Today's Tech News: Notable or Not?

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1141913 "world-1st, couples ultra-thin nickel-titanium shape-memory alloy films... 1st film converts thermal energy from waste heat or solar radiation stretching/ unloading 2nd film, triggering reversible crystal structure alteration acting as refrigerant generating cold air... 13°C elastocaloric change using thermal inputs as low as 86°C... highly sustainable alternative to traditional refrigerants... cooling examples: computer processors/ chips, automotive electronics, refrigeration... industrial waste-heat capture"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1140937 "deposit ultrathin polymer film onto surfaces using initiated chemical vapor deposition, forming dense nanostructured aggregates (defects) acting as nucleation seed sites, increasing water droplet formation approximately 3X... then, post-deposition thermal treatment reduces surface adhesion, allowing shedding droplets before growing too large... with copper tubes heat transfers 5.5X better than with conventional surfaces... efficient power plants, industrial desalination plants, high-density electronics cooling"

https://interestingengineering.com/energy/us-nuclear-reactor-generates-electricity "test 100 kW thermal energy, thermoelectric generator... 1st DOE-authorized advanced reactor built/ operated entirely outside national research laboratory... announced 30-MW data center feasibility study: Valar's gas-cooled reactor loop paired with Nvidia's closed-loop liquid hardware, operating completely off the public grid while consuming near-zero water" Related: New energy platform assists data centers run off-grid and capture 90% of carbon https://interestingengineering.com/energy/plato5x-ai-data-center

https://gizmodo.com/nvidia-touts-100-reduction-in-water-use-with-new-data-center-design-2000775354 "DSX data center reference design circulates water/ propylene glycol mixture at up to 113°F, significantly reducing or removing water-intensive mechanical chillers/ fans... up to a 100% reduction in water use in favorable climates compared to conventional cooling-tower systems... lowers both operational costs and the environmental footprint of large-scale AI facilities, addressing growing public and regulatory pressure regarding the ecological impact of data centers" Related: How data centers can better manage energy use https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1134093

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-flexible-cryogenic-cables-dilution-refrigerators.html "5 to 10°mK required by dilution refrigerators, but semi-rigid coaxial cables interfacing with quantum processors impose heavy, unsustainable heat loads/ physical volume limitations inside refrigerator footprints as systems expand... overcome using high-density stripline layering conductive materials inside flexible polymer shields for high-speed data transmission/ direct current power... mitigates signal attenuation/ prevents electromagnetic crosstalk... minimal thermal footprint, scales to 1,000s of qubits"

https://phys.org/news/2026-05-quantum-teleportation-microwave-states-temperatures.html "need to cool to few mK to prevent ambient thermal noise from destroying quantum information, overcome distributing steady-state, 2-mode squeezed states across 6.6-m-long cryolink connecting 2 spatially separated dilution refrigerators... nearly 60% deterministic teleportation fidelity beating communication limit... drastically lowers the cooling hardware barriers required to build scalable, distributed superconducting quantum computing networks"

https://www.brightsurf.com/news/LDE0VMK8/new-polymer-thermal-gel-may-improve-cooling-for-next-generation-ai-chips.html "thermal greases/ gels often degrade, dry out, fail to fill microscopic gaps between chips/ cooling components under prolonged high-temperature... overcome synthesizing flexible polymer gel maintaining exceptional thermal conductivity while structurally adapting to micro-irregularities without cracking/ leaking... drastically lowers operational temperatures preventing thermal throttling... cost-effective for sustaining intense processing demands of next-generation data centers and edge AI units" Related:   MIT's spinnoff Ferveret reduces energy and water used to cool the chips that power data centers https://news.mit.edu/2026/nuclear-inspired-cooling-system-ferveret-could-make-data-centers-more-sustainable-0610 A thermal memory device designed to enable intelligent heat management https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1137114

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1126418 "pure copper high thermal conductivity (398 W/m·K) but 3D printers use lasers to melt copper powder into complex, microscopic fins facilitating cooling but often results in fragile, porous parts... overcome growing copper at atomic level from liquid solution; algorithm evolves cooling fins' shape finding maximum heat dissipation/ minimum fluid resistance balance providing 32% better cooling performance... significantly reduced pumping energy need... 1-GW data center would require only 11 MW for cooling"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1120711 "overcomes water coolant's weight/ fluidity in portable/ structural applications... density as low as 0.041 g/cm³; 25X lighter than water, still maintaining >52% water content... hollow microspheres create sealed air pockets blocking heat conduction/ retained water provides evaporative cooling and high IR emissivity... at 80°C maintains >50°C temperature difference across its thickness... 100X better compressive strength (shape recovers)... aerospace, portable electronics, wearables, less need for air conditioning"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1117497 "diamond exceptional thermal conductor but extreme hardness makes difficult to shape using top-down etching, overcome using microwave plasma reactor growing diamond patterns directly onto substrates from carbon gases... photolithography for small details/ laser-cut film for larger 2" wafers, act as foothold for diamond crystals to grow in precise locations... silicon/ gallium nitride semiconductor compatible, so scalable for: 5G devices, radar, and AI data center processors"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1115922 "heat carried by phonons (vibrations), but these phonons can flow collectively like water in a pipe... injecting heat into specific points can create vortices on flow's sides, pushing heat back from cold regions toward hot ones, making thermal resistance across device negative... prevent overheating in smartphones, batteries, computers, more effectively than traditional cooling... can be applied to other systems such as electrons (in plasmonics)/ magnons (magnetic storage)... future: apply at higher temperatures than 70°K"

https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/chinas-cooling-touch-sub-zero-in-seconds "when pressure applied, ammonium thiocyanate salt remains solid/ hydrated... when pressure released, salt rapidly dissolves into water absorbing massive heat almost instantly... 30°C (50 in high-heat environments) drop from ambient in seconds... relies on salt solution's physical state change, not hydrofluorocarbons... energy efficient... enables data centers to move away from energy-intensive fans and compressors toward this rapid chemical-physical cooling loop" Related: Electronic cooling and energy harvesting using ferroelectric polymer composites https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-51147-6

