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Tech & Engineering

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 27-Jan-2026 01:11 ET (27-Jan-2026 06:11 GMT/UTC)

How did COVID-19 change urban traffic?

Tsinghua University Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at National University of Singapore used multiple interpretable machine learning methods to predict traffic congestion in in Alameda County in the San Francisco Bay Area, USA, during the pre-lockdown, lockdown, and post-lockdown periods.

Journal: Communications in Transportation Research

Design of de-tumbling device for improving the de-tumbling performance of uncooperative space target

Beijing Institute of Technology Press Co., Ltd

There are over 36,500 pieces of space debris of larger than 10 cm in orbit according to statistical model orbit provided by European Space Agency’s Space Debris Office at European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany. Any of those debris can pose a threat to operational satellites. Active debris removal (ADR) is conducted to solve the above problems for stabilizing the space debris environment. Unfortunately, the angular velocity of space debris exceeds the maximum angular velocity of 4 to 5 deg/s that can be directly captured by a robotic arm. Therefore, to stabilize the debris environment, the first task, i.e., de-tumbling tasks, is to reduce the initial angular velocity of the debris by applying an external torque. To ensure the safety of the de-tumbling tasks avoiding collision between the de-tumbling device and the uncooperative space target, many contactless methods have been studied. Among them, the contactless method based on electromagnetic eddy current method has received increasing attention due to the advantages of pollution-free and high safety performance.

Fighting highway subgrade settlement on the roof of the world

Tsinghua University Press

Permafrost degradation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is accelerating under climate warming, causing roadbed settlement, waterlogging, thawing interlayers, and long-term instability in high-altitude highways. The study reviews global and Chinese permafrost engineering practices, identifies the mechanisms behind pervasive subgrade deformation, and highlights challenges in current “permafrost-protection” design approaches. It proposes a third design principle — proactively improving foundation conditions — advancing from passive protection to active treatment. The work further summarizes shallow and deep foundation treatment techniques, evaluates engineering applications, and outlines development trends such as improved hydrological investigation, long-term monitoring, and novel construction materials.

Journal: Journal of Highway and Transportation Research and Development (English Edition)

Diversifying US Midwest farming for stability and resilience

PNAS Nexus
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers find that diversifying crops and integrating livestock improves farm efficiencies and ecosystem services in the US Midwest.

Journal: PNAS Nexus

Six R+D+I projects at the UJI advance solutions in environmental sustainability and disaster response through competitive funding from AVI 2025

Universitat Jaume I
Grant and Award Announcement

The Universitat Jaume I in Castelló will develop six research and innovation projects in areas such as environmental sustainability and risk detection to improve disaster response through funding obtained in the competitive call for proposals from the Valencian Innovation Agency (AVI) (IVACE+e innovación) 2025, which seeks to promote innovation, R&D transfer and collaboration between universities, technology centres and companies.

The UJI has obtained funding in three lines of the call financed by the European Union within the framework of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Programme for the Valencian Community 2021-2027 – IVACE+ for an amount of nearly one million euros, with which it will promote six projects with direct technological and social impact to respond to real challenges.

The various initiatives led by UJI research staff will provide innovative solutions in the field of environmental sustainability through advanced technologies to improve water quality and management, strengthen the circular carbon economy, promote cleaner and safer production systems aligned with green technology, and strengthen the innovation ecosystem through materials with a lower environmental impact. They also seek to anticipate responses to situations of risk due to natural disasters resulting from climate change.

Funder: Valencian Innovation Agency (AVI)

Journey to the Center of a Quantized vortex

CNR-INO
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Within an international collaboration, an experimental research team of LENS investigated vortex dynamics in strongly interacting superfluids using ultracold lithium gases. By precisely engineering and observing single quantized vortices, researchers uncovered how microscopic mutual friction governs superfluid dissipation. The study provides the first indirect experimental evidence of quasiparticles trapped in vortex cores, offering new insights relevant to superfluids, superconductors, and future quantum technologies.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: the PNRR MUR project PE0000023-NQSTI., the Italian Ministry of University and Research under the PRIN2017 project CEnTraL and the Project CNR-FOE- LENS-2024., INFN through the RELAQS project., the European Union - NextGenerationEU for the “Integrated Infrastructure initiative in Photonics and Quantum Sciences" - I-PHOQS., under the Horizon Europe program HORIZON-CL4-2022-QUANTUM-02-SGA via project 101113690 (PASQuanS2.1), the European Community’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement n° 871124., the (Polish) National Science Center Grants No. 2022/45/B/ST2/00358 and 2021/43/B/ST2/01191., the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) under project PRIN2022, Contract No. 2022523NA7, he European Union – Next Generation EU through MUR project PNRR - M4C2 - I1.4 Contract No. CN00000013., the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation pro- gramme (Grant agreement No. 949438)., We acknowledge Polish high-performance computing infrastructure PLGrid for awarding this project access to the LUMI supercomputer, owned by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, hosted by CSC (Finland) and the LUMI consortium through PLL/2024/07/017603.

Pusan National University researchers uncover scalable method for ultrahigh-resolution quantum dot displays

Pusan National University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Colloidal quantum dot (QD) light-emitting diodes have great potential in display applications. However, their commercialization remains a challenge due to the difficulty in achieving high-resolution patterning of QDs without degrading their optical properties. To address this, researchers have developed a nondestructive method for ultrahigh-resolution QD patterning. By blending QDs with a photocrosslinkable polymer, the approach preserves their optical properties and boosts efficiency and lifetime, paving the way for development of next-generation display technologies.

Journal: Advanced Functional Materials