Atharva Deo, Jungmin Lee, Dawei Gao, Rahul Shenoy, Kevin Pt Haughn, Zixuan Rong, Yong Hei, D Qiao, Tanay Topac, Fu-Kuo Chang, Daniel J Inman, Yong Chen
{"title":"Super-Turing synaptic resistor circuits for intelligent morphing wing.","authors":"Atharva Deo, Jungmin Lee, Dawei Gao, Rahul Shenoy, Kevin Pt Haughn, Zixuan Rong, Yong Hei, D Qiao, Tanay Topac, Fu-Kuo Chang, Daniel J Inman, Yong Chen","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00437-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00437-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neurobiological circuits in the brain, operating in Super-Turing mode, process information while simultaneously modifying their synaptic connections through learning, allowing them to dynamically adapt to changes. In contrast, artificial intelligence systems based on computers operate in Turing mode and lack the ability to concurrently infer and learn, making them vulnerable to failure under dynamically changing conditions. Here we show a synaptic resistor circuit that operates in Super-Turing mode, enabling concurrent learning and inference. The circuit controls a morphing wing to reduce its drag-to-lift force ratio and recover from stalls in complex aerodynamic environments. The synaptic resistor circuit demonstrates superior performance, faster learning speeds, enhanced adaptability, and reduced power consumption compared to artificial neural networks and human operators on the same task. By overcoming the fundamental limitations of computers, synaptic resistor circuits offer high-speed concurrent learning and inference, ultra-low power consumption, error correction, and agile adaptability for artificial intelligence systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"109"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12170896/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144310833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emma C Edwards, Craig Whitlam, John Chapman, Jack Hughes, Bryony Redfearn, Scott Brown, Scott Draper, Alistair G L Borthwick, Graham Foster, Dick K-P Yue, Martyn Hann, Deborah Greaves
{"title":"The effect of device geometry on the performance of a wave energy converter.","authors":"Emma C Edwards, Craig Whitlam, John Chapman, Jack Hughes, Bryony Redfearn, Scott Brown, Scott Draper, Alistair G L Borthwick, Graham Foster, Dick K-P Yue, Martyn Hann, Deborah Greaves","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00441-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00441-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Wave energy presents an excellent opportunity to add much-needed diversification to the global renewable energy portfolio. However, a competitive levelised cost of electricity for wave energy conversion devices is yet to be proven. Here, we optimise the geometry of a wave energy device to maximise power while also minimising the power take-off reaction moments. Using theory, numerical modelling and optimisation techniques, we show that by including minimisation of reaction moments in the optimisation, instead of only maximisation of power, it is possible to substantially lower the design loads while maintaining high efficiency. Using the underlying physics of how geometry affects the wave-structure interaction, we explain the resulting performance of these new designs for wave energy converters. We examine the resulting geometries for practicality, including performance over a wide range of sea states, motion requirements, and performance in a real sea-state off the coast of Scotland, United Kingdom. Comparing against the single shape which extracts the theoretical maximum power, the optimal shapes found in our study extract almost as much power (12% less) with substantially less moment (reduced by up to 35%), revealing a promising direction for wave energy development.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"107"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12159185/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144276919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Early warning of thermal runaway based on state of safety for lithium-ion batteries.","authors":"Xin Gu, Yunlong Shang, Jinglun Li, Yuhao Zhu, Xuewen Tao, Hao Geng, Zhen Zhang, Chenghui Zhang","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00442-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00442-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ensuring the safety of lithium-ion power batteries is the primary prerequisite for developing electric vehicles and energy storage systems. The conventional method relies on temperature parameters and only qualitatively assesses the state of safety (SOS), which reduces the warning time of the battery management system (BMS). Here we present a thermal runaway warning method based on SOS. Specifically, we analyze the strain evolution trend of thermal runaway under different abuse conditions and propose the strain trigger point for thermal runaway. Furthermore, multidimensional parameters such as temperature rise, median voltage, capacity, power, and strain are used to quantify the SOS. The SOS is a battery state parameter, with its value ranging from 0% to 100%. Experimental results demonstrate that the presented approach can warn of thermal runaway around 5 h in advance.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"106"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12152129/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144267990","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Wei-Kang Hu, Bowang Zhang, Youhao Hu, Haoxiang Li, Wei Han
