Today's Tech News: Notable or Not?

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"

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

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" 

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

https://bioengineer.org/high-performance-microchannels-for-electronic-cooling-solutions/ "microchannel cooling boosts longevity/ performance... coolant channel (tapered manifold) top layer directs water down to microjet layer directing coolant down to sawtoothed sidewall microchannels maximizing surface area contact between coolant/ heated surfaces... low thermal resistance manages elevated temperatures without overheating/ failure, low 0.9 W/ cm−2 pumping power need minimizes cooling system component wear... MEMS fabrication on silicon substrate... telecommunications, AI, renewable energy" Related: Columbia researchers take the temperature of integrated photonics https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104824

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/09/250919085242.htm "Controlled Hierarchically Engineered Superlattice Structures: easily manufacturable solid-state heat-pump...  scalable semiconductor chip fabrication compatibility, no toxic refrigerants... uses 0.003 cubic cm materials... metal-organic chemical vapor deposition fabrication... small-scale refrigeration, large-scale HVAC, space exploration, computers, body heat differences for tactile systems/ prosthetics/ human-machine interfaces" Related: Improving energy efficiency of autonomous refrigeration equipment for perishable products https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1117552

  https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1091650 "layered using chemical vapor transport, enhancing stability, durability... up to 320°K Curie temperature, record-high 52.3 emu/g saturation magnetization enhancing device integration, complex magnetocrystalline anisotropy, multiple easy axes for magnetic orientation... relative cooling power, maximum magnetic entropy change high up to 242 J/kg and 3.26 J/kg K under 6 T... heterostructures, spintronics, magnetic refrigeration, magnetic tunnel junctions, Hall sensors, spin valves, magnetic memory/ logic, advanced electronics" Related: A double hetero-valent substitution method transforms a spin-glass quasicrystal approximant into a ferromagnetic material with strong magnetocaloric effects https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1095889

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/innovative-ice-battery-system-cool-buildings-lower-energy-costs/ "New York's Eleven Madison skyscraper air-conditioned using about 500K pounds of ice created every night when cost is low... then, during day when price is high, building cooled with previous night's ice, lowering cooling costs up to 40%... buildings won't need to draw from peaker plants... new materials that don't need to get as cold as ice, but can still keep buildings cool... water, add other elements/ molecules, control that temperature basically anywhere we want it, in the zero to 20°C range... cool homes" Related: Biodegradable film lowers building energy use by up to 20% and keep surfaces up to 9.2°C cooler https://www.aol.com/news/biodegradable-film-could-save-20-090153287.html Ice-cooled buildings could ease strain on power grid https://techxplore.com/news/2025-08-ice-cooled-ease-strain-power.html

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1085452 "thin, 9.4°C cooler solar cells, reducing their cost of generating electricity by nearly 20%... absorbs air moisture at night and releases it during the day. Polyacrylate is a cheap polymer, and the fabrication process needs no hostile chemicals or specialized reagents unlike other hydroscopic composites used for cooling, further reducing the cost... greenhouses, solar cells" Related: New cooling system patent promises significant boost in solar panel efficiency https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1093854

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1081127 "linear optical platform simulating a two-stroke, two-qubit engine. In the experiment, they demonstrated various quantum thermodynamic processes by tuning the energy level spacing of the working substance and adjusting the temperature parameters of the bath. They successfully realized a quantum cooling engine driven by quantum measurements and discovered the influence of entanglement on the energy exchange between the working substance and the measurement apparatus"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1080254 "handles higher heat loads... wick (sponge) generates capillary action driving pump transporting heat without using electricity... flow path in thin copper sheets, including wick of sintered copper powder, all laser welded... water absorbs heat, evaporates, moves to cooler area, condenses back to liquid, repeat... transports 10 W heat... heat transport capacity 45X that of copper, 10X that of graphite sheets... 0.3 mm thick... cooling potentially extends battery life... gaming, video processing" Related: Hexagonal boron nitride crystal moves heat like a beam of light to cool electronics https://engineering.virginia.edu/news-events/news/cooler-faster-better-uva-engineers-uncover-new-way-stop-electronics-overheating Laser Technique Revolutionizes Ultra-High Temperature Ceramic Manufacturing for Space, Defense https://news.ncsu.edu/2025/05/laser-extreme-ceramics/

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1079655 "lasers cool when particular light frequency matched with small, pure target of specific element, cooling light focused on small (100s of µm) localized hot spots... gallium arsenide semiconductor virus-size Maxwell photonic cold plate replaces/ complements air-/ water-based cooling systems, also allowing extracted heat (light) turned back into electricity... keeps chips colder than using water, improving computer performance/ power efficiency... cold plate extremely pure, thin layers, since any heated up impurities erase cooling" Related: A cool fix for hot chips: Advanced thermal management technology for electronic devices https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1080873 Microsoft is turning to the field of microfluidics to cool down AI chips https://techxplore.com/news/2025-09-microsoft-field-microfluidics-cool-ai.html New design tackles heat challenges in high-power fiber lasers https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1108...