University at Buffalo researchers are making significant progress on rust-proofing steel, using a graphene-based composite that could serve as a nontoxic alternative to coatings that contain hexavalent chromium, a probable carcinogen.In the scientists' first experiments, pieces of steel coated with...

In what will be the first of four high-altitude balloon flights to begin in the summer of 2013, technologists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., and Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va., are preparing to test new deceleration devices. The devices could replace...

Rather than participate in fly-by suborbital flights, which are being offered by companies like Virgin Galactic, SpaceX Corp. has teamed up with Bigelow Aerospace to offer an experience in a microgravity living environment. The plan, laid out in a jointly issued news release, calls...

A team of biomedical engineers and hematologists at the University of Pennsylvania has made large-scale, patient-specific simulations of blood function under the flow conditions found in blood vessels, using robots to run hundreds of tests on human platelets responding to combinations of activating...

A new air defense radar system is undergoing testing on the White Sands Missile Range to prepare it for later integrated testing with the Navy this fall. The Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS) is an advanced radar system intended for use by the Army,...

The deafening roar of supersonic aircraft can cause hearing damage to sailors and Marines on flight decks, so the Office of Naval Research (ONR) is funding a new project to help reduce jet noise. According to the ONR, the noise problem falls into two categories: noise exposure on the flight deck, and...

NASA engineers will be tossing crayons and cereal into jet engines in a test of new aircraft engine health monitoring technology designed to provide early warning of engine problems, including the destructive effect of volcanic ash.

A carbon nanotube sponge developed with help from ORNL researchers holds potential as an aid for oil spill cleanup. Simulations at ORNL explained how the addition of boron atoms encouraged the formation of so-called "elbow" junctions that help the nanotubes grow into a 3-D network.The material's...

This week's INSIDER story demonstrated a Star Trek-like, human-scale 3D videoconferencing pod  that allows people in different locations to video conference as if they are standing in front of each other.

Today‘s cars are increasingly custom-built. One customer might want electric windows and heated door mirrors, while another is satisfied with the minimum basic equipment. The situation with aircraft is no different: each airline is looking for different interior finishes. Yet the...

What happens when you put a fully equipped five-story building — which includes an intensive care unit, a surgery suite, piping and air conditioning, fire barriers, and even a working elevator — through a series of high-intensity earthquakes?

An air sampler the size of an earplug is expected to cheaply and easily collect atmospheric samples to improve computer climate models. Developed by Sandia National Laboratories, the design employs a commonly used alloy to house an inexpensive microvalve situated above the sample chamber.

A Queen's University researcher has created a Star Trek-like human-scale 3D videoconferencing pod that allows people in different locations to video conference as if they are standing in front of each other. Two people simply stand in front of their own life-size cylindrical pods and talk to...

A doorknob that knows whether to lock or unlock based on how it is grasped, a smartphone that silences itself if the user holds a finger to her lips and a chair that adjusts room lighting based on recognizing if a user is reclining or leaning forward are among the many...

The primary mirror of very large submillimeter-wave telescopes will necessarily be segmented into many separate mirror panels. These panels must be continuously co-phased to keep the telescope wavefront error less than a small fraction of a wavelength, to ten microns RMS (root mean square)...

Electrochemical ultracapacitors (ECs) have been developed using graphitic nanostacks as the electrode material. The advantages of this technology will be the reduction of device size due to superior power densities and relative powers compared to traditional activated carbon electrodes....

A mobile pill transmitter system moves through, or adjacent to, one or more organs in an animal or human body, while transmitting signals from its present location and/or present angular orientation. The system also provides signals from which the present roll angle of the pill, about a selected...

Current planetary protection policies require that spacecraft targeted to sensitive solar system bodies be assembled and readied for launch in controlled cleanroom environments. A better understanding of the distribution and frequency at which high-risk...

Research was conducted on the qualification of Honeywell platinum resistance thermometer (PRT) bonding for use in the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). This is the first time these sensors will be used for Mars-related projects. Different types of PRTs were employed for the...