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Categories: Chemistry: Organic Chemistry, Engineering: Robotics Research
Published Speedy robo-gripper reflexively organizes cluttered spaces



A new gripper robot grasps by reflex. Rather than start from scratch after a failed attempt, the bot adapts in the moment to reflexively roll, palm, or pinch an object to get a better hold.
Published A transistor made of wood



Researchers have developed the first transistor made of wood. Their study paves the way for further development of wood-based electronics and control of electronic plants.
Published How spheres become worms



A previously unknown form of hydrogel formation has been elucidated: chemists found unusual interactions between polymers.
Published A simple paper test could offer early cancer diagnosis



Engineers designed a nanoparticle sensor that could enable early diagnosis of cancer with a simple urine test. The sensors, which can detect many cancerous proteins, could also be used to distinguish the type of a tumor or how it is responding to treatment.
Published How a horse whisperer can help engineers build better robots



New research shows us that age-old interactions between people and their horses can teach us something about building robots designed to improve our lives.
Published CO2 recycling: What is the role of the electrolyte?



The greenhouse gas carbon dioxide can be converted into useful hydrocarbons by electrolysis. The design of the electrolysis cell is crucial in this process. The so-called zero-gap cell is particularly suitable for industrial processes. But there are still problems: The cathodes clog up quickly.
Published Jellyfish-like robots could one day clean up the world's oceans



Roboticists have developed a jellyfish-inspired underwater robot with which they hope one day to collect waste from the bottom of the ocean. The almost noise-free prototype can trap objects underneath its body without physical contact, thereby enabling safe interactions in delicate environments such as coral reefs. Jellyfish-Bot could become an important tool for environmental remediation.
Published Outstanding performance of organic solar cell using tin oxide



Organic solar cells have a photoactive layer that is made from polymers and small molecules. The cells are very thin, can be flexible, and are easy to make. However, the efficiency of these cells is still much below that of conventional silicon-based ones. Applied physicists have now fabricated an organic solar cell with an efficiency of over 17 percent, which is in the top range for this type of material. It has the advantage of using an unusual device structure that is produced using a scalable technique.
Published Vaccine printer could help vaccines reach more people



Researchers have designed a tabletop-sized vaccine printer that could be scaled up to produce hundreds of vaccine doses in a day and deployed anywhere vaccines are needed. The vaccine doses are contained within microneedle patches that can be stored long-term at room temperature and applied to the skin, avoiding the need for injections.
Published Researchers team up with national lab for innovative look at copper reactions



Researchers are working to get a better look at how peroxides on the surface of copper oxide promote the oxidation of hydrogen but inhibit the oxidation of carbon monoxide, allowing them to steer oxidation reactions.
Published New programmable smart fabric responds to temperature and electricity



A new smart material is activated by both heat and electricity, making it the first ever to respond to two different stimuli.
Published Cryo-imaging lifts the lid on fuel cell catalyst layers



Thanks to a novel combination of cryogenic transmission electron tomography and deep learning, EPFL researchers have provided a first look at the nanostructure of platinum catalyst layers, revealing how they could be optimized for fuel cell efficiency.
Published Greener batteries



Our modern rechargeable batteries, such as lithium-ion batteries, are anything but sustainable. One alternative is organic batteries with redox-organic electrode materials (OEMs), which can be synthesized from natural 'green' materials. A team has now introduced a new OEM for aqueous organic high-capacity batteries that can be easily and cheaply recycled.
Published Reinforcement learning: From board games to protein design



An AI strategy proven adept at board games like Chess and Go, reinforcement learning, has now been adapted for a powerful protein design program. The results show that reinforcement learning can do more than master board games. When trained to solve long-standing puzzles in protein science, the software excelled at creating useful molecules. In one experiment, proteins made with the new approach were found to be more effective at generating useful antibodies in mice than were previous methods. If this method is applied to the right research problems, it likely could accelerate progress in a variety of scientific fields.
Published AI system can generate novel proteins that meet structural design targets



A new machine-learning system can generate protein designs with certain structural features, and which do not exist in nature. These proteins could be utilized to make materials that have similar mechanical properties to existing materials, like polymers, but which would have a much smaller carbon footprint.
Published Versatile, high-speed, and efficient crystal actuation with photothermally resonated natural vibrations



Mechanically responsive molecular crystals are extremely useful in soft robotics, which requires a versatile actuation technology. Crystals driven by the photothermal effect are particularly promising for achieving high-speed actuation. However, the response (bending) observed in these crystals is usually small. Now, scientists address this issue by inducing large resonated natural vibrations in anisole crystals with UV light illumination at the natural vibration frequency of the crystal.
Published New findings pave the way for stable organic solar cells that may enable cheap and renewable electricity generation



Organic solar cells show great promise for clean energy applications. However, photovoltaic modules made from organic semiconductors do not maintain their efficiency for long enough under sunlight for real world applications. Scientists have now revealed an important reason why organic solar cells rapidly degrade under operation. This new insight will drive the design of more stale materials for organic semiconductor-based photovoltaics, thus enabling cheap and renewable electricity generation.
Published Novel nanocages for delivery of small interfering RNAs



Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are novel therapeutics that can be used to treat a wide range of diseases. This has led to a growing demand for selective, efficient, and safe ways of delivering siRNA in cells. Now, in a cooperation between the Universities of Amsterdam and Leiden, researchers have developed dedicated molecular nanocages for siRNA delivery. In a paper just out in the Journal Chem they present nanocages that are easy to prepare and display tuneable siRNA delivery characteristics.
Published Using machine learning to find reliable and low-cost solar cells



Hybrid perovskites are organic-inorganic molecules that have received a lot of attention over the past 10 years for their potential use in renewable energy. Some are comparable in efficiency to silicon for making solar cells, but they are cheaper to make and lighter, potentially allowing a wide range of applications, including light-emitting devices. However, they tend to degrade way more readily than silicon when exposed to moisture, oxygen, light, heat, and voltage. Researchers used machine learning and high-throughput experiments to identify perovskites with optimal qualities out of the very large field of possible structures.
Published Team designs four-legged robotic system that can walk a balance beam



Researchers have designed a system that makes an off-the-shelf quadruped robot nimble enough to walk a narrow balance beam -- a feat that is likely the first of its kind.