Technology
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New charge for old battery?
Researchers find a way to make zinc-air batteries reusable.
Zinc-air (Zn-air) batteries aren’t new – they were first commercially produced in the 1930s – and they have a lot of ...
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The lure of lithium gets serious
Power demand means we need new sources.
Scientists and engineers seeking to power the alternative-energy future are scrambling to find new sources of lithium...
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Magazine
It’s hip to be square
Why CubeSats are the coolest things in space.
By Bianca Nogrady Like orbiting LEGO bricks crammed with tech, CubeSats are simple, customisable and the next big ...
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Nature inspires a new hydrogen sensor
Microstructures imitate the surface of butterfly wings.
Some see hydrogen as the fuel of the future, with the potential to service energy-intensive industries – like aviatio...
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Creating nanobots like they do in movies
Design theory seeks to control how they assemble.
Researchers in Australia and the UK are bringing a sci-fi concept closer to reality as they work to overcome a major ...
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AI makes its mark in the stratosphere
Unmanned balloons kept in position for weeks.
Canadian and US scientists have kept an unmanned balloon in position in the stratosphere for weeks at a time by teach...
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Diving with Clio is quite an adventure
New AUV works hard and travels far and wide.
Engineers in the US have built an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) that appears to up the ante in terms of underwa...
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Swift by design, drone by nature
Ornithopters not just a flight of fancy.
Hovering, darting, gliding, diving and braking, the fleet-winged contraption in the video below is at the cutting edg...
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Producing hydrogen, not oxygen
Scientists create tiny droplet-based microbial factories.
The search for alternative energy sources is as wide-ranging as it is important. In a new chapter, scientists from...
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Next-gen drones could bee like this
Agility and perception the keys to navigating tight spots
An Australian-led team says it has uncovered the secret to the agile flight of the bumblebee, which could influence t...
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A successful AI cameo in the lab
Algorithm finds new material with minimum of fuss.
Scientists have identified a new compound with potential uses in photonic devices and biologically inspired computers...
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Making robots useful in the warehouse
Researchers try adding a little deep learning.
Working in a warehouse is tough for robots. Unlike on a production line, where the same motion is constantly repeated...