Engineering

Energy storage usually brings to mind batteries, capacitors, tanks of hydrogen, or maybe some giant gravity system hauling blocks up a tower. Northwestern University researchers have now demonstrated something a lot stranger: a yellow liquid that “charges” by rebuilding itself into a black gel, stores electrons for months, then releases them on demand to drive chemical reactions.

Weave Robotics announced its first laundry folding robot just months ago, and it already has a new product on offer. The new Isaac 1 robot also folds clothes – but it can also tidy up your living room and make the bed. It looks cuter, too.

Abu Dhabi has broken ground on Dar al Funoon, a 6,000-capacity performing arts venue on Saadiyat Island. One of the final designs from the late Frank Gehry, it will host opera, ballet, and theater from 2030.

We got a glimpse of the Royal Navy of the future as the Ministry of Defence announced that it will not replace Britain's aging destroyers, but succeed them with at least six Common Combat Vessels (CCV) that will act as drone command and control ships.

Humans generate wet coffee grounds equal to the weight of three Great Pyramids of Giza annually. These have fuel potential, but the moisture poses a challenge. Scientists have now developed a method that rapidly turns the wet grounds into solid biofuel.

Robots can fly spaceships, but they still can’t pick strawberries as well as humans. Although it sounds simple, it has a huge impact on agriculture globally. Scientists have now developed a soft robotic hand that can pick fruit without damaging it.

Hidden behind a weathered garden wall in South London, the Walled Courtyard house by IBLA is a compact two‑bedroom dwelling with skylights, a courtyard garden, sustainable heating, and a sedum roof on a historically constrained plot.

The US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has developed new portable field devices that will allow soldiers to identify unknown biological threats, including bioengineered ones, based on RNA and DNA analysis, in under half an hour.

Origami, the Japanese art of folding flat sheets of paper into three-dimensional figures, is the creative spark behind a new hybrid 3D printing technique. It allows structures to be created without molds, which fold into shape once printed.

Lockheed Martin is moving the US hypersonic missile program a step closer to production with the announcement that it has begun work on its Next Generation Glide Body (NXGB), a new hypersonic vehicle designed for low-cost, large-scale manufacturing.