Meet GenSQL: Generative AI for Databases

A new tool makes it easier for database users to perform complicated statistical analyses of tabular data without the need to know what is going on behind the scenes.

Soft Robots + Artificial Muscles = Worm-Like Crawling and Biceps-Like Lifting

To demonstrate their new device, an actuator, the researchers used it to create a cylindrical, worm-like soft robot and an artificial bicep. In experiments, it navigated tight curves and was able to lift a 500-gram weight 5,000 times in a row.

Advances and Innovations in Assistive Robotics

Exploring advances and innovations in assistive robotics.

How Much Do You Know About Capacitors?

Capacitors are fundamental components that are used in a wide variety of applications, from the tiniest electronics to high-power applications. What are capacitors, what are the differences among them, and what is common to all of them? Check your knowledge with this quiz.

Creating the Self-Healing Grid of the Future

It’s not hard to imagine the potential value of a self-healing grid, one able to adapt and bounce back to life, ensuring uninterrupted power even when assailed by a hurricane or a group of bad...

Highway Segment Charges Electric Vehicles

Purdue University engineers and the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) are working to make it possible for electric vehicles ranging from tractor-trailers to passenger cars to wirelessly...

Improved GaN-Based Semiconductor Devices for Power Electronics

A study led by Nagoya University in Japan revealed that a simple thermal reaction of gallium nitride (GaN) with metallic magnesium (Mg) results in the formation of a distinctive...

International Space Station Uses Cordierite Ceramic Mirror for Optical Communication

A cordierite ceramic mirror was used first time in experimental equipment to conduct optical communication between the International Space Station and a mobile optical station on Earth.

RISING STAR AWARDS 2024 JUDGES

  We want to thank our judges for the Rising Star Awards 2024. Our esteemed panel of judges is comprised of leaders from engineering and technology fields who bring decades of experience and expertise to the...

My Opinion: Who Was Grace Hopper?

My opinion: Some last-minute, posthumous nominations for the Tech Briefs Rising Star Award for Women in Engineering.

Surgical Precision: Robotics in the Operating Room

Exploring how robotics are enhancing precision and minimizing invasiveness of surgical procedures.

How Much Do You Know About Labs-on-a-Chip

Lab-on-a-Chip (LoC) technology integrates various analyses such as biochemical operations, chemical synthesis, and DNA sequencing onto a single chip, which otherwise would have been performed in a laboratory taking a substantial amount of time. How much do you know about LoCs? Find out with this quiz.

Increasing Agricultural Yields, Efficiency, and Sustainability with AI

Professor Chris Reberg-Horton and his colleagues at North Carolina State University’s Plant Sciences Initiative are taking hundreds of thousands of plant photos and, with the university’s newly acquired Grace Hopper 200 supercomputer, are using them to create the world's largest agricultural image repository.

Using AI to Better Map 3D Spaces Using 2D Images

Researchers have developed a technique that allows artificial intelligence (AI) programs to better map three-dimensional (3D) spaces using two-dimensional (2D) images captured by multiple cameras.

People, Not Design Features, Make a Robot Social

Researchers who develop social robots — ones that people interact with — focus too much on design features and not enough on sociological factors, like human-to-human interactions, the...

New Dual-Armed Telerobotic System for Hazardous Waste Clean-Up

Because they can go where humans can’t, robots are especially suited for safely working with hazardous nuclear waste. But first, those robots need to become like the humans...

Method Rapidly Verifies That a Robot Will Avoid Collisions

Before a robot can grab dishes off a shelf to set the table, it must ensure its gripper and arm won’t crash into anything and potentially shatter the fine china. As part of its...

The Future of Space Habitats

No space habitat has yet been constructed beyond Earth orbit, but many design proposals have been made and aerospace engineers are working on new technologies to turn this science fiction into reality. Take this quiz to learn more about space habitats.

Using AI to Boost Metalens Cameras’ Image Quality

Researchers have leveraged deep learning techniques to enhance the image quality of a metalens camera. The new approach uses AI to turn low-quality images into high-quality ones.

Advancing Low-Carbon Building Materials for Construction

UBC’s nature-based solution with locally available earthen materials could aid in building climate-resilient infrastructure.

AI + Computer Simulations = Enhanced Robotic Exoskeletons

Researchers have demonstrated a new method that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and computer simulations to train robotic exoskeletons to autonomously help users save energy while walking, running, and climbing stairs.

NASA’s Noise-Testing Tool Finds Applications Beyond Aircraft

Wireless microphone array quickly, cheaply, accurately maps noise from aircraft and much more.

5Ws of the Neuromorphic AI Drone

A team of researchers at Delft University of Technology has developed a drone that flies autonomously using neuromorphic image processing and control based on the workings of animal brains.

Medical-Grade Smartwatch Can Monitor Astronauts, Patients

The wrist-worn device astronauts have been using to collect data is going out of production, and the EmbracePlus could address some of the limitations of the previous device, including comfort and connectivity, especially given that the other device doesn’t stream data in real time.

Engineering Next-Generation Expandable Habitats for Living in Space

If we were to live and work in space, it’s essential to change the paradigm of affordable habitats in space and economically accommodate venues ranging from science to farming to entertainment and government applications. Expandable modules have the potential to pave the way for humankind’s off-planet existence, whether on the Moon, Mars, or beyond.

In-Space Manufacturing to Benefit the Future of Human Health on Earth and in Space

As new commercial stations enable the creation of in-space factories that leverage microgravity to improve products for use on Earth, large-scale 3D bioprinting will significantly benefit from it.

Beyond Earth: The Future of In-Space Servicing

It no longer requires the imagination of Arthur C. Clarke to see where the space industry is headed. We need only to look at every other system of vehicles, appreciate the falling technical roadblocks, and observe the regulations and resources environment. It is with confidence that we ask not, “if?” but, “when?” We invite you to consider, “what’s next?” because almost anything becomes possible with the right foundations in place.

In-Space Manufacturing of Self-Replicating Machines

How do we get to a future of self-replicating, Von Neumann space probes? What are some of the steps required to convert the Asteroid Belt into a partial Dyson Sphere? The answer lies in ISAM or in-space servicing assembly and manufacturing, 3D printing on-orbit, and fully automated, ‘lights-out’ production on-Earth.

Advancing Technologies for In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing

Greg Richardson leads COSMIC as the Executive Director of the consortium and primary interface to NASA. He is also a principal engineer/scientist in the Human Exploration and Space-flight Division at The Aerospace Corporation. In this interview, he elaborates on the future vision of COSMIC and how the organization will coordinate work to help accelerate ISAM activities that will foster the future space economy.