News: Materials
How to Predict Thickness of Bonbons, Other Shells
Since the 1600s, chocolatiers have been perfecting the art of the bonbon, passing down techniques for crafting a perfectly smooth, even chocolaty shell. Now a theory and a simple fabrication...
On your car windshield, ice is a nuisance. But on an airplane, wind turbine, oil rig, or power line, it can be downright dangerous. And removing it with the methods...
INSIDER: Motion Control
New Head Restraint System Reduces Whiplash Injuries
A reactive head restraint and car seat system designed to reduce whiplash in rear-end vehicle collisions has been unveiled. The unique concept has been brought to life using linkage...
INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Firefighter Positioning System Can Monitor Mobility Problems in the Elderly
Inside their boots, firefighters’ have advanced insoles with sensors that make it possible for emergency operations commanders to follow the firefighters’ exact...
INSIDER: Motion Control
Frictionless Drive System Achieves Stable Nanometer Positioning
Filling a major gap in precision control for applications from semiconductor fabrication to manipulations of living cells, researchers have developed a frictionless drive...
INSIDER: Nanotechnology
Nanomaterial 'Colors' Chemical Reactions
Syracuse University chemists have discovered a new way to visualize and monitor chemical reactions in real time. The team's advanced nanomaterial changes color when it interacts with ions and other...
Medical researchers have created a new minimally invasive brain-machine interface, giving people with spinal cord injuries new hope to walk again with the power of thought.
Beat by beat, the heart pumps blood through the arteries. In some people, however, the heart is too weak to supply the body with enough oxygen and nutrients, a condition often referred...
Using animal tissue samples, such as store-bought pork loin and beef liver, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated the possibility of...
Blood-contacting implantable medical devices, such as stents, heart valves, ventricular assist devices, and extracorporeal support systems, as well as vascular grafts and access...
Question of the Week
Would you ride in a Hyperloop?
This week's Question: MIT recently unveiled its prototype design for SpaceX founder Elon Musk's Hyperloop, a high-speed ground transport system that could theoretically send passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in half an hour. The university researchers will test their small prototype pod at SpaceX’s...
News: Imaging
Camouflage Really Does Reduce Chances of Being Eaten
A ground-breaking study not only confirms the assumption that camouflage protects animals from the clutches of predators, but it also offers insights into the most important aspects of...
News: Green Design & Manufacturing
Scientists Watch Bacterial Sensor Respond to Light
A number of important biological processes, such as photosynthesis and vision, depend on light. But it’s hard to capture responses of biomolecules to light because they happen almost...
News: Photonics/Optics
Researchers Develop Thin, Flexible Sheet Camera
A team led by Shree K. Nayar, T.C. Chang Professor of Computer Science at Columbia Engineering, has developed a novel sheet camera that can be wrapped around everyday objects to capture images...
News: Software
Astronomers Use Imaging Software to See Peanut Shell Galaxy
Astronomers at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, have discovered an unusually shaped structure in two nearby disc galaxies. The Swinburne team recently developed new...
INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
'Smart' Paper Responds to Gestures
Researchers from the University of Washington, Disney Research, and Carnegie Mellon University have added sensing capabilities to a piece of paper. Small radio frequency (RFID) tags are placed, printed, or...
INSIDER: Aerospace
NASA Selects Eight Aerospace Technology Proposals for Investment
NASA has selected eight technology proposals for investment. The ideas have the potential to transform future aerospace missions, introduce new capabilities, and significantly improve current approaches to building and operating aerospace systems.
A new infection alert system in catheters could prevent serious infections in millions of hospital patients worldwide. The system, detailed in a new paper in “Biosensors and...
News: Medical
New device prevents damage while securing tubes
The U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research has developed a novel device for securing medical tubes and catheters intubated within a patient that will prevent damage to the incisors as well...
News: Medical
New research uses graphene oxide to fight bacteria
Scientists at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome are studying graphene oxide in the hopes of creating bacteria-killing catheters and medical devices. Coating surgical tools...
News: Medical
Wartime medical device is saving lives at home
A patient at the University of California Davis Medical Center was losing blood from multiple gunshot wounds, and doctors feared he was not going to survive long enough for them to operate. The newly approved REBOA catheter was used to restore blood flow to his critical organs so they could save his...
Question of the Week
Will solar power supplant fossil fuels as a primary energy source?
This week's Question: The US now has 1 million solar power installations, and some industry experts expect the number of solar-power systems to increase dramatically in the span of two years. “By the end of 2020, the amount of installed solar capacity will be 300 percent higher...
Who's Who: Communications
John Hanson, Nodes Deputy Project Manager and Technical Lead, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
On December 6, 2015, two small satellites, or CubeSats, successfully launched to the International Space Station. As part of NASA’s...
INSIDER: Power
Unexpected Discovery Leads to a Better Battery
An unexpected discovery has led to a rechargeable battery that's as inexpensive as conventional car batteries, but has a much higher energy density. The new battery could become a...
INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
Researchers Turn Urine into Power Source for Electronic Devices
A microbial fuel cell uses natural biological processes of ‘electric’ bacteria to turn organic matter, such as urine, into electricity. These fuel cells are efficient and...
INSIDER: Power
Graphene Layer Lets Solar Cells Generate Power When it Rains
Chinese researchers have introduced a new approach for making an all-weather solar cell that is triggered by both sunlight and raindrops. To convert solar energy to electricity,...
INSIDER: Aerospace
Students' Decelerator Design Wins NASA's 'Big Idea' Challenge
Students from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign took top honors in NASA’s first Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-changing (BIG) Idea Challenge.
The...
INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
'SkinTrack' Turns Lower Arm into Touchpad
A new wearable technology developed at Carnegie Mellon University could turn one's entire lower arm into a touchpad.
INSIDER: Propulsion
NASA Tests 3D-Printed Rocket Fuel Pump
NASA tested a 3D printed rocket engine turbopump with liquid methane – an ideal propellant for engines needed to power many types of spacecraft for NASA’s journey to Mars. During the full-power...
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Do You See Applications for Electronics-Free Robots?
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