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

Tech & Engineering

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 29-Oct-2025 22:11 ET (30-Oct-2025 02:11 GMT/UTC)

5-May-2025

Are at-home water tests worth it? New UMass Amherst study shows quality can vary widely

University of Massachusetts Amherst
Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMHERST, Mass. — For the cautious – or simply curious – homeowner, an at-home water testing kit may seem reassuring. But there are high levels of variability between test kits’ abilities to detect potential contaminants in water, a new study from the University of Massachusetts Amherst has found.

Journal: Journal of Water and Health

5-May-2025

Robotic touch sensors are not just skin deep

Northwestern University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The authors argue that the problem that has been lurking in the margins of many papers about touch sensors lies in the robotic skin itself.

Journal: Advanced Electronic Materials

5-May-2025

Parental technology use in a child’s presence and health and development in the early years

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: Parents’ use of technology in their child’s presence was negatively associated with cognitive and psychosocial outcomes and screen time among young children, although the effect sizes were small. Further research focusing on potential impacts on physical activity, sleep, and motor skills is needed. Understanding these associations is crucial for informing research and guidelines aimed at minimizing the potential negative effects of this phenomenon on early childhood development.

Journal: JAMA Pediatrics

5-May-2025

Climate change and cheese quality: the pivotal role of grass feeding

INRAE - National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment
Peer-Reviewed Publication

How do adaptation strategies implemented by dairy farmers to cope with drought affect milk and cheese quality? Researchers from INRAE and VetAgro Sup conducted a trial on an experimental farm in the French Massif Central to assess the effects of decreasing/increasing the amount of grass/corn silage fed to dairy cows on the quality of Cantal-type cheeses. Results published in the Journal of Dairy Science show the importance of maintaining a minimum of fresh grass in dairy cow rations to preserve cheese quality.

Journal: Journal of Dairy Science

5-May-2025

Harnessing generative AI to expand the mitochondrial targeting toolkit

Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The mitochondrion, often referred to as the powerhouse of the cell, plays critical roles in cellular function, making it a prime organelle to target for fundamental studies, metabolic engineering, and disease therapies. With only a limited number of existing mitochondrial targeting sequences, a new study from the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology demonstrates the utility of generative artificial intelligence for designing new ones.

Journal: Nature Communications

5-May-2025

New tool harnesses the power of AI to bring gel electrophoresis analysis into the 21st century

University of Edinburgh
Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of Edinburgh scientists have harnessed the power of AI in a new tool that promises to speed up analysis of data from gel electrophoresis experiments.University of Edinburgh scientists have harnessed the power of AI in a new tool that promises to speed up analysis of data from gel electrophoresis experiments.

Journal: Nature Communications

5-May-2025

Developing a new approach to control invasive urban mosquito in Ethiopia

Emory University
Grant and Award Announcement

The project’s novel approach to combating malaria combines on-the-ground knowledge of human and mosquito behaviors with detailed environmental imagery from drones and NASA satellites. Machine learning techniques will be applied to the data to develop a model — powered by artificial intelligence — for targeted public health interventions.

Funder: Gates Foundation