Here's an Idea: Vibration Communication

The haptics field is wide open, and researchers are finding new and exciting ways to send a message through touch.

Key Considerations When Selecting a Connector Solution: Addressing Materials, Layout, and Assembly Aspects

A connectors expert reviews standards and certifications; assembly tooling; and physical space issues.

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Finds a New Way to Drill Down

A NASA researcher spoke with Tech Briefs about the importance of the Curiosity rover's latest find on Mars.

Answering Your Questions: "What is Your Advice for a 3D Printing Beginner?"

A readers asks two 3D-printing veterans: "What is your advice to someone starting out with additive manufacturing?"

Engineers Create a Camera With No Lens

In the future, your car windshield could become a giant camera sensing objects on the road. Or each window in a home could be turned into a security camera.

New Products: September 2018 Photonics & Imaging Insider

CMOS Image Sensor

Teledyne e2v (Chelmsford, UK) has announced Snappy 2 megapixel, a new CMOS image sensor designed for barcode reading and other 2D scanning applications. The...

Silicon-Based Tandem Photovoltaic Modules Show Potential

New solar energy research from Arizona State University demonstrates that silicon-based tandem photovoltaic modules, which convert sunlight to electricity with higher efficiency...

Researchers Devise New Way to Measure Light Beams

If you want to get the greatest benefit from a beam of light—whether to detect a distant planet or to remedy an aberration in the human eye—you need to be able to measure it. Well, a...

Design Tool Brings a ‘Structural’ Approach to Color

A new approach to structural coloration is more freeform than you might expect.

New Use for Beer, Soup, Barley: Medical Imaging Drink

Before launching their latest science experiment, University at Buffalo researchers bought more than 200 types of tea, chocolate, herbs, and other foodstuffs. The goal wasn't to stock up...

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

In 1977, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL, Golden, CO) started as the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), spurred by national concern during the 1973 oil embargo that caused long...

Metamaterial Device Controls Transmission and Reflection of Acoustic Waves

A thin material was developed that can control the redirection and reflection of sound waves with almost perfect efficiency. While many theoretical approaches to...

Products of Tomorrow: September 2018

This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that...

Nano/Micro Mechanical Environmental Test Cell

A device and method have been developed to conduct compression and tensile tests on soft materials such as flocculated sediments, biopolymers, biological materials, and food stuffs. The device...

Microtesting Rig

The measurement of mechanical behavior in very small samples whose dimensions are on the order of microns and below can offer advantages over conventional macroscopic testing in many instances. Motivations for investigating...

Electrical Contact to Molecules in Semiconductor Structures

To further develop semiconductor technology, the field of molecular electronics is seeking to manufacture circuit components from individual molecules instead of silicon. Because of...

Integrated Multiphysics and Advanced Diagnostics

The objective of this effort was to design, fabricate, integrate, and fly a nuclear thermal rocket without having to build massive ground test facilities. Furthermore, this nuclear rocket...

How Augmented Reality Will Disrupt the Manufacturing Industry

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are in the same vein when it comes to modern technology. Both deal with digital content relayed through an immersive environment or...

Device Detects Explosives, Drugs, or Lead

Warfighters and law enforcement personnel encounter many situations where they need to assess and determine if a situation is hostile or benign. Currently available field explosive detection kits are...

NASA's Robotic Sniffer Finds Space Station Leak

Stanford Research Systems
Sunnyvale, CA
www.thinksrs.com

The Robotic External Leak Locator (RELL) — a collaboration between NASA's Johnson Space Center and Goddard Space Flight...

3D-Printed Active Materials for Robots

The Army uses robots that are structurally rigid, making them impractical when performing military operations in highly congested and contested urban environments where covert maneuvering is critical...