Billy's Blog

Professor Hadas Kress-Gazit tells Tech Briefs about the "great promise" of autonomous modular robots.

For an electric-aircraft future, it's not enough to just change components. You have to rethink design, our expert tells one reader.

Have you heard of "fatbergs?" Researcher Asha Srinivasan explains how her team is turning masses of fat, oil, and grease into biofuel.

Richard Duke spoke with Tech Briefs about the nature of the space-junk problem — and how his team plans to fix it.

Carl Yee invented a new kind of "Invisible Ink," so he could print paper without the guilt.

How will the use of AR and virtual prototypes impact the role of automotive parts manufacturers? A reader asks our expert.

A new solution, applied like paint, cools down rooftops, buildings, water tanks, vehicles, and even spacecraft.

Robert Holmes spoke with Tech Briefs about his path from "amateur" astronomer to NASA pro.

The grand-prize-winning nanotechnology coating imparts anti-reflection and water-repellency capabilities to surfaces made of silicon, glass ,and some plastics, including Teflon.

Rivers Ingersoll spoke with Tech Briefs about why it is so important to have an up-close understanding of the hummingbird and nectar bat.

Is there more to the "Internet of Medical Things" than just data gathering? A reader asks our experts.

NASA's Lindley Johnson explains how the exciting business of asteroid detection does have its moments that are “like any other office job.”

A reader asks: "Why do organizations struggle to see 3D printing or additive manufacturing for more than prototyping? "

Researchers discovered that an on-and-off kind of thermal regulation is possible if you look to the squid.

A NASA researcher spoke with Tech Briefs about the importance of the Curiosity rover's latest find on Mars.

A readers asks two 3D-printing veterans: "What is your advice to someone starting out with additive manufacturing?"

A new approach to structural coloration is more freeform than you might expect.

Many manufacturers are relying on vision system integrators to implement machine vision. Our expert tells a reader how to find the right one for you.

For social robots to become commonplace in clinical settings, engineers will need to build both technology improvements as well something slightly more complicated: Trust.

Researcher Nikhil Gupta tells Tech Briefs why "exploding" a QR code inside a 3D-printed part makes counterfeiting practically impossible.

A reader asks our expert: As autonomous vehicles enter the market, where are the weak spots in simulation?

Simulation is a helpful go-to tool for assessing risk, but what if the event being simulated is an avalanche – a complex event with countless parameters and physical...

Cornell researchers have discovered a novel – and delicious – way to power simple robots: Popcorn.

Instead of attaching semiconductors to fabric, an MIT team has found a way to add the technology right into the fiber themselves.

A reader asks: “If autonomous vehicles are too expensive for an individual to own, how is the cost per mile so low to hail one?”

Georgia Tech researchers have created a sustainable plastic packaging material, using two ingredients you might not expect in a snack machine: crab shells and tree fibers.

Automated vehicles – fleets of them – may soon change the way we travel through cities. "How soon?" asks a reader.

By introducing some new ingredients to the flow battery, Stanford University scientists are advancing a new way to store wind and solar electricity.

Engineers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are teaching computers to quickly detect microscopic radiation damage.

Researchers at MIT have created cell-sized robots that may someday be used to inspect and analyze hard-to-reach locations, from oil pipelines to the human body.