Engineering articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The BHMbot provides an efficient running gait and a novel actuation mechanism for insect scale legged microrobots to solve the bottleneck problem of the severe running speed degradation after carrying essential payloads for untethered locomotion.

    • Zhiwei Liu
    • , Wencheng Zhan
    •  & Xiaojun Yan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In this work, authors propose a flash Joule heating-based process for meat preservation, enabled by the formation of a thin, microbe-inactivated, and dehydrated layer on the surface. The method is energetically efficient and shown to significantly extend the food shelf life while maintaining food freshness.

    • Yimin Mao
    • , Peihua Ma
    •  & Liangbing Hu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Creating accurate digital twins and controlling nonlinear systems displaying chaotic dynamics is challenging due to high system sensitivity to initial conditions and perturbations. The authors introduce a nonlinear controller for chaotic systems, based on next-generation reservoir computing, with improved accuracy, energy cost, and suitable for implementation with field-programmable gate arrays.

    • Robert M. Kent
    • , Wendson A. S. Barbosa
    •  & Daniel J. Gauthier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plastics, chemical production, and fertilizers commonly rely on fossil fuels. Here the authors examine these uses in China and find that in 2017, 5%, 15%, and 7% of China’s total coal, crude oil, and natural gas were used as feedstocks in the chemical industry.

    • Meng Jiang
    • , Yuheng Cao
    •  & Bing Zhu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conventional chemical engineering has limitations on heat transfer, leading to large setups. Here, authors propose a distributed electrified heating method, realizing fast and uniform heating of gaseous reactants, promising an energy-concentrated and compact reactor design.

    • Hanmin Yang
    • , Ilman Nuran Zaini
    •  & Tong Han

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Solving ill-posed inverse problems require regularisation based on prior knowledge, which is formulated mathematically or learned from data. Here, the authors demonstrated the concept of semantic regularisation based on large language model to circumvent the current limitation.

    • Hongrui Zhang
    • , Yanjin Chen
    •  & Lianlin Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multiplexed spiking data coding schemes could enable artificial visual neurons to emulate the human visual system in a more biologically plausible way. Here, Li et al. present an artificial neuron device capable of encoding visual analog signals into spike trains using multiplexed rate and temporal fusion coding. Reviewer recognition:

    • Fanfan Li
    • , Dingwei Li
    •  & Bowen Zhu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ising machines have been usually applied to predefined combinatorial problems due to their distinct physical properties. The authors introduce an approach that utilizes equilibrium propagation for the training of Ising machines and achieves high accuracy performance on classification tasks.

    • Jérémie Laydevant
    • , Danijela Marković
    •  & Julie Grollier

  • Perspective
    | Open Access

    Evolutionary and rational design approaches are commonly used to engineer biological systems but are typically seen at odds with each other. In this perspective the authors argue for the concept of an evolutionary design spectrum to help unify and compare these design methodologies to support more effective biological engineering.

    • Simeon D. Castle
    • , Michiel Stock
    •  & Thomas E. Gorochowski

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Skin substitutes generated by tissue engineering have limited properties. Here, authors established niche encroachment method. Cell competition enabled skin organogenesis from allogeneic and xenogeneic stem cells on p63 knockout embryos, resulting in a complete skin graft on dermis with hair.

    • Hisato Nagano
    • , Naoaki Mizuno
    •  & Hiromitsu Nakauchi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnetostatic wave filters have a wide working frequency range, small size and high Q-factor, however, they are hampered by the need for a large external electromagnet to provide a bias magnetic field. Here, Du et al demonstrate an extremely small and low power external magnetic bias assembly with zero static power consumption, removing the need for bulky and energy intensive electromagnets.

    • Xingyu Du
    • , Mohamad Hossein Idjadi
    •  & Roy H. Olsson III

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    Untethered soft robots offer numerous advantages in terms of mobility, versatility, and autonomy, making them increasingly valuable for a wide range of applications. Jung et al. review the new types of untethered soft actuators that represent breakthroughs and discuss the future perspective of soft actuators.

    • Yeongju Jung
    • , Kangkyu Kwon
    •  & Seung Hwan Ko

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conventional lighting requires an AC-DC converter for LEDs. Here, the authors report a tandem structure by connecting two QLEDs with opposite polarity in parallel, enabling AC driven operation. A household AC electricity plug-and-play QLEDs panel with tuneable colour and brightness is achieved.

    • Jiming Wang
    • , Cuixia Yuan
    •  & Shuming Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pulse tube refrigerators are a critical enabling technology for many disciplines that require low temperatures, including quantum computing. Here, the authors show that dynamically optimizing the acoustic parameters of the refrigerator can improve conventional cooldown speeds up to 3.5 times.

    • Ryan Snodgrass
    • , Vincent Kotsubo
    •  & Joel Ullom

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The intelligent responses of Venus flytrap to various stimuli provide valuable insights into electronic design. Here, the authors report a liquid metal-based logic module with memory and counting properties to intelligently respond like the flytrap.

    • Yuanyuan Yang
    •  & Yajing Shen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mechanical properties of heterogeneous cell populations in colorectal tumors and the relevance to cancer metastasis remain not fully understood. Here, the authors suggest that the variations in malignant phenotypes between LGR5-positive cancer stem cells and LGR5-negative cells could be due to their distinct mechanical phenotypes observed in vitro, determined by the membrane to cortex attachment proteins Ezrin/Radixin/Moesin.

