Although maneuvering nanosatellites in space is a complex procedure, a new micro-propulsion method features the simplest of ingredients: water.

The manufacturing process of "cold forming" applies force to a metal as it is staged in a die. The technology, used originally in the early 1900s to create artillery shells, supports the creation of a variety of sophisticated, small parts, including fasteners, pins, and screws. But how do the residual stresses caused by the process affect the life of the part?

In a “speed and separation” manufacturing scenario, a safe distance must be maintained between a collaborative robot and a human operator. When the gap reaches below a specific threshold, the cobot then initiates a monitored stop. But how does the robot “see” the human?

New eyeglasses from Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology generate solar power. Featuring semitransparent organic solar cells, the eyewear powers a microprocessor and two small displays integrated into the solar glasses’ temples. In a Tech Briefs Q&A, one KIT researcher explains why the proof-of-concept is the first step to even smarter devices.

Physicists from Washington State University (WSU) have used lasers to draw conductive circuits into a crystal. The achievement demonstrates a new kind of transparent, three-dimensional electronics: circuits that can be erased and reconfigured, like the drawings of an Etch A Sketch.

Christine Radtke, a Professor for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Austria’s MedUni Vienna/Vienna General Hospital, has 21 spiders. The silk obtained from the Tanzanian golden orb-weavers offers Radtke and her team a valuable material to repair nerve and tissue.

In designing modern radar systems you face significant challenges. You must develop solutions with the flexibility and adaptability required for next-generation threat detection and avoidance. To succeed, you need capable tools for the generation and analysis of extremely complex pulse patterns and you need to validate designs with advanced scanning methodologies – tools that can handle complex radar baseband, IF and RF signals.

The development of minimally invasive surgical technologies has revolutionized healthcare by making possible a growing variety of complex cardiovascular and neurological interventions that would otherwise be unthinkable. But using the body’s vascular system like a network of access routes is not without challenges—including especially the need for intravascular access catheters that can be used in interventional procedures relying on magnetic resonance imaging.

Origami has once again inspired engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. Besides aesthetic beauty, the Japanese tradition of paper-folding addresses a persistent problem faced by JPL engineers: how do you pack the greatest amount of spacecraft into the smallest volume possible?

MIT researchers have developed a way to print flat electronics that can fold themselves into a desired shape. The researchers say the development could have applications in robotics and human-machine interfaces.