{"title":"Maximizing wireless power transfer efficiency at exceptional points.","authors":"Wei-Kang Hu, Bowang Zhang, Youhao Hu, Haoxiang Li, Wei Han","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00445-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00445-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Magnetically coupled wireless power transfer (WPT) technology has been applied in stationary consumer electronics and holds great potential for charging traveling electric vehicles. The efficiency of WPT systems is, however, inherently vulnerable to changes in coupling and load conditions. Previous studies have underscored the robustness of parity-time (PT) symmetric WPT systems against variations in coupling strength within the exact PT region. In this study, by treating the loss rate as an adjustable parameter, we unveil that the efficiency of a PT-symmetric WPT system reaches its peak at the exceptional point (EP). Through adaptive adjustment of the virtual loss rate that pins the system at the EP, we can uphold maximum-efficiency, frequency-stable power transfer under a broad range of coupling and load conditions. Our EP-pinning strategy offers a significant advantage over conventional schemes that require on-site measurement of coupling strength and loss rates. The discovery of EP-induced efficient power transfer should facilitate the future deployment of wireless charging infrastructure.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"105"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12152173/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144267991","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Active heterogeneous mode coupling in bi-level multi-physically architected metamaterials for temporal, on-demand and tunable programming.","authors":"S Mondal, T Mukhopadhyay, S Naskar","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00420-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00420-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Traditionally materials show an uncoupled response between normal and shear modes of deformation. Here we propose to achieve heterogeneous mode coupling among the normal and shear modes, but in conventional symmetric lattice geometries through intuitively mounting electro-active elements. The proposed bi-level multi-physically architected metamaterials lead to an unprecedented programmable voltage-dependent normal-shear constitutive mode coupling and active multi-modal stiffness modulation capability for critically exploitable periodic or aperiodic, on-demand and temporally tunable mechanical responses. Further, active partial cloaking concerning the effect of far-field complex stresses can be achieved, leading to the prospect of averting a range of failure and serviceability conditions. The tunable heterogeneous mode coupling in the new class of symmetric metamaterials would lead to real-time control of mechanical responses for temporal programming in a wide range of advanced mechanical applications, including morphing and transformable geometries, locomotion in soft robotics, embedded actuators, enhanced multi-modal energy harvesting, vibration and wave propagation control.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"103"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12145453/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144251121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Andrew J Gunnell, Sergei V Sarkisian, Heather A Hayes, K Bo Foreman, Lukas Gabert, Tommaso Lenzi
{"title":"Powered knee exoskeleton improves sit-to-stand transitions in stroke patients using electromyographic control.","authors":"Andrew J Gunnell, Sergei V Sarkisian, Heather A Hayes, K Bo Foreman, Lukas Gabert, Tommaso Lenzi","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00440-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00440-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Millions of stroke survivors are affected by hemiparesis, resulting in difficulty or inability to move one side of their body. Hemiparesis severely impacts the ability of individuals to perform essential everyday activities, reducing independence and quality of life. Here we show that a powered knee exoskeleton that assists the affected knee joint using proportional electromyographic control significantly improves the ability to stand up from a seated position in eight stroke survivors. With the exoskeleton, stroke survivors stood up significantly faster (8.8% reduction in stand-up time), more symmetrically (13.7% increase in weight-bearing symmetry), and with less effort on their affected side (32% reduction in peak quadriceps muscle activation, 25% reduction in peak biological torque generation). The exoskeleton effectively supplemented the lack of strength in their affected knee, increasing the total knee torque by 59%, which more closely matched their non-affected knee. These results suggest that powered knee exoskeletons are a promising solution for enhancing stand-up ability, improving symmetry, reducing effort, and ultimately enhancing stroke survivors' mobility and quality of life.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"104"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12145452/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144251122","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Georges Chabouh, Louise Denis, Myriam Abioui-Mourgues, Jean-Baptiste Deloges, Jacques Battaglia, Arthur Chavignon, Baptiste Heiles, Basile Pradier, Sylvain Bodard, Denis Vivien, Cyrille Orset, Olivier Couture
{"title":"3D transcranial ultrasound localization microscopy in awake mice: protocol and open-source pipeline.","authors":"Georges Chabouh, Louise Denis, Myriam Abioui-Mourgues, Jean-Baptiste Deloges, Jacques Battaglia, Arthur Chavignon, Baptiste Heiles, Basile Pradier, Sylvain Bodard, Denis Vivien, Cyrille Orset, Olivier Couture","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00415-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00415-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We present an open-source code for 3D super-resolution ultrasound imaging. Open-3DULM was applied to transcranial imaging in habituated awake mice. Comparative analysis reveals that isoflurane anesthesia induces significant vasodilation and increased cerebral blood flow (CBF) in veins, while only a subset of arteries exhibits these effects compared to the awake state. This method could serve as a reference for developing new types of 3D vascular quantifications, particularly emphasizing the importance of awake and 3D imaging for accurate cerebral blood flow measurement in neuroscience research.