    • Sefora Conti
    • , Valeria Venturini
    •  & Xavier Trepat

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Oscillating neural networks promise ultralow power consumption and rapid computation for tackling complex optimization problems. Here, the authors demonstrate VO2 oscillators to solve NP-complete problems with projected power consumption of 13 µW/oscillator.

    • Olivier Maher
    • , Manuel Jiménez
    •  & Siegfried Karg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Concerns over the immunogenicity of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) are growing, and the implications for tissue engineering are unknown. Here the authors evaluate the impact of anti-PEG antibodies and PEG immunogenicity on the efficacy of a PEG hydrogel-based tissue engineering therapy.

    • Alisa H. Isaac
    • , Sarea Y. Recalde Phillips
    •  & Daniel L. Alge

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inducible gene expression systems can be used to control the expression of a gene of interest by means of small molecules. Here the authors present CASwitch, a synthetic gene circuit platform enhancing inducible gene expression systems by reducing leakiness and boosting fold induction, for real world applications like gene therapy vector production and biosensors.

    • Giuliano De Carluccio
    • , Virginia Fusco
    •  & Diego di Bernardo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here the authors integrate optical and acoustic manipulation techniques to generate localized Lamb fields that emulate arbitrary laser patterns and demonstrate programmable nanoparticle patterning over a centimeter-scale area.

    • Ruoqin Zhang
    • , Xichuan Zhao
    •  & Feng Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Proton exchange membrane electrolyzers hold promise for ethylamine synthesis from acetonitrile, yet local acidity fosters proton reduction. Here, authors systematically screen metal catalysts, verifying their effectiveness in such electrolyzers.

    • Chongyang Tang
    • , Cong Wei
    •  & Xiangfeng Duan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Integrating security, computing and memory capabilities in ion-migration-driven memristors is challenging. Here, Woo et al. experimentally demonstrates a single system that performs cryptographic key generation, universal Boolean logic operations, and encryption/decryption.

    • Kyung Seok Woo
    • , Janguk Han
    •  & Cheol Seong Hwang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Selective nanofiltration membranes with accurate molecular sieving offer a solution to recover rare metals and other valuable elements from brines but this demands the development of membranes with precise sub-nanometer pores surpassing those available today. Here, the authors report a scalable approach for membrane fabrication in which functionalized macrocycles are seamlessly oriented via supramolecular interactions during the interfacial polycondensation on a polyacrylonitrile support layer.

    • Shanshan Hong
    • , Maria Di Vincenzo
    •  & Suzana P. Nunes

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The researchers showcase a photonic-electronic FMCW LiDAR source composed of a micro-electronic based high-voltage arbitrary waveform generator, a photonic circuit-based tunable Vernier laser with piezoelectric actuators, and an erbium-doped waveguide amplifier.

    • Anton Lukashchuk
    • , Halil Kerim Yildirim
    •  & Tobias J. Kippenberg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Achieving facile grain microstructure control in metal additive manufacturing is essential for its advancement. Here, the authors present a powder-size driven melt pool engineering approach to control the grain morphology demonstrated by laser directed energy deposition and electron beam powder-bed fusion processes.

    • Shubham Chandra
    • , Chengcheng Wang
    •  & Xipeng Tan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Accurate perception of flight parameters is critical for flight control of micro air vehicles. Here, authors present a flexible calorimetric flow sensor with vanadium oxide thermistor arrays for flight parameters estimation, such as angle of attack and sideslip, flight velocity, and wing vibration.

    • Zheng Gong
    • , Weicheng Di
    •  & Huawei Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Catalyst activation commonly occurs during reactions. This study demonstrates that the surface’s active structure in nitride catalysts during the reverse water gas-shift reaction varies with the partial pressure of reaction products, resulting in enhanced catalytic activity through positive feedback between catalytic activity and the evolution of MoNx’s active structure.

    • Hui Xin
    • , Rongtan Li
    •  & Xinhe Bao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The ideal metal selection and atomic-level arrangement for catalysts in CO2 hydrogenation are still uncertain. Here, copper is identified as the most effective promoter for enhancing ZnZrOx catalysts when precisely structured into CuZn ensembles, offering new insights for designing superior catalysts for CO2-based methanol synthesis.

    • Thaylan Pinheiro Araújo
    • , Georgios Giannakakis
    •  & Javier Pérez-Ramírez

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Detection of radiation is important for environmental health and safety. Here the authors demonstrate a method for radiation detection and mapping in 2D using minimum number of detectors and inter-pixel padding to increase the contrast between pixels.

    • Ryotaro Okabe
    • , Shangjie Xue
    •  & Mingda Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Piezocapacitive pressure sensors are typically limited by the slow response-relaxation speed for detecting dynamic stimuli. Here, Zhang et al. utilize the electrode-dielectric interface and bonded micro-structured interface for energy dissipation and reduce the response and relaxation time to 0.04 ms.

    • Yuan Zhang
    • , Xiaomeng Zhou
    •  & Chuan Fei Guo

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