New SwRI laboratory to study the origins of planetary systems

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has created a new space science laboratory, the Nebular Origins of the Universe Research (NOUR) Laboratory. Led by SwRI Senior Research Scientist Dr. Danna Qasim, the NOUR laboratory aims to bridge pre-planetary and planetary science to create a better understanding of the origins of our universe.
Photo Credit: Southwest Research Institute

The laboratory will trace the chemical origins of planetary systems. Qasim aims to establish a robust astrochemistry program within SwRI’s Space Science Division, connecting early cosmic chemistry to planetary evolution. The SwRI lab will give particular focus on the chemistry of interstellar clouds, vast regions of ice, gas and dust between stars representing a largely unexplored area of astrochemistry.

“We are examining the chemistry of ice, gas and dust that have existed since before our solar system formed, connecting the dots to determine how materials in those clouds ultimately evolve into planets,” Qasim said. “By simulating the physico-chemical conditions of these pre-planetary environments, we can fill key data gaps, providing insights that future NASA missions need to accomplish their goals.”

Rice engineers show lab grown diamond films can stop costly mineral buildup in pipes

Pulickel Ajayan and Xiang Zhang
Photo Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University

In industrial pipes, mineral deposits build up the way limescale collects inside a kettle ⎯ only on a far larger and more expensive scale. Mineral scaling is a major issue in water and energy systems, where it slows flow, strains equipment and drives up costs.

A new study by Rice University engineers shows that lab-grown diamond coatings could resolve the issue, providing an alternative to chemical additives and mechanical cleaning, both of which offer only temporary relief and carry environmental or operational downsides.

“Because of these limitations, there is growing interest in materials that can naturally resist scale formation without constant intervention,” said Xiang Zhang, assistant research professor of materials science and nanoengineering and a first author on the study alongside Rice postdoctoral researcher Yifan Zhu. “Our work addresses this urgent need by identifying a coating material that can ‘stay clean’ on its own.”

Innovation turns building vents into carbon-capture devices

A carbon nanofiber-based direct air capture filter developed by the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering could turn existing building ventilation systems into carbon-capture devices while cutting homeowners’ energy costs. Through life cycle assessment, the air filter shows a carbon removal efficiency of 92.1% from cradle to grave.
Photo Credit: Elaina Eichorn

With a newly developed nanofiber filter, air conditioners, heaters and other HVAC systems could remove airborne carbon dioxide while cutting energy costs

A nanofiber air filter developed at the University of Chicago could turn existing building ventilation into carbon-capture devices while cutting homeowners’ energy costs.

In a paper recently published in Science Advances, researchers from the lab of Asst. Prof. Po-Chun Hsu in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) developed a distributed carbon nanofiber direct air capture filter that could potentially turn every home, office, school or other building into a small system working toward the global problem of airborne carbon dioxide.

A life-cycle analysis shows that—even after factoring this extra CO2 released by everything from manufacture and transportation to maintenance and disposal—the new filter is more than 92% efficient in removing the gas from the air.

SwRI turbocharges its hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine

SwRI has a multidisciplinary team dedicated to Hydrogen Energy Research initiatives to deploy decarbonization technologies across a broad spectrum of industries. In 2022, SwRI began modifying a heavy-duty natural gas-fueled engine to run on 100% hydrogen fuel, successfully demonstrated in 2024. SwRI continues to research, design and innovate on H2-ICE technology. 
Photo Credit: Southwest Research Institute

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has upgraded its hydrogen-powered heavy-duty internal combustion engine (H2-ICE) with a state-of-the-art turbocharger. The upgrades have significantly improved performance across the board, making the engine competitive with current long-haul diesel engines focused on fuel economy while maintaining near-zero tailpipe emissions.

In 2023, SwRI converted a traditional natural gas-fueled internal combustion engine to run solely on hydrogen fuel with minimal modifications. It was integrated into a Class-8 truck as part of the Institute’s H2-ICE project to demonstrate a cost-efficient hydrogen-fueled engine as an option for zero-tailpipe carbon dioxide heavy-duty transportation.

