Billy's Blog

Join the conversation! Tech Briefs' Digital Editorial Manager Billy Hurley provides his take on today’s innovative technology developments and the topics most important to you.

Blog : Sensors/Data Acquisition

3D-Printable Sensor ‘Turns Blue’ to Detect Trace Amounts of Water

The sensor supports new ideas in food-quality control, environmental monitoring, and more.

Blog : Manufacturing & Prototyping

Inside the Invention of a Snore-Stopping Sleep Mask – From Idea to Prototype to Product

It took two and a half years, 60 prototypes, and even some of his children’s craft foam, but Curtis Ray turned his idea into invention.

Blog : Energy

High-Speed Jet Mixer Efficiently Turns Algae into Fuel

A new technology may lead to a more mainstream use of algal biofuels.

Blog : Software

Readers Select 2018 Products of the Year

See which three products won our 2018 Readers' Choice contest.

Blog : Medical

Calling All Innovators: 'Create the Future' Contest is Open for Entries

Your design idea could win you $20,000.

Blog : Motion Control

On a Firefighter’s Jacket, a Self-Powered Tracking Sensor Takes the Heat

The wearable is fireproof, thanks to a carbon aerogel nanocomposite material.

Blog : Software

Answering Your Questions: What Areas of Study Are Desirable for the Autonomous Industry?

With self-driving vehicles poised to take the road, how can today’s engineers prepare themselves to support an autonomous future?

Blog : Electronics & Computers

Porous Carbon Fibers: How a Car Could Someday Store Its Energy 'Everywhere'

Tesla uses batteries to store energy underneath the car seats. What if we could store energy everywhere on the vehicle?

Blog : Electronics & Computers

Graphene Breakthrough Puts Nanolithography ‘Back in the Toolbox’

Graphene may play a greater role in tomorrow electronics, thanks to an achievement from the Technical University of Denmark.

Blog : Transportation

Answering Your Questions: Are There Regulations for Machine Learning in Vehicles?

How do you regulate a system that, in effect, is learning as it goes?

Blog : Motion Control

A Morphing Soft Actuator Expands the Motion Options

Even a shape-morphing plane is possible, says Harvard's Ehsan Hajiesmaili.

Blog : Manufacturing & Prototyping

3D-Printed Rubber Repairs Itself

A new material development from USC brings us a step closer to self-healing sneakers.

Blog : Materials

What is 'Metallic Wood?' Nickel, Plus Nano-Pores

By adding nanopores to nickel, James Pikul and his team created a kind of "metallic wood."

Blog : Test & Measurement

Answering Your Questions: How to Sell Top Management on Failure Analysis, FMEA

A Failure Analysis may help find problems during product development, but what role should top management play in an FMEA?

Blog : Materials

Embodied Logic: Researchers Build Artificial Venus Flytrap

Professor Jordan Raney spoke with Tech Briefs about what’s possible when you can embody 3D-printed objects with logic.

Blog : Data Acquisition

More from CES 2019: Attack Surfaces Expand as Cars Increasingly Connect

David Barzilai from Karamba Security tells Tech Briefs what threats to the connected car concern him the most.

Blog : Sensors/Data Acquisition

CES 2019 Digital Health Trends: Three 'Invisible' Technologies that Monitor the Heart

From CES 2019: Tech Briefs looks at three standout health-monitoring products.

Blog : Electronics & Computers

CES 2019: Artificial Intelligence Forecasts Famine

From CES 2019: For famine relief, the World Bank is turning to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.

Blog : Sensors/Data Acquisition

‘Levitation’ Leads to More Durable MEMS Switches

Professor Sherry Towfighian spoke with Tech Briefs about how a new MEMS design will improve our cell phones and power lines.

Blog : Transportation

CES Preview: New Cybersecurity Challenges for Increasingly Connected Cars

Irdeto's Stacy Janes tells Tech Briefs if he feels safe driving today's connected cars.

Blog : Electronics & Computers

Answering Your Questions: How Consumer-Grade and Industrial-Grade Lithium-Ion Batteries Handle the Cold

A reader asks: How does an “industrial-grade” lithium-ion battery stack up to the one in your phone?

Blog : Transportation

Q&A: Catching Up with Automotive Cybersecurity Researcher (and Jeep Hacker) Chris Valasek

In 2015, Chris Valasek and Charlie Miller demonstrated a hack of the Jeep Cherokee. Valasek tells Tech Briefs what has changed since then.

Blog : Energy

Answering Your Questions: Will Solar Panel Efficiency Improve?

Don’t hold your breath, says Jeff Crystal from Voltaic Systems.

Blog : Manufacturing & Prototyping

Answering Your Questions: How Long Should a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) Take?

An FMEA provides a step-by-step way of identifying product failures. Carl Carlson explains just how long the process takes.

Blog : Test & Measurement

Q&A: After a Successful Landing, What’s Next for the InSight Mission?

InSight project manager Tom Hoffman spoke with Tech Briefs about the importance of digging deep in our knowledge of Mars.

Blog : Automotive

New Metal-Air Battery Design Offers a Potential Boost to Electric Vehicles

Professor Hart spoke with Tech Briefs about why his team's new battery may someday find its way beyond niche applications and into electric vehicles.

Blog : Sensors/Data Acquisition

Answering Your Questions: How Good are Automotive Sensor Simulation Models?

A reader asks our industry experts: "How good are the simulation models for automotive ADAS sensors?"

Blog : Materials

Researchers Convert Plastic Bottles into Aerogels that Insulate and Absorb

Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) are trying to solve the problem of plastic waste by converting it into something useful: Aerogels.