Folded or Cut, This Lithium-Sulfur Battery Keeps Going

To address stability and safety issues, researchers have designed a lithium-sulfur battery that features an improved iron sulfide cathode. One prototype remains highly stable over 300 charge-discharge cycles, and another provides power even after being folded or cut. Read on to learn more.

Iron Could Be Key to Less Expensive, Greener Lithium-Ion Batteries

Researchers are hoping to spark a green battery revolution by showing that iron instead of cobalt and nickel can be used as a cathode material in lithium-ion batteries. Read on to learn more.

An All-Liquid Iron Flow Battery for Better Energy Storage

Flow batteries can serve as backup generators for the electric grid. Flow batteries are one of the key pillars of a decarbonization strategy to store energy from renewable energy resources. Their advantage is that they can be built at any scale, from the lab-bench scale, as in this PNNL study, to the size of a city block.

NASA’s Invention Puts a New Spin on Automotive Brake Rotors

NASA’s invention inspired an innovative design for a better automobile disc brake that’s much lighter and drastically improves the braking performance.

Making Conductive, Biodegradable Wires from Designed Proteins

The miniscule wires — the size of transistors on silicon chips or one thousandth of the breadth of the finest human hair — are made completely of natural amino acids and heme molecules, found in proteins such as hemoglobin, which transports oxygen in red blood cells.

Rechargeable Cement-Based Batteries

An entire 20-story concrete building could store energy like a giant battery.

Fabrication of Multilayer Ferritin Arrays

This method creates a thin-film electrode for a bio-nanobattery.

3D Imaging in Space

NASA is digging ever more deeply into understanding the makeup of the surfaces of Mars and our Moon. A lot can be learned by sending instruments to land on these places, but vastly more can be discovered by bringing back...

Anti-UV Technology Using Synthetic Biology

This technology uses extracts produced from yeast transformed with a new anti-UV DNA construct to block ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

Ultrafast Magnetic Reversal Method for Computer Memory

Computers use different kinds of memory technologies to store data. Long-term memory — typically a hard disk or flash drive — needs to be dense in order to store as much data as...

Smart Fabric Stores Information Without Electronics

Conductive thread — embroidery thread that can carry an electrical current — often is combined with other types of electronics to create fabric that lights up or communicates. This thread...

3D-Printed Objects Connect to WiFi Without Electronics

CAD models have been developed that enable objects to be 3D-printed out of commercially available plastics; these objects can wirelessly communicate with other smart devices, including a...

Controlling Soft Robots Using Magnetic Fields

A fundamental advance in controlling soft robots involves using magnetic fields to remotely manipulate microparticle chains embedded in soft robotic devices. Several devices have been developed that...

Omnidirectional Mobile Robot with Two Moving Parts

SIMbot is an updated version of the ballbot, an elegantly simple robot whose tall, thin body moves on top of a sphere slightly smaller than a bowling ball. SIMbot features a motor with just one...

Applying the Dynamic Inertia Measurement Method to Full-Scale Aerospace Vehicles

Researchers at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center have been interested in using the Dynamic Inertia Measurement (DIM) method on full-scale aerospace test...

Primer Stops Corrosion Without Requiring Rust Removal

NASA Technology The world is made out of bad concrete and rusty steel, and corrosion is the primary cause of deterioration of our infrastructure,” says Bob Walde, vice president of...

Advanced Capabilities of PXI-Based Semiconductor Test Systems

The ongoing challenge for today’s semiconductor test engineers is to identify and create new test solutions that can offer significantly lower test costs as well as address the...

Iron Studded BNNTs Could Replace Semiconductors in Wearable Tech

The road to more versatile wearable technology is dotted with iron. Specifically, quantum dots of iron arranged on boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs). The new material is the subject...

Unique Composite Film Could Become Hard Disc of the Future

A research group from ITMO University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have invented unique conductive magnetic films that will be applied to transparent data storage, flexible...

Reasons for Turning to Slotless DC Motor Technology

When first introduced, brushless DC motors, despite their many advantages, were cast as a costly alternative to brush-commutated motors, and were typically only specified for low-power...

Ring Motors - Design Flexibility for Innovative Configurations

Permanent magnet brushless motors of various design architectures and power levels have been used since the late 1980s in industrial and commercial applications. Over the course of...

EZVI Technology Cleans Up Contaminants at Kennedy Space Center

Jacobs Engineering Group Pasadena, CA www.jacobs.com CORE Engineering and Construction Winter Park, FL www.core-encon.com A groundwater technology developed at Kennedy Space Center...