Engineering: In-Depth Description

Photo Credit: ThisisEngineering

Engineering is the application of scientific principles, mathematical knowledge, economic considerations, and practical experience to invent, design, build, maintain, and improve structures, machines, tools, systems, components, materials, and processes. The primary goal of engineering is to solve practical human problems safely, efficiently, and effectively.

TU Dresden Develops Laser Drill to Explore Icy Moons

Researchers from TU Dresden during field tests of the laser ice drill on a glacier in Austria
Photo Credit: Technische Universitat Dresden

Researchers at the Institute of Aerospace Engineering at TU Dresden have developed a laser-based ice drilling system that could help to penetrate the kilometer-thick layers of ice on celestial bodies such as Jupiter's moon Europa or Saturn's Enceladus in the future. In this way, underground oceans and possible traces of past life could be investigated in a targeted manner. Initial laboratory and field tests on glaciers in the Alps and the Arctic have shown that snow and ice density can be reliably measured.

The Two Sides of Flood Protection

Flood waters in Rosenheim, Deutschland
Photo Credit: Julian Schneiderath

Climate change is leading to stronger flood disasters. TU Wien and Joanneum Research have developed a new model that shows how private and public protection measures interact.

In many regions of the world, people will have to prepare for more severe flood events in the coming decades. There are two ways to tackle this problem: individuals can protect themselves – for example, through insurance or home modifications – or communities can work together to reduce flood risks, for instance by building dams or retention basins.

The interaction between these approaches can be represented in mathematical models. A research team led by TU Wien used extensive data, that had surveyed thousands of Austrian households to study how natural conditions and human behavior interact in flood protection. Minimizing flood damage requires both approaches – individual and public.

How plastics grip metals at the atomic scale

Hierarchical view of polymer–alumina direct bonding across multiple length scales.
Image Credit: Osaka Metropolitan University

What makes some plastics stick to metal without any glue? Osaka Metropolitan University scientists peered into the invisible adhesive zone that forms between certain plastics and metals — one atom at a time — to uncover how chemistry and molecular structure determine whether such bonds bend or break.

Their insights clarify metal–plastic bonding mechanisms and offer guidelines for designing durable, lightweight, and more sustainable hybrid materials for use in transportation.

Combining the strength of metal with the lightness and flexibility of plastic, polymer–metal hybrid structures are emerging as key elements for building lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The technology relies on bonding metals with plastics directly, without adhesives. The success of these hybrids, however, hinges on how well the two materials stick together.

Prime time for fiber optics to take a deep dive into brain circuits

Fiber-optic technology is being refined for brain research. WashU engineers have developed a way to vastly expand the utility of a single fiber-optic line that can fit in the brain.
Image Credit: JJ Ying

Fiber-optic technology revolutionized the telecommunications industry and may soon do the same for brain research.

A group of researchers from Washington University in St. Louis in both the McKelvey School of Engineering and the School of Medicine have created a new kind of fiber-optic device to manipulate neural activity deep in the brain. The device, called PRIME (Panoramically Reconfigurable IlluMinativE) fiber, delivers multi-site, reconfigurable optical stimulation through a single, hair-thin implant.

“By combining fiber-based techniques with optogenetics, we can achieve deep-brain stimulation at unprecedented scale,” said Song Hu, professor of biomedical engineering, who collaborated with the laboratory of Adam Kepecs, professor of neuroscience and psychiatry at WashU Medicine. 

New observation method improves outlook for lithium metal battery

Stacey Bent (left), professor of chemical engineering and of energy science and engineering, Sanzeeda Baig Shuchi (right), chemical engineering PhD student, and Yi Cui (not pictured), professor of materials science and engineering and of energy science and engineering, led the research team that discovered a way to more accurately analyze key chemistries for rechargeable batteries and possibly many other chemistry applications.
Photo Credit: Bill Rivard

Stanford researchers developed a flash-freezing observation method that reveals battery chemistry without altering it, providing new insights to enhance lithium metal batteries.

