The Elements of Innovation Discovered

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  • Black heat shielding on the Shuttle Endeavor’s nose and emergency exit.

    Sierra Space and DOE fireproof spaceflight

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Dec 5, 2024

    Silicon-carbide exterior tiles for reusable commercial spacecraft withstand the fiery temperatures of traversing Earth's atmosphere. Leading commercial space and defense company Sierra Space announced the results of a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to create new silicon-carbide-based exterior tiles – called a thermal protection system – for reusable commercial spacecraft. Atmospheric re-entry exposes a craft to bla...

  • A hand applying thermal paste from a syringe onto a CPU.

    A cool revolution: thermal paste levels up

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Dec 5, 2024

    Texas researchers know how to handle heat, boosting cooling by 72%. Few topics among PC enthusiasts spark as much heated debate – literally and figuratively – as the humble thermal paste. Ask any tech head about the ideal amount or application pattern, and you'll likely get a different answer every time. Now, material scientists may have flipped the script with an industry-changing thermal compound boasting unprecedented cooling potential – sorry gamers, it's designed for d...

  • Close-up photo of a man holding a very small microchip.

    New sound discovery may shrink technology

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Dec 5, 2024

    Breakthrough combination of tech metals manipulates sound to miniaturize and boost devices. Once a passive carrier of vibrations, sound is now being reimagined as a driving force behind a breakthrough in phononic technology, with researchers crafting a revolutionary material that could shrink smartphones to the size of a credit card while boosting performance and energy efficiency. In recent years, phononics – the science of manipulating sound waves – has emerged as a new fron...

  • An image of a laser beam of light being converted into sound waves.

    Listening to light, sound to power tech

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Dec 5, 2024

    Researchers merge light and sound on microchips, unlocking a new frontier in data processing, sensing, and communication. Microchips have always relied on electricity to process data, but what if they could harness sound instead? In a groundbreaking twist, researchers have managed to confine high-frequency sound waves to a chip's surface that ripple like a miniature earthquake – an unexpected breakthrough that could redefine everything from data processing to advanced sensing,...

  • An assortment of large bolts strewn in a large pile.

    3D printing redefines how things join

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Dec 5, 2024

    Researchers from Texas A&M and Sandia National Labs develop 3D-printed joints that adapt to stress, temperature, and movement for stronger structures. In a move that could reshape industries from aerospace to biomedical engineering, researchers from Texas A&M University and Sandia National Laboratories have developed 3D-printed nickel-titanium alloys with shape memory capabilities, paving the way for stronger, more adaptable structures without the need for traditional nuts...

  • Stacks of shining copper rods in a somewhat dimly lit room.

    Studying superconductors with supercomputers

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Dec 3, 2024

    Berkeley Lab team use cutting-edge tech to explore copper efficiency. For over three decades, scientists have chased the dream of room-temperature superconductivity. Now, harnessing the raw power of cutting-edge supercomputers, researchers are unraveling the mysterious interactions within superconductors – unlocking insights that could lead to practical materials capable of conducting electricity with zero resistance, and effectively changing the world as we know it. N... Full story

  • AI-generated image of a diamond holding digital information.

    Diamonds hold the key to quantum computing

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Nov 12, 2024

    German scientists demonstrate that precious gems can encapsulate entangled qubits, the quantum version of bits in classic computers. Considering that quantum computers have the potential to solve complex problems in a matter of seconds that would take today's most advanced supercomputers decades to answer, scientists around the world are racing to overcome the challenges associated with developing a quantum computer that is efficient, reliable, and compatible with existing... Full story

  • Passengers on a Zero-G flight floating around the cabin.

    Missouri S&T, NASA test Moon-building tech

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Nov 4, 2024

    Researchers prepare gravity simulations to test lunar soil separation. As part of a NASA-backed project to one day live on the Moon, Missouri University of Science and Technology researchers are gearing up to test a technology that aims to separate lunar soil for building materials under simulated lunar gravity. The team will use special Zero-G flights to see if their prototype can work in Moon-like conditions, bringing us one step closer to sustainable construction on the... Full story

  • A pair of fingers delicately holding a glowing green gemstone.

