Magazine

Using Chemistry Modeling Software to Detect Conditions for Microbial Life on Icy Worlds

Southwest Research Institute is working to expand software normally used to model electrolytes and predict corrosion and turn it into a tool that can help determine whether ice-covered worlds have the right conditions for microbial life. Read on to learn more.

Implantable Transmitter for Wireless Sensor Nodes

An invention that uses microchip technology in implantable devices and other wearable products such as smart watches can be used to improve biomedical devices including those used to monitor people with glaucoma and heart disease. Read on to learn more.

Revolutionizing High-Performance Computer Memory Storage

Magnets generate invisible fields that attract certain materials. Far more important to our everyday lives, magnets also can store data in computers. Exploiting the direction of the magnetic field, microscopic bar magnets each can store one bit of memory as a zero or a one — the language of computers.

Better Microelectronics from Coal

A joint research effort led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has shown how coal can play a vital role in next-generation electronic devices. Read on to learn more about it.

Material Could Unlock New Functionality in Semiconductors

Researchers have designed and synthesized a unique material with controllable capabilities that make it promising for future electronics including cellphones and computers. Read on to learn more.

Thin-Film Electronics for Flexible Chip Design

The mass production of conventional silicon chips relies on a successful business model with large “semiconductor fabrication plants” or “foundries.” New research by KU Leuven and imec shows that this “foundry” model can also be applied to the field of flexible, thin-film electronics. Read on to learn more.

Nanogenerators for Monitoring Heart Health

A team of researchers has developed self-powered, wearable, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based contact layers for monitoring cardiovascular health. TENGs help conserve mechanical energy and turn it into power. Read on to learn more.

Scientists Propose Laser Scalpel with a ‘Curved’ Blade

Changing the shape of the blade will expand the possibilities of using the laser in medicine.

Extraction of Largely Unexplored Bodily Fluid Could Be a New Source of Biomarkers

Using an array of tiny needles that are almost too small to see, researchers have developed a minimally invasive technique for sampling a largely unexplored human bodily fluid that could potentially provide a new source of information for routine clinical monitoring and diagnostic testing. Read on to learn more.

Handheld Space Microscope

Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have developed a handheld digital microscope to fill the critical microscopy needs of human space exploration by providing flight crews in situ hematological diagnostic and tracking ability to assess and monitor crew health in the absence of gravity. Read on to learn more.

Making Transparent Solar Cells Manufacturable

In an important step toward bringing transparent solar cells to home windows, researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a way to manufacture highly efficient and semitransparent solar cells. Read on to learn more about it.

New System for Turning Seawater into Hydrogen Fuel

Researchers have found a way to tease hydrogen out of the ocean by funneling seawater through a double-membrane system and electricity. The design successfully generated hydrogen gas without producing large amounts of harmful byproducts. Read on to learn more.

Harvesting Energy from Microbes in Soil

A Northwestern University-led team of researchers has developed a new fuel cell that harvests energy from microbes living in dirt. About the size of a standard paperback book, the completely soil-powered technology could fuel underground sensors used in precision agriculture and green infrastructure. Read on to learn more.

New on the Market

See what's new on the market, including SBG Systems' expansion of its high-performance inertial navigation systems, Ekinox, Apogee, and Navsight, with new GNSS receiver options; Littelfuse's 823A Series fuse, an AEC-Q200-qualified, high-voltage-rated surface-mount fuse; Würth Elektronik's Thyone-e radio module; the new handheld scanner from FARO Technologies; and more.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including seals that actively self-clean in a continuous or periodic manner; a method to grow artificial muscle tissue that twitches and flexes in multiple coordinated directions; and a compact and versatile robot that can maneuver through tight spaces and transport payloads much heavier than itself.

Product of the Month

See the product of the month: Power Integrations' HiperLCS™-2 chipset. The new device can deliver up to 1650 W of continuous output power with over 98 percent efficiency and permits brief peak loads of 2.5 kW.

Self-Growing 3D Objects

Professor Sameh Tawfick and his team at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana have developed a 3D process that grows polymer objects in a controlled manner to achieve a desired shape.

Space Tech Gives Treadmill Users a ‘Boost’

Creators of the original antigravity treadmill for astronauts in space have now developed a new treadmill that uses air pressure to counter gravity, making running possible for people with injuries and other conditions.

5Ws of a Morphing Robot

GOAT (Good Over All Terrains), a bioinspired robot developed at EPFL, can change shape to alter its own physical properties in response to its environment, resulting in a robust and efficient autonomous vehicle.

Thermal Management Lies at the Heart of EV Innovation

Along with rapid innovation in cooling methods, a major trend in EV thermal management is the use of technology to better design more thermally efficient vehicle architectures. AI and digital technologies have been major boons to the engineering toolkit for better design, helping to radically speed up system testing and development. Read on to learn more.

For EV Safety Tests, AI Is Here to Help

It’s important to note that skepticism toward AI is reminiscent of past attitudes toward now-standard technologies. Thirty years ago, tools such as CFD were met with trepidation — an attitude defined by limited understanding. Today, engineers see them as indispensable. Similarly, adopting AI requires a shift in perspective and embracing its potential.

A Quick and Easy Way to Produce Anode Materials for Sodium-Ion Batteries Using Microwaves

A research team led by Dr. Daeho Kim and Dr. Jong Hwan Park at the Nano Hybrid Technology Research Center of the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute has developed a groundbreaking process technology that enables ultrafast, 30-second preparation of hard carbon anodes for sodium-ion batteries, using microwave induction heating. Read on to learn more.

A Triple-Layer Battery Resistant to Fire and Explosion

The triple-layer solid electrolyte features a robust middle layer that boosts the battery’s mechanical strength, while its soft outer surface ensures an excellent electrode contact, facilitating an easy movement of lithium ions. Read on to learn more.

Safe and Energy-Efficient Quasi-Solid Battery for Electric Vehicles and Devices

A team of researchers from Japan has developed a non-flammable quasi-solid-state LIB that can overcome the limitations of conventional batteries. Read on to learn more.

Developing Advanced Recycling Technology to Restore Spent Battery Cathode Materials

A research team has developed a novel technology for directly recycling spent cathode materials from lithium-ion batteries through a simple process that addresses the limitations of conventional recycling methods. This innovative approach restores the spent cathode to its original state. Read on to learn more.

New Products

See the new products, including KULR Technology Group's NASA-certified M35A battery cells; Nexperia's 650 V, 10 A silicon carbide (SiC) Schottky diode; Rotor Clip's patented InterShim™ Wave Spring design; and more.

How Test Equipment Is Evolving to Keep Up with EV Batteries

Whatever technology is employed in the future, it is clear that battery test systems will continue to adapt to keep pace with changes in EV battery technology and production. Ensuring that you choose a future proof, scalable, and capable bi-directional DC source is critical in planning for testing success today and tomorrow. Read on to learn more.

Ensuring the Quality of EV Batteries with CT-Scan Data Analysis and Visualization

Research and development aimed at optimizing both the technology and the cost of that most expensive of EV components — the battery — continues. Not only are the makers of current batteries under pressure to produce the highest-quality product, but they may also be considering how to participate and compete in the next-generations of these key components. Read on to learn more.

How Automakers Boost Quality via Servo-Electric Test Systems

Today, electrically actuated (servo-electric) test systems have emerged as a preferred alternative to servo-hydraulics that have traditionally been used. Michigan-based eMpulse Test Systems is a supplier of these advanced testing systems. Read on to learn more.