The OptiScanTMIII system from Prior Scientific (Rockland, MA) is a stage and focus system for routine microscopy procedures requiring high precision. It offers full control in the X, Y, and Z axes via compatibility with OptiScan motorized stages for both inverted and upright microscopes, and Prior’s non-encoded focus motors and FB...

Lin Engineering (Morgan Hill, CA) releases the Xtreme Torque E5718 stepper motor with enhanced technology to reduce stalling, skipped steps, and provide efficient torque. The enhanced design allows users to stay within the same frame size and take advantage of increased torque normally available in larger frame sizes. The motor has a...

This week's Question: Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, is teaming up with the Florida Institute of Technology to develop a "master plan" to colonize Mars within 25 years. Aldrin envisions using Mars’ moons, Phobos and Deimos, as preliminary stepping stones for astronauts. The program would culminate...

A team led by physicist Christian Santangelo at the University of Massachusetts Amherst uses curved creases to give thin shells a fast, programmable snapping motion. The technique – inspired by the natural "snapping systems" like Venus flytrap leaves and hummingbird beaks – avoids the need for complicated...

This week's Question: Last month, the Canada-based company Thoth Technology received a US patent for its 12-mile space elevator design. The elevator, enclosed in a tunnel, includes a landing pad on its roof. Spacecraft would refuel and take on passengers and cargo from the pad. Some of the elements of...