-temperature, “sinterless” silica glass. They converted 3D-printed objects into silica glass structures at significantly lower temperatures than traditional sintering, offering a promising route for […]

Researchers have fabricated a hair-thin microphone made entirely of silica fiber that can detect a large range of ultrasound frequencies beyond the reach of the human ear. Able to withstand temperatures up to 1,000°C, the […]

Dynamic digital product passports—real-time, intelligent digital records that capture the true condition of perishable goods such as food and drink throughout their life cycle—could dramatically cut waste and improve safety, thanks to a new framework […]

A team of EPFL researchers has taken a major step towards resolving the problem of drift in generative video, which is what causes sequences to become incoherent after a handful of seconds. Their breakthrough paves […]

Tungsten carbide–cobalt (WC–Co) is prized for its hardness, but that same property makes it unusually difficult to shape. The current process is wasteful and expensive for the yield produced, and an economically sensible method for […]