In the News | Dartmouth Engineering

Universe Today

Aug 11, 2026

Europa's Interior Ocean Could Be Harder to Reach Than We Thought

Professor Jacob Buffo suggests that Europa's icy shell may pose a greater barrier to accessing its subsurface ocean than previously believed. Using computer simulations, the researchers found that water rising through fractures in the ice would likely cool rapidly and freeze, potentially limiting future efforts to sample material from the moon's ocean.

NPR: AirTalk

Aug 04, 2026

The fight over 3D printed guns

Professor Sol Diamond participated in a discussion about the pros and cons of a new California bill that would require 3D printer companies to equip their printers with technology to stop the printing of gun parts. “We can take an already deployed technology from [geometric identification] and bring it to bear on this particular problem,” said Diamond.

The Cool Down

Aug 04, 2026

In the South and Midwest, Heat Waves Could Push Data Centers Off the Grid and Onto Generators

Professor Junbo Zhao discusses how greater coordination between data centers and grid operators, along with expanded power generation and smarter grid technologies, are needed to reduce strain on the electric grid during periods of peak demand.

NOTUS

Jul 30, 2026

Trump Keeps Greenlighting Requests to Push Data Centers Off the Grid

Professor Junbo Zhao discusses how the rapid growth of data centers is straining the nation's electric grid during periods of peak demand. Zhao says greater coordination between data centers and grid operators, along with new generation and grid technologies, will be needed to maintain reliability.

Earth.com

Jul 30, 2026

Europa's hidden ocean may be harder to reach than scientists thought

Professor Jacob Buffo is mentioned as being part of a study challenging the idea that water from Europa's subsurface ocean can travel through cracks in the moon's ice shell to the surface. Simulations suggest turbulent flow would cause the water to freeze before reaching the surface, making the ocean more difficult to access than previously thought.

Tech Times

Jul 27, 2026

Europa Ice Cracks Freeze Shut in Hours, Complicating Clipper Science Plan

Professor Jacob Buffo is mentioned as a collaborator on research finding that cracks in Jupiter's moon Europa freeze shut within hours, making it much harder for water to reach the surface than previously thought. The findings cast doubt on the scientific basis of NASA's Europa Clipper mission, which is en route to Jupiter and scheduled to arrive in 2030.

The Verge

Jul 25, 2026

Is this e-reader case a gun?

Professor Sol Diamond is quoted in an article about why mandating gun-blocking software is an unwinnable task. "Basing blocking tech on visual resemblance is where the false positive concerns arise because a prop and a real functional firearm resemble one another," Diamond told The Verge. "The technical challenge here is that depending on training data and algorithms used, setting decision thresholds that have acceptably low false positive rates might have unacceptably high false negative rates and vice versa. Visual resemblance might be fooled by [the] gun-shaped e-reader case ... Geometric Identification would not be fooled by your gun-shaped e-reader case."

New Hampshire Business Review

Jul 17, 2026

Dartmouth Professor Honored for Developing 'Camera-on-a-Chip' That Powers Smartphones

Professor Eric Fossum received the Bayh-Dole Coalition's American Innovator Award for co-inventing the camera-on-a-chip technology used in smartphones, medical devices and other electronics. The article also highlights Fossum's leadership of Dartmouth's PhD Innovation Program, which helps doctoral students commercialize research and launch startup companies.