OpenAI’s hardware story started well before the strange doughnut-shaped speaker that dominated the news this week. Sam Altman and Jony Ive began working together around 2023, initially exploring what a computer designed around modern AI should actually look like. By 2024, Ive had created io with former Apple executives and engineers including Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan. In May 2025, OpenAI announced that io would merge into OpenAI, while Ive’s LoveFrom would take a major design role across the company. Reuters valued the transaction at about $6.5 billion.

Blockchain technology enables newly emerging business models with polyadic relationships. Novel business models in Web 3.0 environments involve multiple use values and exchange value determinants. NFT Technology affordances identified in terms of utility, social, financial, and legal affordances. The emerging ecosystem is characterized by sources of generativity, mixed-side network effects, and convergence.

Materials scientists are revolutionizing soft robotics by developing advanced polymer artificial muscles that overcome traditional manufacturing limitations. Two key approaches—electromechanical and thermomechanical—enable flexible, autonomous actuation systems that replace rigid conventional hardware. The first technique employs polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gel muscles activated by electric fields between 400 and 800 volts, which causes PVC molecules to migrate toward the anode, generating Maxwell forces that induce precise deformation. The formulation combines PVC, dibutyl adipate plasticizer, and tetrahydrofuran solvent in a 1:7:12 mass ratio. When the field deactivates, the gel's inherent elasticity returns the muscle to its original shape. Alternatively, shape-memory polymers (SMPs) utilize entropic recovery, with engineered architectures containing molecular switches and stable net points that allow polymers to transition from temporary high-energy states to thermodynamically preferred shapes when exposed to thermal triggers. By tailoring polymer formulations, developers can precisely control activation temperatures for specific applications. These 3D-printed artificial muscles eliminate labor-intensive manual casting and enable manufacturers to create sophisticated, programmable soft robotic systems suitable for diverse industrial and medical applications.

Fabric-based microfluidic fuel cells represent an emerging technology that integrates textile substrates with advanced electrochemical systems to generate power from liquid fuels. This review, published in the Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry in August 2026, examines recent developments in this field, focusing on three critical areas: textile substrate selection and optimization, catalyst development and performance, and comprehensive electrochemical analysis. The integration of fabric materials as platforms for microfluidic fuel cells offers significant advantages, including flexibility, portability, and potential for wearable applications. By leveraging textile substrates combined with innovative catalyst materials, researchers have achieved improved electrochemical performance and enhanced fuel cell efficiency. These advances are particularly significant for developing next-generation power sources for portable electronics, medical devices, and wearable technology, where conventional rigid fuel cells prove impractical. The synthesis of textile engineering with electrochemistry addresses growing demands for sustainable, lightweight energy solutions in applications requiring flexible and adaptable power systems.

Researchers at Yunnan University have developed a quantum dissipative assembly (QDA) framework that explains how polymorphism in organic semiconductors is governed by quantum coherence rather than classical thermodynamics. Their symmetry-resolved open quantum system formulation treats molecular assembly units as vibronic wavepackets classified by molecular point group representations, with the carrier gas acting as a structured dissipative bath. Using this theory to manipulate the reactor environment—adjusting geometry, flow velocity, and precursor concentration—the team selectively synthesized a previously unreported polar polymorph of copper phthalocyanine (ω-CuPc) with space group P2, featuring a dimerized bilayer superstructure and an extreme Davydov splitting of 154 nm. Structural refinement with a four-molecule modulated supercell model resolved discrepancies between powder X-ray diffraction and energy calculations. The framework consistently explains formation windows of different CuPc polymorphs and their distinct morphologies, establishing a symmetry-guided polymorph engineering strategy where the carrier-gas atmosphere functions as an active dissipative medium rather than an inert thermal bath, advancing understanding of quantum coherence in macromolecular systems.

