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🇨🇭 Swiss researchers achieve 90% efficiency in real-world wireless EV charging, enabling grid integration

Swiss scientists from Empa have successfully tested a wireless electric vehicle charging system that matches the 90% efficiency of plug-in chargers while offering greater convenience and grid benefits. In this first real-world trial, EVs charged automatically via ground-embedded inductive plates, even in snow and rain, without cables or manual intervention. The system, part of the INLADE project, also enables frequent grid connectivity, laying the groundwork for EVs to act as mobile energy storage units and support the power grid.

🇺🇸 NVIDIA releases first open AI model that reasons through driving decisions like a human

NVIDIA has launched Alpamayo-R1, the world’s first open-source reasoning vision-language-action (VLA) model for autonomous vehicles, capable of interpreting complex road scenarios and making safe, human-like decisions. Unveiled at NeurIPS, AR1 combines chain-of-thought reasoning with path planning, using contextual analysis to navigate situations like pedestrian-heavy intersections or lane closures. Developed on the NVIDIA Cosmos platform and available via GitHub, the model opens new possibilities for customizable, safety-focused autonomy research and marks a major step toward more intelligent self-driving systems.

🇩🇪 German company to 3D-print solar panels in orbit, aiming to power future space infrastructure

German firm Dcubed is set to launch a mission in 2027 to demonstrate the first in-orbit 3D printing of solar panels using its ARAQYS system, potentially transforming power generation for satellites and orbital platforms. The technology prints rigid solar structures directly in space, bypassing launch-related design constraints and enabling scalable, low-cost energy solutions for space-based data centers, communications, and defense systems. If successful, it could lay the foundation for orbital power plants and directed-energy platforms.

🇺🇸 US scientists perform world’s first robotic cataract surgery with 0.053 mm micro-precision

Researchers at UCLA have completed the first robotic-assisted cataract surgery using the Polaris system developed by Horizon Surgical Systems, achieving tool-tip precision of just 0.053 millimeters. In a 10-patient trial, the robot performed delicate eye procedures without adverse events, marking a major advancement in ophthalmic surgery - one of the most frequently performed operations globally. The breakthrough could lead to safer, more consistent cataract treatments and open the door to broader use of robotics in microsurgery.

🇺🇸 US scientists produce world’s first jet fuel from ethanol, offering scalable clean aviation alternative

LanzaJet has achieved the first-ever commercial-scale production of jet fuel from ethanol at its Freedom Pines Fuels facility in Georgia, using a proprietary Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ) technology. This breakthrough offers a renewable, non-petroleum fuel compatible with existing aircraft and infrastructure, addressing supply limitations of current sustainable aviation fuels. Backed by 15 years of R&D, the technology enables global decarbonization of aviation by converting widely available feedstocks like agricultural waste into high-energy jet fuel.

🇺🇸 US scientists create plastic that breaks down on demand, offering eco-friendly waste solution

Researchers at Rutgers University have developed a new type of plastic that can be programmed to degrade under everyday conditions using triggers like ultraviolet light or metal ions - without requiring heat or harsh chemicals. Inspired by natural polymers like DNA and proteins, the team embedded helper groups into the plastic’s structure to control when and how quickly it breaks down. Published in Nature Chemistry, the innovation could reduce plastic pollution and enable customizable products that disappear on schedule, with potential applications in packaging, automotive parts, and medicine.

🇮🇱 Israeli scientists restore vision using world’s first 3D-printed cornea in human transplant

Researchers at the Rambam Eye Institute in Israel, in collaboration with biotech firm Precise Bio, have successfully restored sight in a legally blind patient using a 3D-printed cornea made from cultured human cells. This marks the first-ever human transplant of a bio-fabricated cornea, offering a scalable solution to global donor shortages by generating up to 300 implants from a single donor. The breakthrough highlights the potential for 3D bioprinting in ophthalmology and could pave the way for future printed organ transplants.

🇺🇸 US scientists develop first drug to repair DNA and regenerate damaged tissue after injury or disease

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai have developed TY1, the first drug shown to repair DNA and regenerate damaged tissue by mimicking natural healing signals sent by heart progenitor cells. Decades in the making, TY1 boosts activity of the Trex1 gene to help immune cells clear DNA debris and stimulate regeneration - especially after events like heart attacks. Published in Science Translational Medicine, this breakthrough opens a new class of RNA-based drugs called “exomers” with potential applications in cardiovascular repair, autoimmune diseases, and chronic inflammation.

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