Have a son or daughter fascinated by space travel? NASA has invited more than 350 student rocketeers from middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities to take part in its 2009-2010 Student Launch Projects. The contest is designed to inspire students to channel their interests in science,...

Mutoh America Inc. Developed originally for color-matching inks on digital printers, Mutoh’s spectrometer modules offer a plug-in solution that carries its own ADC, MCU, and memory onboard. These devices employ an optical system different from most other spectrometers sold today: Mutoh’s patent-pending DP1...

Japan Industrial Technology Association Highly pure, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are mass-produced in bulk forms such as vertically aligned “forests” through a process called Super CVD, a supercharged chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. Structures of carbon SWNT are...

A company seeks a low-friction surface for ready-to-use intermittent catheters for both men and women, with the goal of achieving insertion and retraction without causing any trauma or perception of trauma. The low-friction surface must operate during insertion, while the catheter is in place, and...

A company seeks a new generation of precise, ergonomic pliers that virtually eliminates the effort that causes hand fatigue. Ideally, it would require the exertion of zero force to cut through Romex, strapping, or staples. The tool must provide one-handed operation and conform to a variety of grips a...

An interferometer objective lens (or diverger) may be used to transform a collimated beam into a diverging or converging beam. A typical objective lens is optimized to deliver a diffraction-limited beam to an optic or optical system under test. Often, imaging...

A compact CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) camera system has been developed with high resolution (1.3 Megapixels), a USB (universal serial bus) 2.0 interface, and an onboard memory. A compact design of a 2×4 in. (≈5×10 cm) multilayer PCB (printed circuit board) was designed that contains the...

A crater-detection algorithm has been conceived to enable automation of what, heretofore, have been manual processes for utilizing images of craters on a celestial body as landmarks for navigating a spacecraft flying near or landing on that body. The images are acquired by an electronic camera...