In science and everyday life, the act of observing or measuring something sometimes changes the thing being observed or measured. You may have experienced this “observer effect” when you measured the pressure of a tire and some air escaped, changing the tire pressure. In investigations of materials involved in critical chemical reactions, scientists can hit the materials with an X-ray beam to reveal details about composition and activity, but that measurement can cause chemical reactions that change the materials. Such changes may have significantly hampered scientists learning how to improve – among many other things – rechargeable batteries.

To address this, Stanford University researchers have developed a new twist to an X-ray technique. They applied their new approach by observing key battery chemistries, and it left the observed battery materials unchanged and did not introduce additional chemical reactions. In doing so, they have advanced knowledge for developing rechargeable lithium metal batteries. This type of battery packs a lot of energy and can be recharged very quickly, but it short-circuits and fails after recharging a handful of times. The new study, published today in Nature, also could advance the understanding of other types of batteries and many materials unrelated to batteries.

How origami robots with magnetic muscles could make medicine delivery less invasive and more effective

A crawling robot created with the Miura-Ori origami pattern. The dark areas are covered in a thin magnetic rubber film which allows the robot to move.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of North Carolina State University

A new 3-D printing technique can create paper-thin “magnetic muscles,” which can be applied to origami structures to make them move.

By infusing rubber-like elastomers with materials called ferromagnetic particles, researchers at North Carolina State University 3-D printed a thin magnetic film which can be applied to origami structures. When exposed to magnetism, the films acted as actuators which caused the system to move, without interfering with the origami structure’s motion.

"This type of soft magnet is unique in how little space it takes up," said Xiaomeng Fang, assistant professor in the Wilson College of Textiles and lead author of a paper on the technique.

“Traditionally, magnetic actuators use the kinds of small rigid magnets you might put on your refrigerator. You place those magnets on the surface of the soft robot, and they would make it move,” she said. “With this technique, we can print a thin film which we can place directly onto the important parts of the origami robot without reducing its surface area much.”

Metamaterials can stifle vibrations with intentional complexity

This 3-D printed “kagome tube” can passively isolate vibrations using its complex, but deliberate, structure.
Image Credit: James McInerney, Air Force Research Laboratory

In science and engineering, it’s unusual for innovation to come in one fell swoop. It’s more often a painstaking plod through which the extraordinary gradually becomes ordinary.

But we may be at an inflection point along that path when it comes to engineered structures whose mechanical properties are unlike anything seen before in nature, also known as mechanical metamaterials. A team led by researchers at the University of Michigan and the Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, have shown how to 3D print intricate tubes that can use their complex structure to stymy vibrations.

Such structures could be useful in a variety of applications where people want to dampen vibrations, including transportation, civil engineering and more. The team’s new study, published in the journal Physical Review Applied, builds on decades of theoretical and computational research to create structures that passively impede vibrations trying to move from one end to the other.

Microwaves for energy-efficient chemical reactions

Microwave reactions.
Ideally the microwave reactions can be driven by green energy, in which case the system could help reduce carbon dioxide by converting it into other useful chemicals.
Image Credit: ©2025 Kishimoto et al.
(CC BY-ND 4.0)

Some industrial processes used to create useful chemicals require heat, but heating methods are often inefficient, partly because they heat a greater volume of space than they really need to. Researchers including those from the University of Tokyo devised a way to limit heating to the specific areas required in such situations. Their technique uses microwaves, not unlike those used in home microwave ovens, to excite specific elements dispersed in the materials to be heated. Their system proved to be around 4.5 times more efficient than current methods.

While there’s more to climate change than power generation and carbon dioxide (CO2), reducing the need for the former and the output of the latter are critical matters that science and engineering strive to tackle. Under the broad banner of green transformation, Lecturer Fuminao Kishimoto from the Department of Chemical System Engineering at the University of Tokyo and his team explore ways to improve things like industrial processes. Their latest development could impact on some industries involved in chemical synthesis and may have some other positive offshoots. And their underlying idea is relatively straightforward.