Global energy storage innovation is advancing rapidly through diverse alternative battery technologies beyond traditional lithium-ion systems. The United Arab Emirates is developing the world's largest battery scheme, combining 5.2GW of solar capacity with 19GWh of storage to power approximately 500,000 homes overnight. Simultaneously, researchers at the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory are creating micro-batteries to track young salmon and eels. These alternative solutions address critical concerns surrounding lithium-ion batteries, including dependency on finite mineral resources like lithium, cobalt, and nickel, which raise environmental and ethical issues. Unlike conventional batteries with limited charge cycles, many emerging technologies offer indefinite reusability and recyclability across their 20-year lifespan. Innovative approaches include cryobatteries, such as Highview Power's Carrington project at a former Manchester coal plant, which stores renewable energy as liquid air for hours, days, or weeks. Additionally, developers are exploring molten salt and sweat-based battery technologies. These diverse energy storage solutions promise to support applications ranging from wearable devices to industrial heating networks, enabling more sustainable and equitable renewable energy systems without depleting critical mineral resources.

Supramolecular systems leverage reversible interactions to create sophisticated molecular architectures that mirror the complexity of natural assemblies such as enzymes, nucleic acids, and membranes. This review examines how multiple types of reversible interactions—including dynamic-covalent bonds, metal-coordination, hydrogen bonding, σ-hole interactions, and π-interactions—can be deployed individually or in combination to program equilibrium assembly of intricate structures. The work emphasizes strategies for generating discrete, low-symmetry systems with precise structural control, including receptors, capsules, cages, interlocked architectures, and foldamers. By layering orthogonal interactions that operate independently yet in parallel, researchers can achieve the advanced functional control demonstrated in biological systems. This approach enables the rational design of artificial supramolecular structures with unprecedented complexity and specificity, advancing applications in functional materials, responsive polymers, and metal-organic frameworks where programmable molecular assembly is essential for achieving desired properties and performance.

Smart hydrogel systems with stimuli-responsive properties are increasingly combined with advanced additive manufacturing techniques, particularly 3D and 4D printing, to develop scaffolds for targeted drug delivery and wound healing applications in regenerative medicine. However, clinical translation of these technologies remains limited by challenges in material performance, design complexity, and manufacturing scalability. This comprehensive review examines recent developments in smart hydrogel design and 4D-printed scaffolds, focusing on programmable and stimuli-responsive architectures that enable spatiotemporal control of drug release and dynamic scaffold behavior. The analysis evaluates hydrogel structure-property relationships, 3D/4D printing strategies, and demonstrated performance in drug delivery and wound healing applications. Critical limitations are identified, including reproducibility issues, mechanical stability concerns, long-term performance uncertainties, and the significant gap between experimental studies and clinical implementation. The review addresses definitional and practical challenges in implementing 4D printing within biomedical contexts and synthesizes emerging trends in printed hydrogel scaffolds. By identifying current design trade-offs and outlining priorities for improving reliability and translational potential, this work provides essential guidance for advancing precision drug delivery and regenerative wound therapy through engineered biomaterial solutions.

Researchers have developed an innovative infrared-transparent flexible glass material based on S₆₀Se₄₀ chalcogenide glass with a dual-network architecture that addresses a longstanding challenge in adaptive optics and photonics. The material combines an inorganic glass network with dynamic covalent cross-links, achieving broadband infrared transparency up to 21 micrometers while maintaining exceptional mechanical flexibility, including an ultralow Young's modulus of approximately 0.0037 GPa, extreme tensile strain of 650 percent, and high elastic recovery of 80 percent. The composite additionally demonstrates autonomous self-healing and shape-memory capabilities at room temperature. The researchers demonstrated practical applications by developing infrared deformable lenses with tunable focal lengths and real-time aberration correction for adaptive imaging and wavefront control. This breakthrough material platform bridges the performance gap between rigid glass and flexible polymers, offering significant potential for soft infrared photonics, reconfigurable optical systems, adaptive imaging, steerable biosensing, and dynamic industrial metrology applications. The work represents a critical advancement in merging glass-like optical performance with polymer-like mechanical properties.

Chaque année, le Salon des Maires et des Collectivités Locales constitue un point focal des innovations en matière d’équipements et de solutions pour construire l’avenir des territoires. En parallèle de l’exposition et des espaces de prise de parole, le Salon organise les Prix de l’Innovation Territoriale, qui mettent à l’honneur celles et ceux qui conçoivent et déploient des solutions transformant concrètement les territoires. Ouverts à toute structure, qu’elle soit exposante ou non, les Prix s’inscrivent dans une dynamique collective. Exposants, visiteurs, partenaires ou élus-jurés : tous contribuent à faire de ce temps fort un lieu d’échange, de reconnaissance et de valorisation des coopérations les plus prometteuses entre collectivités, entreprises et associations. Vitrine de l’innovation, ce concours distingue des solutions qui font avancer les territoires. Produits, services, technologies, projets ou initiatives : toutes les innovations portées par des acteurs publics, privés ou associatifs peuvent être récompensées, dès lors qu’elles apportent des réponses concrètes et ambitieuses aux grands enjeux d’aujourd’hui et de demain.

