Stories
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
This microrobot with soft actuators can crash, fall, and collide without being damaged.
Briefs: Materials
These barrier coatings protect high-performance components in extreme environments.
Briefs: Imaging
Interaction of sound and light reveals new information of a crystal's quantum properties.
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
This hands-on, educational tool highlights the properties of SMA wire.
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Optically Fixable Shape Memory Polymers
These polymers can combine thermal and optically fixable shape memory.
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Stronger and flexible, polyimide aerogels provide insulation and structural support.
Briefs: Energy
This lightweight material brings strength and durability to complex shapes.
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Undercooled metal technology was developed that features liquid metal (in this case, Field's metal, an alloy of bismuth, indium, and tin) trapped below its melting point in polished, oxide...
Briefs: Energy
A process was developed for producing oxide perovskite crystals in flexible, free-standing layers. A two-dimensional rendition of this substance is intriguing because 2D materials have been shown to...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Researchers have developed a fiber that combines the elasticity of rubber with the strength of a metal, resulting in a tougher material. The fibers consist of a gallium metal core surrounded...
Briefs: Materials
By mimicking the outer coating of pearls (nacre or mother of pearl), researchers created a lightweight plastic that is 14 times stronger and eight times lighter (less dense) than steel. It could be...
Briefs: Medical
Researchers have developed a formula that enables them to recreate different levels of perceived softness. Based on the results from their experiments, they created equations that can calculate how soft...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
A transistor has been made from linen thread, enabling the creation of electronic devices made entirely of thin threads that could be woven into fabric, worn on the skin, or implanted...
NASA Spinoff: Aerospace
The material used on a shuttle's rocket boosters has several terrestrial applications.
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Smart Electronic Skin for Robots and Prosthetics
Humans use the sense of touch to accomplish almost every daily task such as picking up a cup of coffee or shaking someone’s hand. Without it, humans can even lose their sense of balance when walking. Similarly, robots need to have a sense of touch in order to interact better with humans but robots...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Lateral Kevlar Suspension Device (LKSD)
The Lateral Kevlar Suspension Device (LKSD) is made up of a support ring that has three spring-loaded tension assemblies equally spaced around the support ring. Connected to these tension assemblies is a band that supports a separate ring capable of holding a cylindrical shaped load.
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Materials with controlled porosity have found diverse applications in separation, catalysis, energy storage, sensors and actuators, tissue engineering, and drug delivery. Multiple...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
For decades, microchip transistors have become smaller, faster, and cheaper; however, miniaturization has reached a natural limit, as completely new problems arise when a length scale of only a...
Briefs: Materials
Different instruments are needed to study the interaction of contact surfaces at different length scales. Tribometers measure the coefficient of friction but they cannot...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
At the scale of bridges or buildings, the most important force that engineered structures need to deal with is gravity. But at the scale of microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS) — devices like the...
Briefs: Energy
The widespread adoption of thermoelectric devices that can directly convert electricity into thermal energy for cooling and heating has been hindered, in part, by the lack of...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Landing is stressful on a rocket’s legs because they must handle the force from the impact with the landing pad. One way to combat this is to build legs out of materials that absorb some of the...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Recently discovered two-dimensional (2D) materials with superlative properties have the potential to advance semiconductors but creating 2D devices with both good electrical contacts and...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
In order to qualify miniature springs, manufacturers of these systems rely on commercially available testers that are designed for large-scale springs (>0.5" diameter). Commercially available spring test...
Briefs: Materials
A 3D-printed polymer-based foam structure was developed that responds to the force of a shock wave to act as a oneway switch, a long sought-after goal in shock research. The...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Graphene Field Effect Transistors for Radiation Detection (GFET-RS)
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center developed novel transistor technology based on a single graphene layer coupled to a radiation absorber substrate. Unlike conventional charge-sensing detectors, the GFET-RS utilizes the sensitive dependence of graphene conductance on local change of...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Material for Faster Computer Memory
Scientists are studying bismuth ferrite (BFO) material that has the potential to store information much more efficiently than is currently possible. BFO could also be used in sensors, transducers, and other electronics.
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Unlike water, liquid refrigerants and other fluids that have a low surface tension spread quickly into a sheet when they come into contact with a surface. For many industrial processes,...
Top Stories
Blog: Imaging
Ultrasound Wristband Precisely Tracks Hand Movements in Real Time
Quiz: Aerospace
National Astronaut Day 2026: Astronauts and Space Missions Quiz
Podcasts: Electronics & Computers
Arm’s Agentic AI CPU: Engineering the Next Generation of AI Data Centers
Articles: Transportation
Redefining the Automotive Industry with Versatile Innovation
INSIDER: Lighting Technology
Groundbreaking Study in Light Control Opens Door to New Technological...
Blog: Manned Systems
Lincoln Laboratory Laser Communications Terminal Launches on Historic...
Webcasts
Webinars: Electronics & Computers
Superior Environmental Protection with Ultra-Thin Parylene and Multilayer...
Summits: Power
Battery Manufacturing & Simulation Summit 2026
Webinars: Power
Virtual Screening of Materials for Increased Battery Performance
Webinars: Automotive
Scaling SDV Development with Virtualization
Webinars: Motion Control
Why Your Motor Behaves Badly: See BLDC Control Signals, Power, and EMI in One...
Webinars: Test & Measurement
From Spec to Scale: High-Precision Grinding Strategies for Tight-Tolerance...
