Science Advances

EPFL’s 150-Microgram Flyers Rise on Ultrasound Alone, No Motor Needed

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EPFL’s 150-Microgram Flyers Rise on Ultrasound Alone, No Motor Needed

Engineers at EPFL, the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, have sent two microscopic vehicles into the air without a motor, a battery, a wire or a single electronic component on board. The craft weigh 150 and 184 micrograms and consist of nothing more than hollow polymer shells, printed in one piece, that lift off when … Read more

AI Rewrites Metallurgy’s Oldest Rule to Forge Cast Iron From Scrap

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AI Rewrites Metallurgy’s Oldest Rule to Forge Cast Iron From Scrap

Metallurgy has spent millennia treating contamination in recycled metal as a defect to flush out with fresh ore. An international research team has now inverted that logic, using machine learning to design cast iron that exploits the copper, tin and titanium found inside scrap. The resulting alloys are up to 15.2% stronger or 73.2% more … Read more