Space-based nuclear detonation detection mission endures

Visual safety observers Debra Yzquierdo, left, and Naomi Baros watch the skies for aircraft atop an observation platform.
Photo Credit: Craig Fritz

Roughly 12,550 miles above Earth, a constellation of U.S. global positioning satellites orbits the planet. GPS satellites also carry a sophisticated system designed to detect above ground nuclear detonations anytime, anywhere.

The Global Burst Detection system, developed by Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories, carries a suite of sensors and instruments capable of identifying signals from nuclear detonations and providing real-time information to the U.S. military and government.

The final system in the current block of eight systems launched into space in May 2025. Meanwhile, the next series, scheduled for initial deployment in 2027, already has several units completed and ready to be integrated with host satellites.

This mission has endured for more than 60 years at the Labs. Teams of engineers, scientists and technologists work a decade ahead to develop new complex technologies that can withstand the harsh space environment while countering evolving threats.

Sandia team creates X-ray images of the future

Courtney Sovinec examines the multi-patterned target used to create a new type of X-ray image at Sandia National Laboratories.
Photo Credit: Vince Gasparich

When German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays in the late 1800s while experimenting with cathode ray tubes, it was a breakthrough that transformed science and medicine. So much so that the basic concept remains in use today. But a team of researchers at Sandia National Laboratories believes they’ve found a better way, harnessing different metals and the colors of light they emit.

“It’s called colorized hyperspectral X-ray imaging with multi-metal targets, or CHXI MMT for short,” said project lead Edward Jimenez, an optical engineer. Jimenez has been working with materials scientist Noelle Collins and electronics engineer Courtney Sovinec to create X-rays of the future.

“With this new technology, we are essentially going from the old way, which is black and white, to a whole new colored world where we can better identify materials and defects of interest,” Collins said.

The team found they could achieve this using tiny, patterned samples of varied metals such as tungsten, molybdenum, gold, samarium and silver.

Research yields eco-friendly way to separate, recycle refrigerants tied to climate crisis

Lead author Abby Harders, who earned her doctorate in chemical and petroleum engineering at the University of Kansas, now serves as head of research and development at Icorium Engineering, situated in KU’s Innovation Park.
Photo Credit: Max Jiang

A scholarly report in the journal Science Advances from researchers at the University of Kansas shows a new eco-friendly method for separating the chemicals found in common refrigerants for easier recycling at industrial scale.

“The motivation of this work is to enable separation of highly complex gaseous refrigerant mixtures,” said lead author Abby Harders, who performed the research as a KU doctoral student in the research group of co-author Mark Shiflett, Foundation Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering. “This effort has been driven by climate legislation phasing out certain hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants.”

The paper's key innovation uses membranes — amorphous fluorinated polymers, to be specific — that efficiently isolate complex refrigerant mixtures. Other separation methods, like distillation, are less effective because of the complex composition of the mixtures. Harders said the membranes are fabricated to allow some gases to pass through while restricting others — resulting in effective purification.

To demonstrate the technology could scale to industrial viability, the team — including many associated with KU’s Wonderful Institute for Sustainable Engineering — developed a custom-coating process to create submicron coatings on the membrane’s porous supports, creating composite hollow fibers. The results show a functional prototype, proving the technology’s usefulness to firms engaged in refrigerant recovery and reuse. 

Collection of tiny antennas can amplify and control light polarized in any direction

New polarization-independent, highly resonant metasurfaces can precisely amplify and control light without requiring incoming light (top left) to be oriented and traveling in a certain direction.
Image Credit: Bo Zhao

Antennas receive and transmit electromagnetic waves, delivering information to our radios, televisions, cell phones and more. Researchers in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis imagines a future where antennas reshape even more applications.

Their new metasurfaces, ultra-thin materials made of tiny nanoantennas that can both amplify and control light in very precise ways, could replace conventional refractive surfaces from eyeglasses to smartphone lenses and improve dynamic applications such as augmented reality/virtual reality and LiDAR.

