Articles in ‘Technology’

China has unveiled a new tunnelling machine designed to solve one of underground construction’s persistent problems: what happens when soft ground suddenly turns into solid rock. The 4.5-metre-wide Xianglong can excavate conventionally, drill explosive charges into a rock face and then continue boring after the rock has been fractured. eLocal Report: Based on reporting by David Szondy for New Atlas HERE. · China has rolled out what is being…

The Fairphone 6+ has launched in the United States with an unusually simple proposition: when something wears out or breaks, replace the part rather than the entire phone. With a removable battery, replaceable components, expandable storage and long-term software support, Fairphone is betting some consumers would rather own their smartphone for longer than continually replace it. eLocal Report: Based on reporting by Monica J. White for New…

By Bronwyn Thompson · !Humanoid robots competing in a half marathon in Beijing · There was no stopping Lightning – nor the Honor team, which took the top three spots with its humanoid models. Image: Xinhua via China Daily · The era of laughing at humanoid robots attempting human sports may now be over. A recent half marathon in Beijing has demonstrated just how rapidly robotics technology has advanced in the space of a single year. · A field…

By Etiido Uko · This supraball (left) is 2,100 nanometers in diameter and is made from hundreds of tiny gold nanoparticles (right) engineered to boost solar energy absorptionAdapted from ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2026, DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5c23149 · At any given moment, 89,000 terawatts of solar power hits the Earth’s surface. While significant advancements have been made in harvesting this power, existing technologies do not…

By Malcolm Azania - Traditional carbon fiber (pictured) is strong and lightweight, but can be difficult to repair once damaged · Imagine trying to design machines that will last forever, regardless of use or destination. Instead of those machines requiring a steady stream of spare parts (essentially impossible for space probes or exoplanetary landers to haul or acquire), they’ll be able to heal their super-durable “flesh” more than a…

By C.C. Weiss · A fast-rising name in the hybrid vehicle market, Horse Powertrain has spent the past three years transitioning into one of the world's leading engine manufacturers while developing a portfolio of electric motors, hybrid powertrains and other net-zero-supporting technologies. Now it's looking ahead into the future, showing an early concept version of a next-generation hybrid engine system powered by 100% renewable…

Could you imagine being able to "feel" the images on your screen? UCSB researchers have made this sci-fi-like idea a reality. They've developed a display where pixels physically rise off the surface when activated by laser light. Even our most advanced screens today have a limitation that makes them distinctly still feel like, well, screens: they're flat. They can display entire worlds with a level of detail that just a couple of decades ago…

Over four years since it landed on Mars, NASA's Perseverance Rover might have made serious headway in its mission to find signs of ancient microbial life on the planet. · Last July, the autonomous exploration vehicle stumbled upon an arrowhead-shaped rock named Cheyava Falls with colorful spots on it, in what might be a river valley carved by water on the Red Planet. · NASA's scientists think those spots may have been left behind by microbial…

Axiom Holographics has opened a unique family attraction in Brisbane, Australia, a kind of augmented reality zoo built around a much larger version of Euclideon’s multi-viewpoint 3D display tables and Unlimited Detail graphics engine. We’ve written about this fascinating tech before. Yes, you need glasses and screens and a darkish room, but no, it’s not like a 3D movie. Essentially, the glasses are position-tracked, and a graphics engine…