ENGGtalks Newsroom

16 Apr 23

Lithium Battery Ripe for Disruption, Inventor Says

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation

The lithium-ion battery isn’t going anywhere soon. That’s what M. Stanley Whittingham, the Nobel laureate who created the first rechargeable lithium-ion battery some 50 years ago, told attendees of the SLAC-Stanford Battery Research Center Launch Symposium on Thursday. The new organization aims to bridge gaps between organizations that research, manufacture,…

16 Apr 23

The Tremendous VR and CG Systems—of the 1960s

Computer & Information Technology

Ivan Sutherland has blazed a truly unique trail through computing over the past six decades. One of the most influential figures in the story of computing, he helped to open new pathways for others to explore and dramatically extend: interactive computer graphics, virtual reality, 3D computer graphics, and asynchronous systems,…

15 Apr 23

Can We Identify a Person From Their Voice?

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation

At 6:36 a.m., on 3 December 2020, the U.S Coast Guard received a call over a radio channel reserved for emergency use: “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. We lost our rudder...and we’re taking on water fast.” The voice hiccupped, almost as if the man were struggling. He radioed again, this time to…

15 Apr 23

Quantum Technology’s Unsung Heroes

Computer & Information Technology

In a world where quantum technologies are on the rise in computing, cryptography, materials, sensors, telecom, biomed, and AI, it’s easy to forget that not so long ago the words “quantum” and “technology” rarely fit comfortably into a sentence together. A range of trailblazers imagined quantum physics turning into quantum…

14 Apr 23

U.S. Senate Weighs Big Plans for Small Reactors

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation

Small modular reactors (SMRs) power many of today’s nuclear enthusiasts’ clean-energy dreams. SMRs promise to be cheaper and nimbler than their far larger counterparts within today’s nuclear power plants. Countries including Britain, France, Ghana, and Indonesia have shown interest in linking SMRs to the grid for the 2030s and beyond.In…

14 Apr 23

Video Friday: Ingenuity’s 50th Flight

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion.Robotics Summit & Expo: 10–11 May 2023, BOSTONICRA 2023: 29 May–2…

14 Apr 23

Researchers build edible rechargeable battery

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation

The IIT team has created a totally edible and rechargeable battery, which could be used in health diagnostics, food quality monitoring and edible soft robotics. Edible electronics is an emergin field that could have a great impact on the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal tract diseases, as well as on…

14 Apr 23

Supercapacitors Get Smaller Than Ever

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation

As smart devices, wearable sensors, IoT technologies, and implantable electronics shrink in size, so too should the energy-storage devices they rely on. Supercapacitors—with high capacity for energy storage but also a capability to handle rapid charge-discharge cycles that would founder a conventional chemical battery—have in recent years shrunk to “micro”…

14 Apr 23

Canadian bank becomes the world’s top fossil fuel financer

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has surpassed the United States' JP Morgan Chase as the largest global investor in fossil fuel projects for the first time since 2019. The Canadian bank invested $42.1bn (£33.7bn) in fossil fuel projects in 2022, according to the 'Banking on Climate Chaos' report commissioned…

14 Apr 23

Scotland’s move toward a Passivhaus standard

Geotechnical & Environmental

Passivhaus is, in short, the gold standard for energy-efficient homes. According to physicist Wolfgang Feist, co-founder of the concept: “The heat losses of the building are reduced so much that it hardly needs any heating at all.” Certified houses are built with high-quality insulation, triple glazing, insulated frames, mechanical ventilation,…