Scientists and engineers at Picatinny Arsenal are developing a device that will shoot lightning bolts down laser beams to destroy its target. The Laser- Induced Plasma Channel, or LIPC, is designed to take out targets that conduct electricity better than the air or ground that surrounds them. How did the...

Creators of a nanotech-based system that captures carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere within a submarine, while providing a more environmentally friendly removal process, have won the Federal Laboratory Consortium Interagency Partnership Award for 2012. The technology — Self Assembled...

New networking equipment and training that is part of the Army's "Capability Set 13" will begin fielding in October. The 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss, Texas, will be the first recipients of more than 15 new systems included in the set. Over the next two years, a total of 14...

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers have for the first time simulated and quantified the early stages of radiation damage that will occur in a given material.

Quantum computers are still years away, but a trio of theorists has already figured out at least one talent they may have. According to the theorists, including one from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), physicists might one day use quantum computers to study the...

It would make life a lot easier if the surfaces of window panes, corrosion coatings, or microfluidic systems could keep themselves free of water and other liquids. A new simulation software has been developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials in Germany...

NASA's special "Webb-cam," the camera in a giant clean room at NASA Goddard, now has "double vision." Two video cameras focus on what's happening with the very first completed instrument that will fly onboard the James Webb Space Telescope. The James Webb Space Telescope contains four science instruments, but...

University of Pennsylvania researchers have shown that 3D printed templates of filament networks can be used to rapidly create vasculature and improve the function of engineered living tissues.Rather than trying to print a large volume of tissue and leave hollow channels for vasculature in a...

A document discusses a project in which a series of novel hybrid positive electrode materials was developed and tested in asymmetric capacitors with carbon negative electrodes. The electrochemical performance of the hybrid capacitors was characterized by cyclic voltammetry and a DC...

A document discusses a hyperspectral imaging instrument package designed to be carried aboard a helicopter. It was developed to map the depths of Greenland’s supraglacial lakes. The instrument is capable of telescoping to twice its original length, allowing it to be retracted with the door closed during...

The performance of a traditional diode pumped solid-state laser that is typically pumped with 808-nm laser diode array (LDA) and crystalline Nd:YAG was improved by using 885-nm LDAs and ceramic Nd:YAG. The advantage is lower quantum defect, which will improve the thermal...

A subaperture stitching interferometer system provides near-nulling of a subaperture wavefront reflected from an object of interest over a portion of a surface of the object. A variable optical element located in the radiation path adjustably provides near-nulling to facilitate...

Maxim Integrated Products (Sunnyvale, CA) offers the MAX44000, a digital ambient-light and infrared proximity sensor that detects light like a human eye. Designed using the company’s proprietary BiCMOS technology, the IC integrates three optical sensors, two ADCs, and digital functionality into a 2mm x 2mm x 0.6mm package.

A set of piezoelectric actuators weighs 4 to 50 times less than other robotic actuators in end-effectors, including hydraulic or solenoid devices. The small piezos use ultra-low power: 3 mA holding current at 6.8 VDC, 7.5 mW. The piezo technology is a scalable actuator moved by a pre-loaded piezo...

A new process produces microspheres of an extremely narrow size distribution and high homogeneity, measuring between 2 and 10 μm. The process can make the microscopic spheres from any material that can be polymerized; acrylic and styrene spheres have been...