The Direct Electric Power Converter (D-EPC), a semiconductor switching circuit, controls power distribution among multiple DC power sources without using a DC-DC converter. During every pulse-width-modulation (PWM) cycle, the DEPC alternately activates one of the multiple inverter circuits,...

“VIVA” piezo technology enables a valve to be direct-operated. The piezo element is protected from the fluid stream to eliminate potential for clogging or contamination failure. The valve is directly shifted by the VIVA arm, and requires only a standard 40-micron air filter...

Because manned spaceflight still imposes unknown stresses on the human body, NASA is seeking non-invasive technological approaches for intra-cranial pressure measurement. A baseline must be established on the ground, and then periodic measurements will be taken during flight — possibly over several...

Foam is a key indicator of efficacy and performance for a range of consumer pharmaceutical and food products. A company seeks cost-effective physical and mechanical technologies for enhanced foam generation and stability. Devices that are able to generate a high volume of foam from low-concentration, surfactant-based...

Chuck Jorgensen, Chief Scientist for the Neuro Engineering Lab at NASA Ames Research Center, in Moffett Field, CA, currently studies biolelectrical interfacing and the detection of human emotion and visualization. His research in subvocal speech was a...

Researchers from North Carolina State University have created conductive wires that can be stretched up to eight times their original length while still functioning. The wires can be used for everything from headphones to phone chargers, and hold potential for use in electronic textiles.

The world’s first implantable robotic arm controlled by thoughts is being developed by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. The new technology helps amputees control an artificial limb in much the same way as their own biological hand or arm, via the person's own nerves and...

Scientists at GE’s global research labs have adapted technology that improves air flow through jet engine compressors for a super-thin cooling device that could lead to new generation of thinner, quieter, and more powerful tablets and laptops. At the heart of the new technology are two...

For more than 45 years, two crawler-transporters (CTs) have carried America's human spaceflight program on their backs. At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, one of the CTs has been undergoing a major overhaul to keep the workhorse going for many years to come. With the first phase of...

Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital now hope to exploit the porcupine quill’s unique properties to develop new types of adhesives, needles, and other medical devices. In a new study, the researchers characterized, for the first time, the forces needed for quills to enter and exit the...

NASA researchers focusing on the difficulties of traveling into deep space have identified an unusual source for fuel that astronauts will be carrying with them anyway: trash. Scientists say there is a good chance that food wrappers, used clothing, scraps, tape, packaging and other garbage accumulated by a...

This week's Question: Using existing hardware as well as specifically designed spacesuits and landers, a new space company called Golden Spike hopes to offer private trips to the Moon before 2020.

Two military aircraft produced by Boeing – the F-15E Eagle and the F/A-18E Super Hornet – now are equipped to train in an environment that puts them at odds against real aircraft and computer-generated enemy threats at the same time. Under a contract with the U.S. Air Force Research...

The Boeing X-48 Blended Wing Body subscale research aircraft made its 100th flight at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, CA. The unmanned X-48C aircraft was flown on two separate 25-minute flights -- the seventh and eighth flights for the X-48C since it began...

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has developed and demonstrated a new process by tape-wrapping large, unique-shaped carbon-carbon aircraft shells, or aeroshells. Aeroshells are formed into a lifting body shape called Hypersonic Glide Vehicles, which are used as the primary...