New on the Market

See what's new on the market, including Keystone Technologies' THM Test Points, Nikon IMBU's CT systems for non-destructive inspection, Renesas' SoCs and MCUs, Rad Source NDT's X-ray Inspection System, the Precision Specimen Loader from Instron, and more.

Baking Soda Could Turn Concrete into an Effective Carbon Sink

Recent discoveries by MIT engineers have revealed that introducing new materials into existing concrete manufacturing processes could significantly reduce their carbon footprint without altering concrete's bulk mechanical properties.

Add-On Device Makes Home Furnaces Cleaner and Safer

Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed an affordable add-on technology that removes more than 99.9 percent of acidic gases and other emissions to produce an ultraclean natural gas furnace.

New System Uses Only Solar Energy to Generate Hydrogen

The system harnesses the sun's heat to directly split water and generate hydrogen — a clean fuel that can power long-distance trucks, ships, and planes, while in the process emitting no greenhouse gas emissions.

A Precision Arm for Mini Robots

A team at ETH Zurich has developed an ultrasonically actuated glass needle that can be attached to a robotic arm. This lets them pump and mix minuscule amounts of liquid and trap particles.

A Temperature-Modulating Robotic System

A research team has developed a robotic system that can be unobtrusively built into the frame of a standard honeybee hive. Composed of an array of thermal sensors and actuators, the system measures and modulates honeybee behavior through localized temperature variations.

Dynamic Hydrogel Makes Soft Robot Components and Building Blocks

Using a new type of dual-polymer material capable of responding dynamically to its environment, researchers have developed a set of modular hydrogel components that could be useful in a variety of soft robotic and biomedical applications.

Snake-Like Robot for Traversing Extreme Terrain on Earth, Moon, and Beyond

Called EELS (Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor), the self-propelled, autonomous robot was inspired by a desire to look for signs of life in the ocean hiding below the icy crust of Saturn's moon Enceladus by descending narrow vents in the surface that spew geysers into space.

Single Drop of Ethanol to Revolutionize Nanosensor Production

Macquarie University engineers have developed a new technique to make the manufacturing of nanosensors far less carbon-intensive, much cheaper, more efficient, and more versatile — substantially improving a key process in this trillion-dollar global industry.

Optical Concentration Sensor for Liquid Solution

The optical concentration sensor has been demonstrated to effectively measure pretreat concentrations in both still and flowing liquid conditions and is resistant to contamination issues as necessitated by the UWMS.

Photoelectric Sensor Essentials

Photoelectric (PE) sensors represent a discrete sensor technology widely used throughout industry. They use the presence or absence of light to provide an on/off output to supervisory automation and monitoring systems, and are often the better choice for sensing manufacturing products.

Optimizing a Chemical Vapor Deposition Process for a High-Performance Tungsten Material

To make fusion power not only physically possible but also economically possible, we need to develop high-performance fusion reactors. However, these reactors call for high-performance materials.

Sustainable Manufacturing: Re-Imagining Production

Given that manufacturing is responsible for 37 percent of global energy consumption, industry is feeling the pressure to address the challenge. Here are a few key trends that are accelerating the push to become more sustainable.

Extended Reality: Immersing into the Future of Manufacturing

Extended reality (XR) technology has emerged as a key catalyst for innovation, offering a spectrum of benefits that redefine the way industries operate.

Digital Twins: The Next Steps

According to researchers, Interconnected Digital Twins will challenge existing understanding of value creation and capture. The discrete and composite twins will be integrated within and between manufacturing firms and other key stakeholders.

6G: Will It Trigger a Manufacturing Revolution?

The next evolution in mobile networks is on the horizon with 6G. Set to surpass 5G with enhanced speed, reduced latency, and expanded capacity, countless applications will benefit. Manufacturing is anticipated to be one of the greatest beneficiaries.

Artificial Intelligence: How Cloud Technology and AI Drive a More Productive Future

This new era of technology eases the twin challenges of capacity and complexity and offers more flexibility than ever for businesses to respond to a fast-changing world.

5 Emerging Technologies in Manufacturing

This feature explores five transformative currents shaping the future of manufacturing and heralding a new era of improved production, efficiency, and sustainability.

Videos of the Month

See the videos of the month, including one on FibeRobo, a novel body-temperature shape-changing fiber based on liquid crystal elastomers; one on 3D printing extremely viscous plastic solids; one on using digital twins in EV battery design and testing; and one on flexible sensors screen-printed onto a stamp-like flexible surface.

Can Harmful Gas Detection Improve With a New Way of Generating Powerful Lasers?

Scientists led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a novel method to produce intense and ultra-fast lasers that holds promise for making precise devices that can speed up how quickly trace amounts of pollutants and hazardous gases can be sniffed out.

New Products

See the new products, including Edmund Optics' new line of ultrafast laser systems; LightPath Technologies, Inc.'s long wave infrared (“LWIR”) microbolometer imaging cores; Metrio Sensors' vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array boards; Allied Vision's new Alvium camera series; and more.

Measuring Earthquakes and Tsunamis with Fiber-Optic Networks

Scientists from the Institute of Geophysics at ETH Zurich, working together with the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology (METAS), have found an inexpensive method that enables accurate earthquake measurements even on the ocean floor and in less developed countries.

New Frequency Comb Can Identify Molecules in 20-Nanosecond Snapshots

With this new capability, researchers can potentially use frequency combs to better understand the split-second intermediate steps in fast-moving processes ranging from the workings of hypersonic jet engines to the chemical reactions between enzymes that regulate cell growth.

Sharper Images: A Breakthrough in Microscopy Resolution

Researchers at Boston University recently developed a novel deblurring algorithm that improves the resolution of images with photon intensity conservation and local linearity.

Designing Optics for Lunar Rovers, Satellites and Other Space-Based Applications

The year 2024 will be full of new satellite manufacturing, launches and operations, with major players like Amazon expected to start full-scale deployment of Project Kuiper and strong demand for low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites driving development and launches from the likes of SpaceX and Telesat among others.

How Corning’s Hyperspectral Imaging in the Sky Sees the Unseen

New satellites equipped with Corning’s advanced hyperspectral-imaging technology can detect pipeline leaks and other environmental issues, providing precise monitoring and exploration capabilities for businesses and governments.

OPO Lasers Put Optical Components to the Test

Optical parametric oscillator (OPO) lasers have long been utilized in sophisticated test and measurement applications such as mass spectrometry, photoacoustic imaging, and spectroscopy.

How to Innovate and Overcome the Challenges of Blue Laser Beam Shaping

The blue laser has become the ideal light source for high-reflective metal processing, offering substantial advantages in various industrial applications such as cutting and welding.