    Jeweler sculpts light into gemstones

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Oct 8, 2024

    Creates world's first glowing jewels, merging art with groundbreaking science and rare earths. What if a crystal could capture light by day and glow through the night? Thanks to the efforts of a jeweler-turned-scientist, they may have just uncovered that secret, crafting a gemstone like nothing the world has ever seen. What started as a jeweler's curiosity about lab-grown crystals has now transformed into a full-blown scientific breakthrough. After years of experimentation,... Full story

  • ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer doing ISS concrete tests in space.

    NASA astronauts examine Moon-made cement

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Aug 20, 2024

    ISS researchers mix together simulated lunar soil, cement, and water to determine microgravity effects. As NASA eyes the Moon for future habitation, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station is already busy mixing the cement, unraveling the mysteries of its hardening process in microgravity. This critical step could determine how we build resilient structures on the Moon and Mars, inching us closer to a permanent human outpost beyond Earth. Building a permanent... Full story

  • Miniature figures jumping between zones on a processor.

    QuTech unveils somersaulting spin qubits

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Aug 13, 2024

    Decades-old theory proved possible as QuTech's "somersaulting" spin qubits simplify control, paving way for scalable quantum computing. Researchers at QuTech have taken a giant leap in quantum computing with the development of "somersaulting" spin qubits, an innovation that simplifies and enhances control of this advanced technology and marks a breakthrough that could revolutionize the construction of powerful quantum processors. Quantum computing, unlike classical computing,...

  • A globe-shaped balloon centered over North America.

    American helium shortage at turning point

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 11, 2024

    Pulsar's timely discovery of a massive helium deposit in Minnesota may keep our medical scanners, rockets, and nuclear reactors going. Despite being the second most abundant gas in the universe, there is a definite helium shortage in America, risking the operation of everything from medical diagnostics to cooling nuclear reactors. But the U.S. might finally be in luck – a recently discovered reservoir in Minnesota boasts concentrations pushing 13.8%, the highest the i...

  • A 3D graphic showing different chemical reactions on platinum.

    Platinum's clean energy breakthrough

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 11, 2024

    Japanese researchers unveil platinum electrode enhancement for producing clean hydrogen. Imagine a world where clean energy is not just a dream but a reality. Researchers at Chiba University have taken one step closer by cracking the code on platinum electrodes that are vital to hydrogen fuel cells and electrolysis. With subtle changes to the way these electrodes interact with water, they've discovered a game-changing method to boost both efficiency and durability – a small t...

  • Video demonstrating three steps of Novamera’s surgical mining process.

    DIGITAL invests in Novamera mining tech

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 11, 2024

    Canada's Global Innovation Cluster for digital technologies invests C$3.5 million in surgical mining of high-grade deposits. Mining tech start-up Novamera has received a $2.6 million (C$3.5 million) investment from Canadian technologies accelerator DIGITAL to advance a technology to surgically mine metals from high-grade deposits that have been overlooked because they are uneconomic with conventional mining technologies due to their size and shape. Many high-grade narrow vein...

  • A solar farm being lit by a sun setting in the background.

    Flash of light improves solar cells

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 11, 2024

    A novel light-based method enhances PbS quantum dot solar cells, promising cheaper and more efficient renewable energy. South Korean scientists have discovered a new method to enhance the efficiency of lead-sulfide (PbS) quantum dot solar cells. By using rapid bursts of specialized light instead of prolonged heating, they have found a way to produce cheaper and more effective solar power. At present, the fabrication of PbS solar cells requires a lengthy heat treatment process....

  • Pile of sparkling gold dust.

    Researchers unlock secret of gold's light

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated May 15, 2024

    Uses quantum mechanics to discover how light makes thin gold films glow. In a groundbreaking study, researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) have revealed the quantum secrets behind how light makes thin gold films glow. This discovery, solving a decades-old puzzle, could transform how we make solar fuels and batteries. Luminescence, the process where substances emit photons when exposed to light, has long been observed in semiconductor...

  • Rendering of Urban Vibro truck.

    Pounding pavement: trucks sense geophysics

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated May 8, 2024

    Trucks send seismic waves beneath cities to explore the terrain for oil, gas, faults and geothermal. In 2017, two fleets of massive trucks crossed from Long Beach into Orange County in southern California, sending literal shock waves through the streets. And now, in Germany, they're going to be at it again. The vehicle used to create these vibrations is a seismic vibrator truck or thumper. These trucks use a large weight to thump the ground's surface while sophisticated...