Researchers led by Li et al. have developed an innovative plasmonic metasurface based on anisotropic aluminum nanopillar arrays that enables independent control of hue, saturation, and brightness—a significant advancement in dynamic structural color tuning. Unlike existing approaches that rely on external thermal or electrical stimuli, their polarization-based technique achieves full-color modulation by simply rotating polarizer and analyzer angles, eliminating the need for heating, electric fields, or mechanical modifications. The team demonstrated the metasurface's capabilities through full-color image printing and three-dimensional displays, including kaleidoscopic patterns and artwork renditions. Geometric parameters control hue and saturation while nanopillar rotation independently adjusts brightness. This technology holds substantial promise for advanced display applications, data storage, and information encryption. The researchers plan to integrate liquid crystal layers for electrically tunable brightness and real-time HSB modulation, with future applications potentially including full-color holographic displays, active steganography, and scalable manufacturing for dynamic visual systems.

Researchers are advancing circular bioeconomy approaches to transform food waste into valuable materials. At a recent conference session, scientists presented innovations in seafood waste valorization and natural colorant production. Francesca Kerton's team at Memorial University developed an industrially scalable method to extract hydroxyapatite (HAP) from Atlantic salmon processing waste using protease and lipase enzymes in tap water. They successfully isolated over 100 grams of HAP from just 15 salmon frames and further converted it into nanoparticles (nHAP) through mechanochemistry and ultrasound treatment, achieving 32-nanometer particles. A life cycle assessment revealed their mechanochemical-sonochemical approach reduces CO₂ emissions by 97 percent compared to traditional bio-derived nHAP production methods. Separately, Texas Tech University research addresses the "Make America Healthy Again" initiative by developing high-anthocyanin corn hybrids from the Texas A&M AgriLife Corn Breeding Program as a sustainable source of natural colorants, replacing petroleum-derived FD&C dyes. These initiatives demonstrate how food processing byproducts can be economically converted into valuable biochemicals while significantly reducing environmental impact.

Entre 2014 et 2024, l’État a mobilisé près de 19 Md€ de financements directs en faveur de la recherche partenariale, soit 1,7 Md€ par an en moyenne, avec un point haut de 3 Md€ en 2024. L’évaluation par la Cour de ce soutien public a mis en évidence, à l’échelle des entreprises, une corrélation entre le recours à ces partenariats, le niveau des dépenses de R&D et, dans certains cas, l’emploi. Il en ressort toutefois également que leur effet sur l’effort global de recherche des entreprises n’est pas perceptible à ce stade. La Cour constate par ailleurs que les dispositifs de soutien, nombreux et complexes, ne s’inscrivent pas dans une stratégie cohérente et restent insuffisamment évalués. Elle recommande de mieux diriger les financements vers un nombre limité de priorités nationales, d’améliorer la coordination et la qualité du service rendu aux chercheurs et aux entreprises et d’adapter les règles de gestion des carrières, des rémunérations et des activités de conseil des chercheurs afin de favoriser davantage leur engagement auprès du monde économique.

The global bioeconomy, valued between $4 trillion and $5 trillion, faces a critical inflection point despite biological innovations potentially reshaping 60% of physical material production. Currently, bio-based materials represent only 1-2% of global output, with even the most mature option, polylactic acid, comprising less than 1% of plastic production. Three persistent barriers—high costs, performance limitations, and absent closed-loop ecosystems—have impeded commercialization for decades. The core challenge extends beyond technical obstacles to systemic coordination failures throughout the value chain. Recognizing China's unique position as an industrial-scale testbed, supported by its 14th Five-Year Plan for Bioeconomic Development and an integrated industrial ecosystem, China Merchants Group and Cathay Biotech have developed a technology-industry-finance synergy framework. This approach combines industrial scale with synthetic biology expertise to address critical bottlenecks in feedstock supply, production efficiency, and market adoption. Early applications, including bio-based polyamide formwork for real estate projects, demonstrate how this coordinated ecosystem model can successfully transition laboratory innovations to commercial markets at scale.

