A new membrane composite material that combines an organosilica proton conductor with perfluorinated Nafion material to achieve good proton conductivity and high-temperature performance for membranes used for fuel cells in stationary, transportation, and portable applications has...

Optical delay lines of a proposed type would be made from rods of such dielectric materials as calcium fluoride, fused silica, or sapphire. These would offer advantages over prior optical delay lines, as summarized below.

Artificial neural networks comprising spiking neurons of a novel type have been conceived as improved pattern- analysis and pattern- recognition computational systems. These neurons are represented by a mathematical model denoted the state- variable model (SVM), which among other things, exploits a...

Symmetrical phase-only filtering (SPOF) can be exploited to obtain substantial improvements in the results of data processing in particle- image velocimetry (PIV). In comparison with traditional PIV data processing, SPOF PIV data processing yields narrower and larger amplitude correlation...

A document discusses overcoming efficient optical coupling to high orbital momentum modes by slightly bending the taper dispersive element. This little shape distortion is not enough to scramble the modes, but it allows the use of regular, free-beam prism coupling, fiber coupling, or planar...

A report discusses the ability to control the attitude and translation degrees-of-freedom of a solar sail vehicle by changing its center of gravity. A movement of the spacecraft's center of mass causes solar- pressure force to apply a torque to the vehicle. At the compact core of the...

Silicon carbide-based position sensors INPROX Technology Corp. Boston, MA 617-573-5158 www.inproxtechnology.com INPROX Technology Corp. (ITC) has entered into a Space Act Agreement (SAA) with NASA’s John H. Glenn Research Center in Ohio to develop advanced silicon carbide (SiC)- based...

Finite element modeling and analysis Dynamic Concepts Huntsville, AL 256-922-9888 www.dynamic-concepts.com NASA tasked Dynamic Concepts (DCI) with assessing the structural dynamics of the rollout process, whereby the space shuttle orbiter, external tank, and solid rocket booster...

The KEYENCE PX Series rugged photoelectric sensors from Keyence Corp. of America, Woodcliff Lake, NJ, feature an IP-69K environmental rating for highpressure (1,400 psi) applications at temperatures to 176°F. They feature stainless steel casings, sensor heads backfilled with epoxy under vacuum conditions, and...

Dutch researchers at University Medical Center Utrecht and the Hubrecht Institute have succeeded in growing large numbers of stem cells from adult human hearts into new heart muscle cells. The stem cells are derived from material left over from open-heart operations. Until now, it was necessary to use embryonic stem cells to...

North Carolina State University geneticists have shown that environmental factors play a large role in whether certain genes are turned on or off. By studying gene expression of white blood cells in 46 Moroccan Amazighs, including desert nomads, mountain agrarians and coastal urban dwellers, the NC State researchers and...

For HIV/AIDS patients, a skipped pill could mean the difference between health and hazard for the entire population. A breath monitoring device developed by scientists at the University of Florida and Xhale Inc. could help prevent the emergence of drug-resistant strains of HIV, by monitoring medication adherence in...

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the U.S. Army Dugway (Utah) Proving Ground have developed reliable methods, based on DNA analysis, to assess the concentration and viability of anthrax spores after prolonged storage. Because traditional methods to extract DNA from Bacillus...

Dye-sensitized solar cells are more flexible, easier to manufacture, and cheaper than existing solar technologies. Current lab prototypes are about half as efficient as the silicon-based cells used in rooftop panels and calculators. By using a popcorn-ball design - tiny kernels clumped into much larger porous spheres - researchers at...

Stanford University researchers, led by electrical engineering Professor Abbas El Gamal, are developing a camera built around a multi-aperture image sensor whose pixels measure 0.7 microns, several times smaller than pixels in standard digital cameras. The pixels are arranged in arrays of 256 pixels each, with a tiny lens atop each...

The traditional method to detect a hurricane's strength has been to fly airplanes through the most intense winds into the eye of the storm, carrying out wind-speed measurements as they go. But that approach requires specialized planes priced at $100 million each, with a single flight costing $50,000. Nicholas Makris, associate...

With funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation, Virginia Tech researchers are working to create the prototype of a national internet-based geospatial database of underground water pipes. The objective of the water infrastructure research is to improve the decision-making process as it...

Research by two Queen's University scientists, Stan Brown and Alexei Neverov, has resulted in a new method for rapidly and safely destroying toxic agents such as chemical weapons and pesticides. Testing by an independent European defense corporation has shown the researchers' method to be over 99 percent effective when used on...

Although global warming has become a hotbed issue in recent years, the problem has been under investigation for at least 20 to 30 years, according to Dr. Steve Hipskind, Chief of NASA's Earth Science Division, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. Hipskind's group has focused on atmospheric and biospheric science research,...

Engineers at Purdue, Northwestern University, and the University of Southern California have created an active-matrix display using a new class of thin, transparent transistors and circuits. The transistors incorporate nanowires, tiny cylindrical structures assembled on glass or films of flexible plastic that are as thin as...

COMSOL Multiphysics Ten Years of Unlimited Simulation Capabilities! In 1998 COMSOL Multiphysics® made its debut as the first commercial environment to enable scientists, engineers, and researchers to solve any system of coupled physics phenomena in the same simulation. Ever since, users have leveraged the insights of...

Electronic commands passed from machine to machine over data networks increasingly drive today's precisely timed and sequenced manufacturing production lines. However, timing irregularities in the signals from even one machine can result in havoc for manufacturing processes on the plant floor. The timing glitches, called cyclic...

Scientists at U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory are working to chemically manipulate algae for production of the next generation of renewable fuels - hydrogen gas. Some varieties of algae contain an enzyme called hydrogenase that can create small amounts of hydrogen gas. Many believe this is used by nature as...

Mercury within dental fillings is not by itself harmful, but when exposed to sulfate- reducing bacteria, the element undergoes a chemical change that turns it into a potent, ingestible neurotoxin. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and at Urbana-Champaign have found that mercury particles entering drain...