Electronic

Organ development has traditionally been tricky to study, thanks largely to the difficulty in getting sensors in there without damaging the organs. Now, researchers from Harvard have developed a way to create “cyborg organoids” by integrating nanoelectronics into cell cultures.

Since electronics are always shrinking, engineers need to find ways to make smaller components too. Now, scientists from the University of Leeds have managed to make the thinnest gold ever created, measuring just two atoms thick. That makes it functionally two-dimensional, joining graphene.

Electronic devices are made possible thanks to rare-Earth metals, but these are rare and relatively expensive. Now, scientists have found a way to combine common elements into electronically-useful compounds, which could find their way into tunable lighting and solar panels.

Superconductors can conduct electricity with absolutely no loss, so they could be revolutionary if not for one little problem: they only work if kept extremely cold. But now researchers at Max Planck have reported a new record high temperature for superconductivity, at a toasty -23° C (-9.4° F).

The smaller and lighter electronics get, the more ways they can be used. A team of researchers has come up with a compact radar system the size of a matchbox that could be deployed in drones and other gadgets where portability and low cost are important.

While a preference for traditional print books over an enhanced e-book counterpart may often stem from good old-fashioned nostalgia, a new study suggests using e-books to read stories to your child can result in less conversation and lower-quality interactions.

In a new step towards truly wireless charging, engineers have developed an ultra-thin device that captures Wi-Fi signals and converts them into electricity.

Engineers from MIT and the University of Colorado have developed a new microfabrication technique and used it to produce the smallest 3D transistors ever made, measuring about a third the size of the current leading commercial products.

For a few years scientists have predicted a fifth kind of phosphorus should be possible, but it had yet to be confirmed. Now, researchers in Germany have managed to show that blue phosphorus does exist, and mapped out its different properties.

As crucial as antennas are, the rigid metals they’re made of can limit what devices they can be built into. To help with that, researchers at Drexel University have developed a new kind of antenna that can be sprayed onto just about any surface.

London-based Tech Will Save Us has introduced two new educational toys today – a badge-making craft kit called Sew + Glow and a bike light kit dubbed Light Racer that makes use of wireless power to get your spokes glowing.

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have found a way to use viruses to build gold nanobeads, which can then be used to purify water and could eventually help cut the cost and time required to produce electronic components.