The European Commission is addressing global resource consumption patterns, which are projected to require three Earths' worth of materials by 2050 under the current linear economy model. The EU is transitioning to a circular economy that keeps products and materials in circulation while minimizing waste, essential for achieving climate neutrality by 2050 and building a competitive Europe. The Circular Economy Act, due for adoption in 2026, will establish a Single Market for secondary raw materials, increase recycled material supply, and stimulate demand within the EU, supporting the goal of making Europe the world leader in circular economy by 2030. Europe's circularity rate currently stands at approximately 12%, with an ambitious target to double it to 24% by 2030 as part of the EU's Clean Industrial Deal. In August 2025, the Commission launched public consultation on the upcoming act and conducted a Youth Check to assess impacts on young people, including dedicated sessions at the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform conference in April 2026. This legislation builds on the second Circular Economy Action Plan from March 2020, a cornerstone of the European Green Deal, addressing product design and lifecycle management to establish a resource-efficient, low-waste economy.

Various methods have been developed in surface chemistry to control interface properties of a solid material. A selection rule among surface chemistries is compatibility between a surface functionalization tool and a target material. For example, alkanethiol deposition on noble metal surfaces, widely known as the formation of a self-assembled monolayer (SAM), cannot be performed on oxide material surfaces. One must choose organosilane molecules to functionalize oxide surfaces. Thus, the surface chemistry strictly depends on the properties of the surface. Polydopamine coating is now generally accepted as the first toolbox for functionalization of virtually any material surface. Layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly is a widely used method to modify properties of versatile surfaces, including organic materials, metal oxides, and noble metals, along with polydopamine coating.

Les évaluations menées attestent de la création de dynamiques tangibles dans les domaines scientifique, technologique et industriel : un effet de levier immédiat de 2,3 (chaque euro public investi en mobilisant 1,3 euro privé), un multiplicateur économique estimé entre 3,8 et 5,4 euros à long terme pour chaque euro public investi, une réduction projetée de 21 millions de tonnes de CO₂ d’ici 2030. Les évaluations mettent également en lumière les leviers à actionner pour renforcer encore l’efficacité et l’ampleur des retombées du plan.

High-Voltage Electrostatic Actuators (HVEAs) represent a promising advancement for haptic interfaces integrated into wearables and everyday environments, addressing limitations of conventional actuators like DC motors and shape memory alloys. HVEAs generate force by applying electric fields to localized charge concentrations using high voltages and ultra-low currents, delivering fast, silent, and energy-efficient operation within customizable, compliant form factors. This survey examines four major HVEA classes: electrostatic switchable adhesives, dielectric elastomer actuators, soft electrohydraulic actuators, and electrokinetic pumps. The analysis characterizes each technology's bandwidth, force density, and spatial scalability for rendering both cutaneous and kinesthetic feedback across wearable and world-grounded interfaces. The research identifies common design constraints and emerging strategies for improving ergonomics, fabrication, and self-sensing integration. HVEAs are uniquely positioned to advance haptic interaction through their compact, lightweight design and fast response times, making them ideal for on-skin and seamlessly integrated applications, with key research directions needed for practical system implementation.

NASA officials described the project as a critical step toward sustained lunar exploration and future missions to Mars. The agency also confirmed new partnerships with private companies, including Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin, as it prepares for a planned crewed Moon landing in 2027.

Nano-photonic devices based on phase change materials are at the forefront of light management thanks to the electrically or optically tunable response. Their widespread adoption, however, is hampered by the lack of precise, reliable, and scalable fabrication techniques, restricting most demonstrations to proof-of-concept devices. Here we report on scalable approaches for the fabrication of tunable phase-change metasurfaces based on soft-nanoimprint lithography (soft-NIL). Two complementary strategies are showcased: dielectric structures are fabricated by etch-free soft-NIL and used (i) as a template for GeTe deposition or (ii) as etching masks to directly pattern the underlying phase-change material. Both methods enable the realization of centimeter-scale metasurfaces with significantly reduced fabrication complexity compared to conventional lithographic techniques. Reversible switching between melt-quenched and crystalline states is demonstrated using laser-induced phase transitions.