0
9480
30
INSIDER: Imaging

A new software system developed at the University of Michigan uses video game technology to help solve one of the most daunting hurdles facing self-driving and automated cars: the high cost...

Feature Image
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

Carolyn Parcheta, a NASA postdoctoral fellow based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and JPL robotics researcher Aaron Parness are developing robots that can explore volcanic...

Feature Image
Question of the Week: Energy
Will we deliver electricity from space?

This Week's Question: Scientists are exploring the possibility of utilizing space solar power for Earth-bound purposes. The United States, China, India and Japan all have projects at various stages of development that would see robots assemble solar arrays that could provide the Earth with clean, renewable...

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory believe that household robots should take advantage of their mobility and their relatively static environments to...

Feature Image
INSIDER: Nanotechnology

Exploiting mechanics principles similar to those found in children’s ‘pop-up’ books, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a unique process for...

Feature Image
INSIDER: Materials

Scientists have developed a novel nanowire coating that can both generate heat and trap the heat from our bodies better than regular clothing.

Feature Image
INSIDER: Test & Measurement

NASA’s Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) team designed and built a new cloud and aerosol measurement instrument. The instrument will measure clouds, volcanic ash plumes,...

Feature Image
INSIDER: Green Design & Manufacturing
Forensic Tracers Identify Contamination in Water

Duke University scientists have developed new forensic tracers to identify coal ash contamination in water and distinguish it from contamination coming from other sources. The tools can be used by regulatory agencies to monitor the environmental effects of coal ash, and determine whether it has or...

INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

New optical diagnostic technology developed at Tufts University School of Engineering promises new ways to identify and monitor brain damage resulting from traumatic...

Feature Image
Question of the Week
Are you optimistic about artificial intelligence?

This week's Question: In a BBC interview last year, renowned physicist, cosmologist, and author Stephen Hawking warned of the dangers of artificial intelligence. Hawking said AI "would take off on its own and re-design itself at an ever-increasing rate," passing the limited abilities of humans. A...

INSIDER: Materials

A new coating exploits interference effects in thin films, creating a range of vivid colors.

Feature Image
INSIDER: Materials

Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, are working on adhesive gripping tools that could grapple objects such as orbital debris or defunct satellites that would...

Feature Image
Question of the Week
Will we build a floating city above Venus?

This week's Question: NASA recently proposed a mission that one day may send astronauts, via a balloon, toward Venus' upper-atmosphere to research the possibility of a "cloud city community." Although the waterless planet has an unforgiving temperature of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the clouds of Venus...

Articles: Electronics & Computers

Have you attended an electronics or design tradeshow lately? Have you visited a big-box retailer or browsed an online electronics vendor? If so, you’ve probably seen...

Feature Image
Articles: Photonics/Optics

In the past decade, diode lasers have made great strides in both power and reliability. The performance improvements have enabled new applications, particularly in areas where...

Feature Image
Articles: Photonics/Optics

The SPIE Photonics West 2015 technical conference and exhibition, taking place February 7-12 at The Moscone Center in San Francisco, offers attendees the opportunity to learn about the latest technological...

Feature Image
Application Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Two quantities are perennially in short supply on engineering projects: time and money. When it comes to producing custom optical components in less time, for less money, one feasible approach...

Feature Image
Podcasts
Susan Draper, Materials Research Engineer, Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH

Susan Draper performs microstructural analysis of metals and determines where fractures have occurred and propagated. Draper is currently characterizing electron-beam-melted, additive-manufactured titanium-6 aluminum-4 vanadium, a titanium alloy. Her team is...

Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition

The technologies NASA develops don’t just blast off into space. They also improve our lives here on Earth. Life-saving search-and-rescue tools, implantable medical devices, advances in commercial aircraft safety,...

Feature Image
Application Briefs: Software
NX and Teamcenter® software
Siemens PLM Software
Plano, TX
800-498-5351
www.siemens.com/plm

One of ATK Aerospace Group’s current projects...

Feature Image
Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
micro ScoutCam 1.2 micro camera
Medigus, Ltd.
Omer, Israel
011 972 8646 6880
www.medigus.com

NASA has incorporated the micro ScoutCam 1.2 into its Visual Inspection...

Feature Image
Articles: Software

Imagine moving an object using only your mind. Software company Unique Logic’s Time on Task exercise makes that possible, at least on a computer screen. The game is one of the...

Feature Image
Products: Software

SpaceClaim Corp., Concord, MA, released ANSYS® SpaceClaim™ 2015 software for the creation, editing, and repair of 3D data. It provides editing and management of faceted models, improved toolpath...

Feature Image
Briefs: Materials
Magnetic Thermometer for High-Resolution 10-mK Scale Thermometry

A thin-film magnetic thermometer with integrated, superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) readout has been designed for fast, precision temperature measurements in the 10-mK range. The compact magnetic thermometer consists of a miniature DC SQUID susceptometer with a...

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Low-Power Charged Particle Counter for Space Radiation Monitoring

A miniature, low-power, solid-state detector for ionizing radiation was developed for use in more locations, and requiring less space and lower power than current technology. An accepted way of counting high-energy charged particles common in space radiation is to detect the light...

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

This ultrasonic, pulse-echo probe can sustain as high as 250 °C, and uses a piezoelectric transducer to generate and receive the ultrasonic pulses. The...

Feature Image
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Ground-to-Space Laser Calibration System

The accuracy of spaceborne sensors measuring reflected solar radiance can be affected by multiple factors. First, instruments with complex optics are sensitive to polarization. The response of such instruments is characterized before launch; however, sensitivity to polarization can change on orbit...

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Low-Weight, Durable, Low-Cost Metal Rubber Sensor System for Ultra-Long-Duration Scientific Balloons

Large axial load forces and extreme temperature ranges are typical for scientific balloon missions. Therefore, a durable, flexible, and thermally stable sensor material is needed. In this innovation, sensors have been designed to be integrated...

Videos