News: Manufacturing & Prototyping
4D Printing: New dimension for additive manufacturing
A team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers have demonstrated the 3D printing of shape-shifting structures that can fold or unfold to reshape themselves when exposed to...
News: Aerospace
Lattice structure absorbs vibrations
Strong vibrations from a bus engine can be felt uncomfortably through the seats. Similarly, vibrations from the propellers or rotors in propeller aircraft and helicopters can make the flight bumpy and...
News: Aerospace
Carbon nanotube 'stitches' make stronger, lighter composites
The newest Airbus and Boeing passenger jets flying today are made primarily from advanced composite materials such as carbon fiber reinforced plastic – extremely light, durable...
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
‘Robomussels’ Monitor Climate Change
Northeastern University scientist Brian Helmuth and other researchers have developed "robomussels" that monitor climate change. The tiny devices have miniature built-in sensor that track temperatures inside the mussel beds.
Question of the Week: Software
Can algorithms create a pop-music hit?
This week's Question: Sony Computer Science Laboratory (CSL) in Paris is developing a system of algorithms which can create songs that cater to the user's taste, based on styles adapted from existing music. Starting with a sheet-music database of more than 13,000 existing songs, users choose several titles...
INSIDER Product: Electronics & Computers
Reader ICs
LEGIC Identsystems Ltd. (Zurich, Switzerland) recently introduced its new 6000 series reader ICs that combine RFID, BLE and a Secure Element into one chip. LEGIC’s technology platform is made up of five basic components: LEGIC...
INSIDER Product: Electronics & Computers
Miniature HV SMT Gas Discharge Tube
Littelfuse, Inc. (Chicago, IL) has introduced its first high voltage, surface-mount gas discharge tube (GDT) with two squared terminals that is capable of withstanding surge currents of 3kA@8/20μs in a...
INSIDER Product: Electronics & Computers
Solid State Tape Drive Replacement
Solid State Disks Ltd (Reading, UK) has launched SCSIFlash-Tape, which provides a CompactFlash-based, solid state replacement for traditional SCSI-based, electro-mechanical tape drives on legacy...
INSIDER Product: Electronics & Computers
Entry-Level PXI/PXIe Platforms
ADLINK Technology (San Jose, CA) announced new entry-level PXI and PXI Express (PXIe) platforms for PXI testing system startup users. PXES-2301 is an all-hybrid, 6-slot compact PXIe chassis with system...
INSIDER: Materials
Scientists Find Twisting 3-D Electron Raceway in Nanoscale Crystal Slices
Researchers have created an exotic 3-D racetrack for electrons in ultrathin slices of a nanomaterial they fabricated at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence...
INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
Complex Materials Can Self-Organize Into Circuits
Researchers studying the behavior of nanoscale materials at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have uncovered remarkable behavior that could advance...
INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
Chaos-Based Microchips Offer Possible Solution to Moore’s Law
Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed new, nonlinear, chaos-based integrated circuits that enable computer chips to perform multiple functions with...
INSIDER: Energy
Invention Merges Solar With Liquid Battery
As solar cells produce a greater proportion of total electric power, a fundamental limitation remains: the dark of night when solar cells go to sleep. Lithium-ion batteries, the commonplace...
From hard to malleable, from transparent to opaque, from channeling electricity to blocking it: materials come in all types. A number of their intriguing properties...
INSIDER: Imaging
Researchers Teleport Particle of Light Six Kilometers
Through a collaboration between the University of Calgary, The City of Calgary and researchers in the United States, a group of physicists led by Wolfgang Tittel, professor in the...
INSIDER Product: Software
Image Processing Software
With the new EVT (Karlsruhe, Germany) EyeScan AT 3D, the EyeVision image processing software shows its new 3C commands and display options for the point cloud when inspecting connector pins. The system works for...
INSIDER Product: Imaging
Single Photon Counting Camera
PHOTONIS (Roden, NL) announced the release of a new single photon counting camera ideal for fast imaging under light starved conditions, such as Time Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC). The camera...
