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    Category Technology/Electronics

    Scalable semitransparent organic PV modules could turn windows into power generators

    August 26, 2026, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Semi-transparent PV Modules Developed Using an Industry-ready Manufacturing Process
    As part of the “See-Through PV” project, the research team also manufactured flexible, organic PV modules on film. Credit: Fraunhofer ISE

    Organic solar modules score points for their flexibility, transparency, and a particularly good environmental footprint. Wavelength-dependent transparency, in particular, is a major strength of organic photovoltaics. Researchers at the University of Freiburg and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have now succeeded in building 14.5 by 14.5- centimeter organic PV modules with an average transparency of 43.2% and an efficiency of up to 9.26%. To achieve this, they used a combination of sputtering and slot-die coating—both processes that are industrially proven and highly scalable to large module areas.

    “Scaling up to larger area...

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    Robots learn new skills from a single video—in just 29 seconds

    August 23, 2026, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Framework could teach robots new skills from a single video
    Robots acquire manipulation skills in seconds from a single human video. (A) Current methods teach a robot new skills through a cumbersome training-time loop that is costly and slow, and erodes previously mastered skills. HOST instead acquires skills at inference time, each from a single human video, averaging 29 seconds, while retaining its previously mastered skills. (B) Skill acquisition from a single human video confronts a structural mismatch between video demonstration and execution. Temporal asynchrony between the two decouples the prediction target from the video demonstration, while state discrepancies hinder the translation of the observed behavior into action...
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    Hybrid energy system: One roof for electricity, heating and cooling

    August 21, 2026, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Hybrid Energy System: One Roof for Electricity, Heating and Cooling
    Prototype of the hybrid sun–universe energy harvester for the simultaneous generation of electricity, heating, and cooling. Credit: Gan Huang, KIT

    Photovoltaic panels generate electricity, solar thermal collectors provide heat, while cooling is usually supplied by air conditioning systems that themselves consume electricity. As a result, buildings require different technologies competing for the limited space available on roofs and facades.

    A solution developed by a team led by Dr. Gan Huang at KIT’s Institute of Microstructure Technology, by contrast, simultaneously provides cooling, electricity and heating from a single surface. This hybrid PDRC-solar system combines photovoltaic and solar thermal technologies with passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC)...

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    AI agents struggle to perform original scientific research

    August 16, 2026, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    scientific research
    Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

    Among the many predictions about the future of artificial intelligence is that models will one day be able to conduct scientific research on their own, leaving humans out of the equation. Already, they can write code, run experiments and search scientific literature, but carrying out open-ended research would require a significant leap in ability.

    In a paper posted on the arXiv preprint server, researchers tested AI’s ability to conduct open-ended research and found that it came up short.

    Putting AI to the test
    The study authors gave frontier agents (cutting-edge, state-of-the-art AI tools designed to carry out complex, multistep tasks autonomously) six days to conduct research and write papers based on two then-unpublished AI conference submissi...

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