The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, now in an unstable ceasefire, has exposed a structural failure in the global semiconductor memory supply chain, and it is
The age of disposable green is over, as in 2026, sustainability means permanence. You no longer design for short lifecycles or rapid replacement, as you design to last. True ecological responsibility now aligns with architectural endurance, where reduced carbon impact comes from…
Scientists thought glassy substances had to be either moldable or impact-resistant—but compleximers are both
few analysts have sought to dissect how China’s market share of unglamorous bulk raw material inputs and intermediates across its minerals, metallurgy, and chemicals sectors actually directly enables their market share in these finished, shiny consumer products.
In reality, metals and chemicals production require muscular industrial policy of their own to succeed
With performance three times better than copper’s, this new material could substantially improve heat management of electronics, data centers and energy systems
ChatGPT helps you get answers, find inspiration, and be more productive.
Meta is continuing its long-term roadmap to help the construction industry leverage AI to produce high-quality and more sustainable concrete mixes, as well as those exclusively produced in the Unit…
A new lithium refining method uses electrochemistry to cut waste and energy use, easing a key bottleneck for electric vehicles.
Space Forge's orbital furnace could redefine semiconductor production with space-grown crystals.
The definitive 100+ page guide to the thermodynamics, scarcity, and heavy assets powering the AI revolution.
To survive Venus, NASA is returning to advanced ceramic sensors that can operate where conventional silicon electronics rapidly fail.
Cardboard was once seen as just packaging, but it is now becoming a design hero. As sustainability and cost efficiency drive modern innovation, this humble material is being reimagined for far more than shipping boxes. Lightweight, strong, and easily recyclable, it inspires…
How gypsum changed construction
A multi-institution research team has discovered a metallic material that conducts heat nearly three times more efficiently than copper or silver.
IEDM 2025 Round-Up
For leading fabs, this is a 3xx-layer 3D NAND process, which yields on the order of 20-30 Gb/mm2 of memory.
321-layer process has 44% more memory per wafer than the previous generation 238-layer technology
Rather than being used as a storage material, the sulfur gives up electrons.
sulfur is a great storage material for lithium
Chinese researchers has managed to turn sulfur’s complex chemistry into a strength, making it the primary electron donor in a sodium-sulfur battery that also relies on chlorine for its chemistry.
An analysis
Just a handful of companies can make cadmium zinc telluride, a material with powerful properties.
A new “rubbery CMOS” platform combines fully stretchable p- and n-type transistors, enabling skin-like logic circuits and a tactile “sensory skin” for wearables, implants, and soft robotics.
Exotic materials with bizarre electron behavior could pave the road to revolutionary technologies
The early history of the United States runs along with the first years of the railroad.
The challenge of cure time🌌Get Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/Practical-Engineering🏙️Watch 17 Pages: https:/...
How aquaporin and potassium channels filter hundreds of millions of water molecules or ions each second, by positioning the correct amino acid in the perfect place.
Lead paint was banned. Before that, it was outcompeted by a cheap and safe alternative.
How a single taxi ride saved millions of lives
InventWood just cracked the code on something that sounds like science fiction. They've figured out how to make wood stronger than steel by restructuring it at the molecular level. This isn't your typical engineered lumber story. We're talking about a material that delivers 50%…
Materials breakthroughs and process innovations are unlocking next-gen chip scaling, with Southeast Asia playing a pivotal role in semiconductor evolution. By Andrew Goh, Corporate Vice President and General Manager, Southeast Asia at Lam Research
Tungsten, long used for interconnects due to its robustness and thermal stability, is now reaching critical scaling and performance bottlenecks. Its relatively high resistivity and poor conformality in narrow, high-aspect-ratio features
he industry is turning to molybdenum (Mo) as a breakthrough alternative. Mo offers lower resistivity, enabling faster electron flow and reduced power consumption, which are crucial for maintaining performance at smaller nodes. Its ability to be deposited without a barrier layer simplifies…
Google DeepMind has announced a new artificial intelligence system, AlphaEarth Foundations, designed to analyze the Earth's surface by integrating vast
Can microfactories solve prefab's economic problem by inverting the factory model?
Neuroscientists are discovering how this basic ability, essential to our survival, works
letting patterns emerge naturally from behavioral data. Using methods borrowed from machine learning, they were able to uncover 36 fundamental dimensions
dataset of 600 images of 200 different materials
A new technical paper titled “Emerging Nonvolatile Memory Technologies in the Future of Microelectronics” was published by researchers at Texas A&M University, University of Massachusetts and USC. Abstract “Memory technologies are central to modern computing systems, performing…
The mystifying, centuries-long failure of the coal briquette
Glass cloth maker Nittobo is latest example country's overlooked role in supply chain
A cracked piece of metal fused itself back together in a lab in front of scientist—and no one was prepared for it.
Lead has been all but eliminated in most of the developed world. Doing the same for the rest of the world might not be difficult.
The material has 50% more tensile strength than steel with a strength-to-weight ratio that’s ten-times better.
Individual construction tasks have, on average, not gotten cheaper since at least the 1950s. Bricks haven’t gotten cheaper since the mid-19th century, despite massive improvements in brickmaking technology. Construction has a reputation for being slow to innovate, but…
Civilization's toughest technical challenges are those that require extraordinary (and constantly improving) performance to be delivered at a low cost.
Earlier this month the Trump administration announced hefty 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, along with an additional 10% tariffs on Chinese imports.
MP Materials begins manufacturing rare earth magnets, including Neodymium magnets, in the U.S. This marks a significant step for the domestic production of permanent magnets, crucial for industries like EVs and defense. Despite challenges, this move aims to reduce reliance on…
This sustainable, solid-state electrolyte design outlives lithium-ion batteries
We made sand think: this phrase is used from time to time to evoke the particular technological wonders of our age, especially since artificial intelligence seems to be back on the slate of possibilities.
MIT physicists created a long-lasting magnetic state in a material, using only light. The results provide a new way to control and switch antiferromagnetic materials, which are of interest for their potential to advance information processing and memory chip technology.
Electra has raised $76.3 million to clean up the dirty ironmaking industry, TechCrunch has learned. The startup has developed a novel method of using
Industrialists and researchers are plotting a new future for these critical materials
Three new species of superconductivity were spotted this year, illustrating the myriad ways electrons can join together to form a frictionless quantum soup.
The manipulation of mechanical strain in materials, also known as strain engineering, has allowed engineers to advance electronics over the past decades, for instance enhancing the mobility of charge ...
One of the oldest, scarcest elements in the universe has given us treatments for mental illness, ovenproof casserole dishes and electric cars. But how much do we really know about lithium?
Better predictions of how cracks grow can make machines and structures more reliable