ENGGtalks Newsroom

10 Nov 23

Perovskite Solar Cells Double as Windows and Walls

Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

This past August, Panasonic Holdings began testing and demonstrating a prototype version of its perovskite photovoltaic material. The prototype is in the form of semi-transparent glass balustrade panels on the balcony of a model house just south of Tokyo. The panels, each measuring nearly a meter in height and nearly…

10 Nov 23

UK signs major deal with the US to develop nuclear fusion technology

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

The UK has signed a deal with the US to further research into advanced fusion energy as part of efforts to tackle the climate crisis. In a joint statement, the UK’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the US Department of Energy said that fusion could provide…

10 Nov 23

USC Professor’s Simulation Software Teaches Systems Engineering Topics

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Azad M. Madni spent some 40 years working on artificial intelligence and simulation technologies that allowed U.S. soldiers to safely train for combat operations in virtual worlds. Now Madni—a professor of astronautics, aerospace, and mechanical engineering at the University of Southern California—is working to transform engineering education. But he hasn’t…

09 Nov 23

Grown-up Arm Chips Look to Dethrone x86 in Laptops

Computer & Information Technology

Qualcomm is again coming for laptops—and this time, it means business. At the company’s October 2023 Snapdragon Summit, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon X Elite, a system-on-a-chip (SoC) with a custom Arm architecture designed specifically for laptop PCs. The new chip is far from Qualcomm’s first attempt to upset the PC’s…

09 Nov 23

Governments ‘doubling down’ on fossil fuels despite climate change goals

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

The major new report from the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and other climate bodies found that 2030 production levels are 69 per cent more than what would be consistent with a less ambitious 2°C warming scenario. 151 national governments have pledged to achieve net zero…

09 Nov 23

Indonesia launches South-east Asia’s largest floating solar farm

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Indonesia has opened a $108m (£88m) floating solar plant in a significant renewable energy milestone for the country. The project was developed by PLN Nusantara Power and the renewable energy company Masdar from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The plant was built on Cirata reservoir, 108km (67 miles) south-east of…

08 Nov 23

The 2025 Volvo EX30: Priced to Tempt Americans

Civil, Structural & Architecture

For such a tiny and intensely powerful EV—an “espresso shot” of Volvo, according to its maker—the new EX30 carries big hopes but plenty of baggage.The EX30 brings the hallmarks of larger Volvos: squeaky-clean Scandinavian design, a canny blend of comfort and performance, and an obsessive focus on safety. But the…

08 Nov 23

Public AI Training Datasets Are Rife With Licensing Errors

Computer & Information Technology

Large language models feed on big data from publicly available training sets, but most of the sets are of doubtful legal status.The scope of the problem has been demonstrated by the newly launched Data Provenance Initiative, which brings together a multi-institutional team of machine-learning and legal experts led by researchers…

07 Nov 23

Watch This Giant Chopstick Robot Handle Boxes With Ease

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Although robots are already in warehouses, shuffling small items between bins for shipping or storage, they have yet to take over the job of lugging big, heavy things. And that’s just where they could be of the most use, because lugging is hard for people to do.Several companies are working…

07 Nov 23

MIT Turns Captured Carbon Into Fuel–Efficiently

Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Dozens of eager research efforts are underway around the world to capture carbon dioxide from power plants, the air, and even the oceans. Although that greenhouse gas can be stored underground, it would be great if it could be turned into fuel. Researchers at MIT and Harvard University have now…

Perovskite Solar Cells Double as Windows and Walls

UK signs major deal with the US to develop nuclear fusion technology

USC Professor’s Simulation Software Teaches Systems Engineering Topics

Grown-up Arm Chips Look to Dethrone x86 in Laptops

Governments ‘doubling down’ on fossil fuels despite climate change goals

Indonesia launches South-east Asia’s largest floating solar farm

The 2025 Volvo EX30: Priced to Tempt Americans

Public AI Training Datasets Are Rife With Licensing Errors

Watch This Giant Chopstick Robot Handle Boxes With Ease

MIT Turns Captured Carbon Into Fuel–Efficiently

Google won two major awards at MWC Barcelona 2025.

Expanding AI Overviews and introducing AI Mode

This MRI Can Run on Batteries

The Tiny Star Explosions Powering Moore’s Law