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1118124 "barocaloric materials—solids that absorb or release heat when pressure is applied, suffer from inconsistent behavior during heating versus cooling making inefficient... overcome through subtle molecular tuning using crystal of: neopentyl glycol/ pentaglycerine/ 2 mol % pentaerythritol... reversible refrigeration capacity >70X greater than pure neopentyl glycol... 20X expanded cooling temperature range (>18°K) at 1 kbar... sustainable, high-efficiency refrigeration and climate control systems" Related:  Barocal, a Cambridge University spin-out commercialising efficient, refrigerant-gas-free cooling and heating technology, has raised $10 million https://www.businessweekly.co.uk/posts/cool-10m-raised-by-barocal-to-target-577bn-market

https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-p-thin-power.html "up to 4X more efficient converting heat into power than existing p-type thin films... equally capable p-type counterpart to n-type (both needed)... safe, low-cost... maximum 4.26 mWK−2m−1 power factor at 300 K, thickness-dependent with highest power factor in 500 nm film... future: overcome 600°C deposition cap for possible higher efficiency... solid-state cooling method for hardware, potentially reducing the reliance on energy-heavy fans and liquid cooling systems... data centers, factories"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1113564 "spruce wood biochar, montmorillonite clay, paraffin... biochar-clay scaffold increases thermal energy storage capacity 223% compared to clay-only/ improves thermal conductivity by 78% over pure paraffin... maintains >95% heat storage capacity after 1K cycles with negligible leakage... cooling consumption reduced 54% compared to bulk paraffin/ 24.3% compared to buildings without composite... more sustainable/ cost-effective than graphene... future: replace synthetic surfactants with bio-based molecules" Related: Mechanical engineers' wood-based material could cut energy costs https://techxplore.com/news/2026-02-mechanical-wood-based-material-energy.html Graz University of Technology develops a cooling ceramic wall to combat urban heat https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1138659 Food waste transformed into biochar hybrid membranes for smarter thermal energy storage https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1141103

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1112946 "leverages latent heat released/ absorbed during shape memory alloy cyclic phase transitions... synergistic combination: nickel-titanium alloy maintaining super-elasticity/ high latent heat even at -20°C, calcium chloride transfer fluid having low freezing point/ high wettability improving heat exchange, cascaded tubular design (8 units) providing high surface area/ active Brayton cycle/ withstanding 900MPa stress... cooled insulated chamber to -4°C within 1 hour, 1.43W/g cooling power, 3.4 COP"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1112850 "no bulky, vibration-sensitive external lasers limiting quantum hardware growth... laser cooling has temperature floor (Doppler limit) leaving ions with too much vibrational energy, overcome using polarization-gradient cooling on-chip, utilizing interaction of 2 differently polarized light beams creating light vortex that stops ion vibration more effectively... chip has 1,000s ion-trapping sites, cooling levels 10X below Doppler limit reached in 100 ms, antennas/ waveguides emit/ route light creating stable optics" Related: Novel quantum refrigerator benefits from problematic noise https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1114376

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-12-strong-material-egg-whites-cool.html "protein foaming method used to create structure in which low cost particles densely/ uniformly interconnected, similar to how egg-white proteins expand at high temperatures... enables creation of composite material with continuous thermal pathways, preventing heat transfer from being interrupted... inherently economic/ scalable injection molding fabrication... high performance, eco-friendly, lightweight, strong, low cost... electronics/ battery thermal management" Related: Stress-free magnesium anode breaks through to Ah-level pouch cell, paving way for commercial rechargeable magnesium batteries https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1135852

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-nature-hydrogel-power-free-thermal.html "thermal management inspired by leaf of white poplar tree... polyacrylamide hydrogel-based composite... 2 systems: (1) lithium ions absorb moisture from air condensing it releasing heat keeping material warm in cold conditions, (2) hydroxypropyl cellulose manages radiative heat becoming transparent accepting sunlight in low temperatures/ opaque (reflects sunlight) in high temperatures... titanium dioxide nanoparticles for durability... up to 153 MJ/m² annual savings: up to 3.7°C lower in summer/ up to 3.5°C higher in winter"

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-10-layer-microfluidic-cooling-device-small.html "3-layers each etched into silicon substrate's back: tapered manifold ensuring even coolant distribution (top), microjet shooting coolant up onto chip's surface (middle), etched microchannel with sawtooth-shaped sidewalls carrying warm coolant out (bottom)... single-phase water pumping uses only 0.9 W cm−2 power... up to 13K coefficient of performance and 1K W cm−2 heat flux dissipation at 65°K maximum chip temperature rise... removes heat significantly more effectively than most previously introduced strategies" Related:  New cooling technique could make computer chips more powerful https://phys.org/news/2025-11-mini-fridges-nanoscale-cooling-technique.html