Stories
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NASA Spinoff: Energy
NASA’s need to contain hazardous lunar dust led to technology that senses other pollutants.
Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Robotic exoskeletons, a breath-test for cancer, and plastic-eating enzymes are Products of Tomorrow.
Briefs: Materials
Bacteria-Based Hydrogel Beads Clean Up Contaminated Groundwater
Beads that contain bacteria and a slow-release food supply to sustain them can clean up contaminated groundwater for months on end, maintenance-free.
Briefs: Materials
A low-cost sensor technology, called Chemical Identification by Magneto-Elastic Sensing (ChIMES), uses target response materials (TRMs) as actuators in magneto-elastic (M-E) sensors...
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...
Briefs: Medical
This chemical detector, based on a miniaturized, pulse-discharged ionization detector (mini-PDID), makes it possible to diagnose illnesses by identifying volatile organic compounds...
Articles: Materials
Accurately tracking and predicting the subsurface migration of specific materials over time and over multiple phases is critical to efficient and effective strategy development and deployment in a growing number of...
NASA Spinoff: Manufacturing & Prototyping
In 2007, when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a call for a sensor that could equip a smartphone with the ability to detect dangerous gases and chemicals, Ames Research...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Work Piece Cleaning Apparatus and Method with Pulsating Mixture of Liquid and Gas
NASA Goddard’s scientists have developed a novel, volatile organic compound (VOC)-free system for cleaning tubing and piping that significantly reduces cost and carbon consumption. The innovative technology enables the use of deionized water in place of costlier...
Application Briefs: Aerospace
Helium reclamation system VACCO Industries South El Monte, CA 626-443-7121www.VACCO.com
Recyling and purifying high-flow helium allows uninterrupted testing of high-volume,...
Articles: Aerospace
The technologies NASA develops don’t just blast off into space. They also improve our lives here on Earth. Life-saving search-and-rescue tools, implantable medical devices, advances in commercial aircraft safety,...
Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition
In 2007, when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a call for a sensor that could equip a smartphone with the ability to detect dangerous gases and chemicals, NASA Ames...
INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
Flexible sensors have been developed for use in consumer electronics, robotics, health care, and space flight. Future possible applications could include the creation of...
INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
Over the past several decades, the progress in micro fabrication technology has revolutionized the world in such fields as computing, signal processing, and automotive...
Briefs: Aerospace
High-Performance Photocatalytic Oxidation Reactor System
As crewed space missions extend beyond low Earth orbit, the need to reliably recover potable water is critical. Aboard the International Space Station (ISS), the water is recycled from cabin humidity condensate, urine distillate, and hygiene wash wastes. In spacecraft cabin air environments,...
Briefs: Materials
High-Performance Polyimide Powder Coatings
Powder coatings are used throughout industry to paint a myriad of metallic objects. This method of coating has gained popularity because of its conservation of materials and elimination of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Resins used in powder coatings are traditionally chosen from those that have low...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Process for Coating Substrates With Catalytic Materials
This invention relates to the process of coating substrates with one or more components to form a catalyst; specifically, the process of layering one or more catalytic components onto a honeycomb monolith to form a carbon monoxide oxidation that combines CO and O2 to form CO2, or...
Articles: Green Design & Manufacturing
NASA Technology
In the 1990s, NASA scientists were thinking of what astronauts would need to survive long-term missions to the moon and even to other planets in the solar system. One important...
Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
Sustainable Remediation Software Tool Evaluation
To advance the acceptance and incorporation of sustainable remediation metrics into the larger body of remedial work, the Center for Sustainable Groundwater and Soil Solutions (CSGSS) within the Savannah River National Laboratory (SNRL) created the Sustainable Remediation Initiative (SRI).
Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
An enhanced thin-film silicon photovoltaic device with improved efficiency has been developed. Thin-film silicon solar cells suffer from low material absorption characteristics,...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Société de Conseil et de Prospective Scientifique (SCPS), located in Rosny-sous-Bois, France, developed a technology that allows the nickel-zinc battery system to work as close as possible to its...
Articles: Medical
As devices for disease detection and diagnosis become more advanced, they also are becoming smaller. Next-generation technologies for faster detection of diseases such as cardiovascular disease,...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Thermal Spray Formation of Polymer Coatings
This innovation forms a sprayable polymer film using powdered precursor materials and an in-process heating method. This device directly applies a powdered polymer onto a substrate to form an adherent, mechanically-sound, and thickness-regulated film. The process can be used to lay down both fully dense...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Development of Vapor-Phase Catalytic Ammonia Removal System
A report describes recent accomplishments of a continuing effort to develop the vapor-phase catalytic ammonia removal (VPCAR) process for recycling wastewater for consumption by humans aboard a spacecraft in transit to Mars. The VPCAR process is implemented by a system of highly integrated...
Briefs: Materials
Wire-Mesh-Based Sorber for Removing Contaminants From Air
A paper discusses an experimental regenerable sorber for removing CO2 and trace components — principally, volatile organic compounds, halocarbons, and NH3 — from spacecraft cabin air. This regenerable sorber is a prototype of what is intended to be a lightweight alternative to...
Briefs: Materials
Water-based pressure-sensitive paints (PSPs) have been invented as alternatives conventional organic- solvent-based pressure-sensitive paints, which are used primarily for indicating distributions of air...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Using Laser-Induced Incandescence To Measure Soot in Exhaust
An instrumentation system exploits laser-induced incandescence (LII) to measure the concentration of soot particles in an exhaust stream from an engine, furnace, or industrial process that burns hydrocarbon fuel. In comparison with LII soot-concentration-measuring systems that have been...
Briefs: Materials
Water-Borne, Silicone-Based, Primerless Paints
Water-borne, silicone- based paints for protecting metal structures against corrosion have been developed as substitutes for traditional anticorrosion paints that contain large amounts of volatile organic solvents. It is desirable to reduce the volatile-organic-compound (VOC) contents of paints in...
Top Stories
Blog: Design
2025 Holiday Gift Guide for Engineers: Tech, Tools, and Gadgets
Blog: AR/AI
Quiz: Materials
Blog: Energy
Tech Briefs Wrapped 2025: Top 10 Technology Stories
INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
Scientists Create Superconducting Semiconductor Material
Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: Robotics, Automation & Control
Next-Generation Linear and Rotary Stages: When Ultra Precision...
Upcoming Webinars: Energy
Hydrogen Engines Are Heating Up for Heavy Duty
On-Demand Webinars: AR/AI
The Real Impact of AR and AI in the Industrial Equipment Industry
Podcasts: Medical
How Wearables Are Enhancing Smart Drug Delivery
Podcasts: Energy
SAE Automotive Podcast: Solid-State Batteries