  • View of the colorful Perth cityscape from a walkway looking over a river.

    Seeding a global mining tech hub in Perth

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 30, 2024

    Rio Tinto invests in tech startups, partners with Founders Factory to help establish Western Australia as Silicon Valley of mining tech. Global mining company Rio Tinto has teamed up with world-leading venture studio and start-up investor Founders Factory to help establish the city of Perth on Australia's west coast as the Silicon Valley of mining technologies. As the capital of Western Australia, one of the most productive and diversified mining regions in the world, Perth... Full story

  • Rendering of a geophysical scanning micro-satellite over Earth.

    Graphite composite stabilizes maglev tech

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 25, 2024

    New material bridges anti-gravity tech and super-sensitive instruments. Flying cars and personal jetpacks notwithstanding, a new carbon-based material is bringing us closer to stable levitation technologies with no need for mechanical or electrical assists. Today's levitation uses electrically manipulated magnetic fields, superconductors or diamagnetic (magnetically repelled) materials to float above magnets. The primary use for this is in developing super-sensitive...

  • A high resolution photograph of Mars taken by NASA.

    NASA seeks solutions for Mars samples

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 16, 2024

    Space Agency finds costs and timeframe of previous plan too high, seeks public and private sector innovation to get samples to Earth. In response to Perseverance's successful sample collection efforts, a discussion on returning these samples of Martian geology and potential signs of life back to Earth has been revisited. During a teleconference held early this morning, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration outlined its recommendations regarding a path forward for t... Full story

  • A microchip with a hollow of semiconductive tellurite glass.

    Window into tellurite glass solar panels

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 3, 2024

    In a discovery that is approaching an "alchemist's dream", a team of scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne and Tokyo Tech has transformed glass into a light-powered semiconductor that could be the window into future clean energy generation. Interested in the behavior of atoms in tellurite glass when exposed to ultrafast bursts of high-energy laser light, the researchers were surprised that a short burst of energy over one femtosecond, or one quadri...

  • A heavy-duty train operating on the Moon with Earth in the background.

    DARPA enlists Northrop for Moon railroad

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Mar 29, 2024

    Begins study to develop first railroad network on the Moon for future extraterrestrial habitation. Invoking a time when Americans began voyaging across the continent in steam-powered engines, Northrop Grumman Corp. has been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to further develop the concept of building a Moon-based railroad network. As part of a broader 10-year Lunar Architecture (LunA-10) Capability Study, this envisioned lunar railroad network would be... Full story

  • A frost-covered magnet cube floats above a black superconductor disc.

    Super-rare superconductor mineral found

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Mar 27, 2024

    Ames Lab scientists confirm the first ever unconventional superconductor found in nature. Scientists at the Ames National Laboratory in Iowa have made a world's first discovery – a naturally occurring mineral with superconducting properties similar to the high-temperature superconductors that could revolutionize energy, transportation, and electronics. Superconductive materials can conduct electricity without energy loss. Scientists have already created superconductors in the...

  • Morpheus Space FEEP thrusters on display.

    Morpheus' liquid metal ion thruster

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Feb 21, 2024

    Startup sets new standard for orbital industry with scalable, modular thrusters that come with a suite of support tech for seamless operation. Supporting the dreams of countless space-venturing hopefuls, like its namesake, Morpheus Space Inc. has unveiled a potentially game-changing liquid metal ion propulsion system that they believe will chart a path to the stars for smaller companies and organizations to explore the infinite possibilities of endless space. As orbital capabi...

  • Computer-generated image resembling a diamond used for technology.

    Diamond-studded quantum computer chips

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Nov 6, 2023

    Trapping qubits inside diamonds, MIT researchers create memory nodes that may unlock quantum computing realm. Quantum computers have the potential to carry out calculations millions of times faster than today's most advanced supercomputers, but this game-changing computing power has yet to be realized due to the fragile nature of qubits, the quantum realm equivalent of the bits that store and transfer data in today's computers. Diamonds, however, could provide the armor that p...

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