INSIDER Product: Imaging
High-Speed Camera
Fastec Imaging’s (San Diego, CA) IL5 High-Speed 5MP Camera enables you to record production lines moving at high speed for analysis or troubleshooting using slow motion replay. There are four models to choose from,...
INSIDER Product: Imaging
Rugged Thermal Camera
Sierra-Olympic Technologies (Hood River, OR) recently introduced the Viento 67-640 thermal camera for perimeter surveillance, robotics, and other rugged outdoor imaging applications. The new thermal imager features a...
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
3D-Printed Robots Feature Shock-Absorbing Skins
A “programmable viscoelastic material” (PVM) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) allows users to program every single part of a 3D-printed object, including exact levels of stiffness and elasticity.
Question of the Week
Will selfies become the primary mode of authentication?
This week's Question: MasterCard has tested facial biometrics for payment authentication and has now begun rolling out its MasterCard Identity Check, or "selfie pay," to a greater number of users. The biometric authentication app is available throughout Europe, including Austria, Belgium,...
Products: Software
Product of the Month: October 2016
National Instruments, Austin, TX, announced LabVIEW 2016 system design software that introduces new channel wires to simplify complex communication between parallel sections of code. Available on both...
INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
Researchers Create Smallest Transistor Ever
A research team led by faculty scientist Ali Javey at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has created a transistor with a working 1-nanometer gate — the smallest to date.
INSIDER: Imaging
Researchers Propose Modular Space Telescope
Researchers from California Institute of Technology are proposing the idea of a modular space telescope that could be assembled by robots. The space observatory would have a primary mirror with a diameter of 100 meters — 40 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope.
Question of the Week
Will solar road panels catch on?
This week's Question: Solar Roadways — a startup developing solar powered road panels — will soon install the first solar road tiles in Sandpoint, Idaho. The transparent solar road panels contain colorful LEDs, which can be controlled by a computer to create the impression of signs and lines, without the need...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Small-Body Testbed
This technology allows one to test small-body surface mobility and sampling systems in the laboratory. It is capable of simulating a microgravity environment with relevant terrain. The magnitude of the gravity, the terrain properties, and the surface system being tested are all easily modified to allow for a broad range of...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Neutral Mounting of Whispering Gallery Mode Resonators for Suppression of Mechanical Frequency Fluctuations
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed a neutral mounting scheme that eliminates the acceleration sensitivity of whispering...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Method of Forming Textured Silicon Substrate by Maskless Cryogenic Etching
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed an advanced energy-storage device to accommodate portable devices, minimize emissions from automobiles, and enable more challenging space missions. The use of silicon for the anode of lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries is...
Briefs: Information Technology
Python Interface to T-Matrix Scattering Computations (PyTMatrix)
PyTMatrix is a Python interface to a T-matrix numerical scattering computation code originally developed at NASA GISS (Goddard Institute for Space Studies). It integrates into the NumPy/SciPy scientific framework. The software provides streamlined access to numerical T-matrix...
Top Stories
Blog: Unmanned Systems
Experts Weigh In: How Will a Robotic Future Impact Nature?
INSIDER: Photonics/Optics
Orbiting Instrument Hints That Stored Magnetic Energy Heats Solar...
Videos: Motion Control
Test System Could Enable Reduced Helicopter Vibration
Podcasts: Materials
Videos: Automotive
New Lithium Metal Batteries ‘Build Themselves’
Blog: Transportation
CES 2021: How COVID-19 Turned the Car into a Personal 'Second Space'
Question of the Week
Has the Vehicle Become Your “Second Space?”
Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
Reducing the Cost of Quality in Automotive BiW
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
Electric-Vehicle Transmission Development Priorities
Upcoming Webinars: Medical
The Critical Role of Fiber Optic Temperature Sensors in Medical...
Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Zinc Die Casting Concepts to Achieve Precision, Performance, and...
Upcoming Webinars: Test & Measurement
Radar Measurements: Triggering, Analysis, and Generation
Upcoming Webinars: Materials
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Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Special Section: The Winners of the 2020 'Create the Future' Design Contest
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Solid-State Technology Enables Smaller, Safer Batteries
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Double-Vacuum-Bag Process for Making Resin-Matrix Composites
