Stories
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Briefs: Materials
New Material Composition Withstands Extreme Impact and Temperature
A super-strong alloy of copper and tantalum was created that can withstand extreme impact and temperature, providing high strength and good electrical conductivity. The alloy is a model system with structure that can be passed on to other alternative material systems. Materials...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
A controllable material was developed that can transform into complex, pre-programmed shapes via light and temperature stimuli, allowing it to morph into a different shape before fully...
Briefs: Materials
For many highly stressed engineering applications like bearings and gears, contaminated steel parts can lead to devastating outcomes such as an emergency shutdown or the end of a mission. Ensuring that these critical...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
For more than 100 years, X-rays have been used in crystallography to determine the structure of molecules. At the heart of the method are the principles of diffraction and superposition, to...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Shape Memory Alloy Rock Splitters (SMARS)
Glenn's revolutionary Shape Memory Alloy Rock Splitters (SMARS) device is fabricated from nickel-titanium-halfnium (NiTiHf), nickel-titanium-zirconium compositions, or a combination. These compositions contain a secondary, nanometer-sized precipitate phase that is produced through processes of compositional...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Many of today's silicon-based electronic components contain 2D materials such as graphene. Incorporating 2D materials like graphene — which is composed of a single-atom-thick layer of carbon atoms —...
Application Briefs: Transportation
Materials testing and characterization is often a lengthy process. It can take more than a year and billions of testing cycles for a manufacturer to characterize the properties of a new...
Q&A: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Professor Shahsavari and graduate student Sung Hoon have demonstrated a process for producing a cement that is stronger, lighter, and more durable than the traditional...
Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition
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 innovation.
Briefs: Imaging
A blue-light imaging method was developed that can be used to obtain visual data from large test fires where high temperatures could disable or destroy conventional electrical and mechanical sensors. The...
Briefs: Energy
Most naturally occurring materials have a disordered atomic structure that interferes with the propagation of both sound and electromagnetic waves. When the waves come into contact with these...
Briefs: Materials
A new method increases the service life of concrete structures by reducing the infiltration rates of deleterious ions. The key is a nano-sized additive that slows down penetration of chloride...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Most metals, with the notable exception of gold, tend to oxidize when exposed to air and water. This reaction — which produces rust on iron, tarnish on silver, and verdigris on copper or...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Eagles can store energy in their feet without having to continuously contract their muscles to then jump high or hold on to prey. New materials have been created that can store energy this way. The...
Briefs: Materials
Quantum computers will be able to solve problems well beyond the reach of existing computers while working much faster and consuming vastly less energy. An inorganic compound was developed that...
NASA Spinoff: Materials
Spinoff is NASA's annual publication featuring successfully commercialized NASA technology. This commercialization has contributed to the development of products and services in the fields of...
Q&A: Aerospace
Professor Hopkins and University of Virginia colleagues — in collaboration with materials scientists at Penn State, the University of...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Current density is the amount of electrical current per cross-sectional area at a given point. As transistors in integrated circuits become smaller and smaller, they need higher and higher...
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
One current method to build a semiconductor superlattice — materials comprised of alternating layers of ultra-thin, two-dimensional sheets only one or a few...
Articles: Photonics/Optics
INVISIBLE GLASS
Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) has developed a method for creating surface nanotextures that effectively eliminates...
Articles: Materials
AEROGELS FROM ENVIRONMENTAL WASTES FOR NOVEL ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS
Associate Prof. Hai Minh Duong and Prof. Nhan Phan-Thien, National University of Singapore...
Briefs: Medical
When heated, popcorn can expand more than 10 times in size, change its viscosity by a factor of 10, and transition from regular to highly irregular granules with surprising force. These unique qualities can...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A process for engineering next-generation soft materials with embedded chemical networks that mimic the behavior of neural tissue lays the foundation for soft active matter with highly...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Optical fibers have been traditionally produced by making a cylindrical object called a preform — essentially, a scaled-up model of the fiber — and then heating it. Softened material...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Researchers have demonstrated the ability to create amorphous metal (metallic glass) alloys on large scales using 3D printing technology. Metallic glasses lack the crystalline...
Briefs: Aerospace
Origami manufacturing has led to considerable advances in the field of foldable structures with innovative applications in robotics, aerospace, and metamaterials; however, existing origami are either...
Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition
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 innovation.
Briefs: Materials
A technique that enables on-demand control of composite behavior could enable a variety of new capabilities for future rotorcraft design, performance, and maintenance. The focus of the research was on...
Briefs: Energy
When hit with light, semiconductors (materials that have an electrical resistance in between that of metals and insulators) generate an electric current....
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Quiz: Aerospace
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Podcasts: Electronics & Computers
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Articles: Transportation
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INSIDER: Lighting Technology
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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: Energy
Battery Manufacturing & Simulation Summit 2026
Webinars: Automotive
Virtual Screening of Materials for Increased Battery Performance
Webinars: Automotive
Scaling SDV Development with Virtualization
Webinars: Electronics & Computers
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...
