Briefs: Medical

All-Terrain Wheelchair

Researchers have developed an innovative design for a wheelchair that can more easily navigate on soft and uneven outdoor terrain such as grass and gravel. The chair uses three wheels — two wheels in the front...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Integrating Optical Components into Existing Chip Designs

Moving from electrical communication to optical communication is attractive to chip manufacturers because it could significantly increase chips’ speed and reduce power consumption,...

Briefs: Test & Measurement

Algorithm Provides Early Warning of Pathogen Exposure

Overt symptoms of many diseases often do not manifest until days after a person’s initial exposure to the causative pathogen, typically a virus or bacteria. By then, the disease may...

Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Answering Your Questions: Why Are Companies Holding Back on 'Digital' Product Development?

If digital transformation is a boardroom priority, why are companies so slow to transform product development? A reader asks our experts.

INSIDER: Materials

3D-Printed Smart Gel Grabs, Moves Objects

A 3D-printed smart gel that grabs objects and moves them could lead to soft robots that mimic sea animals like the octopus, which can walk underwater and bump into things without damaging them....

Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition

A ‘Symmetrical’ Approach Improves Wireless Microsensors

A researcher tells Tech Briefs how his team's "symmetrical" sensor approach will support the growing "Internet of Things."

Products: Imaging

Product of the Month: June 2018

Teledyne LeCroy, Chestnut Ridge, NY, introduced WaveSurfer 3000z oscilloscopes that feature a 10.1” capacitive touchscreen, a set of debug and analysis tools, multi-instrument capabilities,...

Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Answering Your Questions: Beyond Prototyping, How is 3D Metal Printing Being Used in the Automotive Industry?

Can metal 3D printing help automakers with more than just prototyping? It can, and it has, says our engineering expert.

INSIDER: Electronics & Computers

“On a Roll” to Smaller Transformers

The future of electronic devices lies partly within the “internet of things” – the network of devices, vehicles and appliances embedded within electronics to enable connectivity and data...

INSIDER: Electronics & Computers

Memristor Adds Cybersecurity Layer to IoT Devices

The Internet of Things makes our lives more streamlined and convenient, but the cybersecurity risk posed by millions of wirelessly connected devices remains a huge concern. UC Santa...

Blog: Materials

Wanted: Uses for a Beetle-Inspired 'Spider-Man' Adhesive

Professor Paul Steen helped to create a beetle-inspired adhesive. Now it's about finding applications for it.

Blog: Aerospace

A 'Solid' Idea for Powering Spacecraft: Thermoacoustics

Researchers from Purdue University demonstrated that thermoacoustics properties could theoretically occur in solids as well as liquids.

News: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Depth-Sensing Imaging System Can Peer Through Fog

An inability to handle misty driving conditions has been one of the chief obstacles to the development of autonomous vehicular navigation systems that use visible light. These systems are...

INSIDER: Medical

Contact Lens Could Prevent Blindness

Diabetic retinopathy destroys cells of the retina, leading to blindness. Existing treatments are painful and invasive, involving lasers and injections into the eyeball. A Caltech graduate student...

INSIDER: Software

Software Uses Gaming Technology for Complex Simulations

A PhD student at The University of Manchester has developed a new method and software for using computer game technology to create large-scale simulations of violent fluid flows,...

Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition

‘FingerPing’ Recognizes Micro Motions, Soundly

A new system from the Georgia Institute of Technology has a sound approach to recognizing tiny gestures of the hand.

Blog: Imaging

‘Invisibility’ Material Offers Thermal Camouflage

A stretchy material, modeled after squid skin, achieves thermal invisibility by reflecting heat.

Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition

When the Battery Runs Out, the ‘BATLESS’ Microchip Keeps Going

A new microchip allows sensor nodes to run uninterruptedly, even when the battery runs out.

Podcasts: Robotics, Automation & Control

Here's an Idea: Listen to the Story of Humanoid Robots

Some conditions are too dangerous, or just too mundane, for people.

Blog: Transportation

No Map Needed: ‘MapLite’ Sends Self-Driving Cars Off the Beaten Path

A “MapLite” framework from MIT allows self-driving cars to navigate roads – with just GPS and sensors as a guide.

Blog: Energy

A New Approach to Solar-Powered Water Purification: Stay Cool

Researchers at the University of Buffalo have found a counter-intuitive way of improving the water-purification process: keeping things cool.

INSIDER: Imaging

New Products: June 2018 Photonics & Imaging Insider

Thermal Imager

Sierra-Olympic Technologies (Hood River, OR) introduced the Tenum™640, a thermal imager with a 640 x 512 array and 10-micron pixel pitch. The new camera, from the...

INSIDER: Imaging

Scientists Create First X-Ray Holographic Images of Viruses

Holography, like photography, is a way to record the world around us. Both use light to make recordings, but instead of two-dimensional photos, holograms reproduce...