While metasurfaces can manipulate light very precisely and efficiently, enabling powerful optical devices, they often suffer from a major limitation: Metasurfaces are highly sensitive to the polarization of light, meaning they can only interact with light that is oriented and traveling in a certain direction. While this is useful in polarized sunglasses that block glare and in other communications and imaging technologies, requiring a specific polarization dramatically reduces the flexibility and applicability of metasurfaces.

Engineers Design New Autonomous System to Monitor Arctic Ice Melt

Photo Credit: Bernd Hildebrandt

The rapid melting and thinning of the Arctic ice have sparked serious concerns in the scientific community. In addition, sea ice thickness also has decreased, which makes ice cover more vulnerable to warming air and ocean temperature.

Understanding the ecological role of sea ice in the Arctic is crucial, particularly because the extent of sea ice in the region has been decreasing at an unprecedented rate. What would happen to the Arctic marine ecosystem if the sea ice melted even faster? To answer these questions, a long-term monitoring and data collection system is necessary in the harsh Arctic environment.

However, direct observation is challenging as satellite sensors have a coarse spatial resolution and cannot detect the fine fractal structure of the ice. Deploying human-crewed ships to the area is also difficult due to extreme weather conditions and obstacles posed by floating broken ice. Moreover, traditional ocean observation methods offer limited temporal and spatial coverage, while drones and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are hindered by energy constraints that restrict their research potential.

To overcome these challenges, researchers from the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Florida Atlantic University have proposed a design of an alternative, autonomous observational method, which holds promise for improving the autonomy of marine vehicles, aiding in maritime missions, and gaining a deeper understanding of how melting Arctic sea ice affects marine ecosystems.

FAU Engineering Develops New Weapon against Harmful Algal Blooms

Photo Credit: Tom Fisk

As harmful algal blooms (HABs) continue to spread across the globe, urgent research is needed to address this growing threat. Studies in Italy, China, and the Atlantic basin have shown that many water bodies have high nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratios, making phosphorus a key factor that drives these blooms. This highlights the critical need for more effective phosphorus management strategies to curb the rise of HABs and protect our ecosystems.

Recently, there’s been a growing interest in finding useful ways to repurpose troublesome algal biomass, which could be turned into valuable products like bioplastics, biofertilizers, and biofuels. Researchers have already explored using algal biomass to create materials that can help clean up things such as heavy metals, rare earth metals, dyes, and even capture CO2 and harmful volatile organic compounds from the air.

However, few studies have looked into how algal biomass, especially cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, can be used to create materials that remove phosphate from water.

Now, researchers from the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Florida Atlantic University, have filled that gap by transforming cyanobacterial biomass, which is typically a hazardous waste, into custom-made adsorbent materials that can pull harmful phosphorus out of water. A d sorbent materials are substances that can attract and hold molecules or particles such as gases, liquids, or dissolved solids on their surface. Unlike a b sorbent materials that soak up substances into their structure, a d sorbents capture molecules on the outside surface, forming a thin layer.

One Step Coating Could Save Lives and Property

Image Credit: Rachel Barton/Texas A&M Engineering Communications

Although extremely flammable, cotton is one of the most commonly used textiles due to its comfort and breathable nature. However, in a single step, researchers from Texas A&M University can reduce the flammability of cotton using a polyelectrolyte complex coating. The coating can be tailored for various textiles, such as clothing or upholstery, and scaled using the common pad-dry coating process, which is suitable for industrial applications. This technology can help to save property and lives on a large scale. 

“Many of the materials in our day-to-day lives are flammable, and offering a solution to protect from fire benignly is difficult,” said Maya D. Montemayor, a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M and the publication’s lead author. “This technology can be optimized to quickly, easily and safely flame retard many flammable materials, offering vast protection in everyday life, saving money and lives of the general population.” 

Current studies developing flame retardant coatings deposited via polyelectrolyte complexation require two or more steps, increasing the time and cost to coat a material effectively.