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"102"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12144258/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144251120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rapid in-air ultrasound holography measurement and camera-in-the-loop generation using thermography.","authors":"Zak Morgan, Youngjun Cho, Sriram Subramanian","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00439-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00439-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ultrasound holography, pivotal in applications like mid-air haptics, volumetric displays and 3D printing, faces challenges in the crafting and timely measurement of precise acoustic holograms. Current methods, bench-marked via simulations due to slow measurement times, often neglect real-world complexities such as non-linearity and hardware tolerances, leading to discrepancies between predicted and observed results. Here we introduce a real-time 2D thermographic measurement technique orders of magnitude faster than microphone scans, although with reduced accuracy and no phase information, with a maximum peak pressure of 4.25 kPa validated and a demonstrated average accuracy of 2.5% in peak measurement. Higher pressures of approximately 12 kpa were captured, but validation was limited by the microphone. This method is grounded in thermo-viscous acoustic models for thin-ducts and micro-perforated plates. Finally, we integrate this with holography algorithms to propose a camera-in-the-loop algorithm that employs real-time measurement, enabling targeted data acquisition and on-line training of acoustic holography algorithms. This method achieved a 1.7% error in pressure with a single point compared to 7.8% for a conventional algorithm, and a 3.6% error and 4.2% standard deviation for 16 points compared to 9.7% and 6.9%. We further envisage this method as being capable of measuring acoustic streaming.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"101"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12141450/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144236017","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Data-intelligence driven methods for durability, damage diagnosis and performance prediction of concrete structures.","authors":"Fan Li, Daming Luo, Ditao Niu","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00431-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00431-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A large number of in-service reinforced concrete structures are now entering the mid-to-late stages of their service life. Efficient detection of damage characteristics and accurate prediction of material performance degradation have become essential for ensuring the safety of these structures. Traditional damage detection methods, which primarily rely on manual inspections and sensor monitoring, are inefficient and lack accuracy. Similarly, performance prediction models for reinforced concrete materials, which are often based on limited experimental data and polynomial fitting, oversimplify the influencing factors. In contrast, partial differential equation models that account for degradation mechanisms are computationally intensive and difficult to solve. Recent advancements in deep learning and machine learning, as part of artificial intelligence, have introduced innovative approaches for both damage detection and material performance prediction in reinforced concrete structures. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of machine learning and deep learning theories and models, and reviews the current research on their application to the durability of reinforced concrete structures, focusing on two main areas: intelligent damage detection and predictive modeling of material durability. Finally, the article discusses future trends and offers insights into the intelligent innovation of concrete structure durability.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"100"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12134258/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144217699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xinya Yao, Xiangkun Piao, Shulong Hong, Chenyu Ji, Mingyu Wang, Yan Wei, Zhouyang Xu, Jia-Ji Pan, Yanbo Pei, Bingbing Cheng
{"title":"Acoustic hologram-enabled simultaneous multi-target blood-brain barrier opening (AH-SiMBO).","authors":"Xinya Yao, Xiangkun Piao, Shulong Hong, Chenyu Ji, Mingyu Wang, Yan Wei, Zhouyang Xu, Jia-Ji Pan, Yanbo Pei, Bingbing Cheng","doi":"10.1038/s44172-025-00428-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44172-025-00428-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Focused ultrasound-induced blood-brain barrier (BBB) opening enables targeted brain drug delivery. However, achieving simultaneous multi-target BBB opening across various depths and regions remains challenging and cost-prohibitive. Here we address these challenges by employing encoded acoustic holograms combined with a single-element plane-wave transducer to generate precise focused acoustic fields. The holograms designed using an iterative angular spectrum approach and fabricated via 3D printing produce single or multiple foci at different depths and regions, which are confirmed by simulations and hydrophone-based measurements. Beam steering capability is demonstrated and further validated in vivo. We design a hologram with less than 10% variation in amplitude across different foci and successfully achieve biplane multi-target ( ≥3) BBB opening in the bilateral hippocampus and medial septum of mice in a single sonication session with no adverse effects. This innovative acoustic holographic approach for simultaneous multi-target BBB opening is time-efficient and cost-effective, presenting broad potential applications in brain drug delivery and neuromodulation.</p>","PeriodicalId":72644,"journal":{"name":"Communications engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"99"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12130547/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144210330","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}