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Ensuring battery safety and longevity requires cost-effective and scalable diagnostics, yet these are hindered by the ‘black box’ nature of batteries and limited sensing technology. Active perturbations could elicit informative responses that improve diagnostic performance and provide mechanistic insights, unlocking rapid and interpretable diagnostics.
Researchers introduce sodium sulfamate as a bromine scavenger for zinc/bromine flow batteries, reducing levels of corrosive free bromine. This innovation boosts energy density, cycle life, and corrosion resistance, offering a promising route to stable, cost-effective large-scale energy storage.
There are challenges in making large-scale and full utilization of renewable energy in power systems. We consider the need to integrate prediction, analysis, dispatch and control — and call for a systems engineering approach to power system operation that can enhance the utilization of renewable energy.
This year brings fresh perspectives to our editorial team, alongside a renewed focus on delivering authoritative insights and fostering collaboration. Together, let’s make 2026 a year of innovation, dialogue and transformative breakthroughs.
A study in Nature Photonics reports a miniaturized cascaded-diode-array spectral imager that enables electrically tunable spectral measurements from 365 nm down to 250 nm.
Resistive random-access-memory (RRAM)-based computing-in-memory (CIM) chips could overcome the von Neumann bottleneck and drastically improve energy efficiency for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. However, realizing their scalability necessitates the realization of higher-density integration, calling for cross-layer innovations from RRAM device optimization and unit cell design to integration strategies.
Data centres powering artificial intelligence now consume vast amounts of electricity, which raises new sustainability concerns. Underwater data centres powered by offshore wind, solar and wave energy, and cooled by seawater systems, offer a route toward zero-carbon artificial intelligence.
Sang Il Seok talks to Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering about research and education at the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), including work to advance perovskite solar cells by pioneering inorganic–organic hybrid heterojunction solar cells that contain perovskite compound and polymeric hole conductors.
Researchers introduce the FoRoGated-Structure, a folding and rolling structure that combines compact storage with strength. This structure supports sliding and load bearing, enabling robots with extended reach and structural stability demonstrated through a vacuum-inspired reaching robot and a gantry structure.
A study in Nature Energy reports a software-based approach that allows AI data centres to operate as flexible, grid-aware loads, reducing power demand during peak periods without compromising performance.
China’s microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensor industry is surging, but technical gaps, fragmented production and coordination challenges hinder its full potential. As global demand accelerates, it is important to consolidate this sector and forge greater independence in innovation to enhance China’s global competitiveness in the field.
This year’s quantum celebrations and triumphs have sparked global excitement. Now it’s time to turn that momentum into lasting action to build an inclusive global quantum community.
The 1st International Conference on Superconductor Materials and Metamaterials for Quantum Hardware was held in Glasgow, UK, on 18–19 November. Here, we present a summary of the inaugural conference.
A study in Optics Express reports the design of a simple dielectric metasurface structure composed of lithium niobate defect disks that enhances the generation of entangled photon pairs through spontaneous parametric down-conversion.
A century after the inception of quantum theory, its unresolved interpretations continue to threaten patent validity and investors’ confidence in quantum technologies.
Amal Kasry, Chief of Section for Basic Sciences, Research, Engineering and Innovation at UNESCO’s Natural Sciences Sector, narrates how the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology 2025 and UNESCO are working to shape a shared quantum future and close the global science divide.
An article in Physical Review X reports a reinforcement learning approach for designing fault-tolerant quantum circuits for scalable, noise-resilient quantum computing.
Tony Kenyon, the director of the Neuroware Innovation and Knowledge Centre (IKC), introduces the UK’s first IKC in neuromorphic (brain-inspired) computing hardware — its goals, structure and the broader vision for brain-inspired technologies.
