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Smart Walking Stick Could Aid Visually Impaired

A new take on an old design using artificial intelligence has the potential to make life incredibly easier for the visually impaired.

Using Ultrasound Waves to Move Objects

By placing a metamaterial pattern on the surface of an object, the researchers were able to use sound to steer it in a certain direction without physically touching it.

Low-Cost Sensor to Detect Metals in Non-Invasive Fluids

Researchers have developed a portable sensor made of simple materials to detect heavy metals in sweat, which is easily sampled.

Micro Light-Emitting Diodes for VLC

Light-emitting diode (LED) solid-state lighting technology offers low power consumption and cost, small size, and a long lifespan. Plus, it’s environmentally friendly.

Longer-Lasting, Recyclable Phone Batteries

Instead of disposing of batteries after three years, we could have recyclable batteries that last three times longer.

A Flapping-Wing Robot Able to Perch

A flapping-wing robot that can land autonomously on a horizontal perch using a claw-like mechanism.

10 VR/AR Technologies from CES 2023

See 10 AR/VR technologies from CES 2023.

Adding Vibrations to Electronics to Reduce Vibrations

A counterintuitive way to protect atomically thin electronics: adding vibrations to reduce vibration issues.

A Drone to Protect Bats from Wind Turbines

A study has perhaps solved the wind-turbine issue of causing harm to bats.

Top 5 Tech Briefs Quizzes of 2022

See Tech Briefs’ top-performing quizzes of 2022.

Top 10 Most-Read Tech Briefs Stories of 2022

See Tech Briefs’ most-read stories of 2022.

Electromagnetic-Wave-Absorbing 6G Tech

The epsilon iron oxide nanoparticles could be continuously produced through a micrometer-sized powder manufacturing process.

Low-Cost, High-Energy Battery Could Change the Decarbonization Game

The battery was made using sodium-sulphur — a type of molten salt that can be processed from sea water at a low cost.

10 Holiday Gift Ideas for Engineers

Gift giving always induces anxiety. It’s never easy to pick a present that someone will enjoy, especially if the recipient is an engineer.

Self-Folding Origami Honeycombs Perfect for Protective Packaging

A research team has demonstrated a promising method to easily manufacture self-folding origami honeycomb structures.

To-Go Cup Lids May Help Drones Sense Danger

The work showed that when a certain level of force inverts a dome, embedded sensors surrounding the dome can detect the change.

Advanced LiDAR — On the Road to SAE Level 3 Partially Automated Driving

For automated driving, LiDAR combines the best features of two of the other sensing technologies: radar and cameras.

How Artemis I Launched

The Artemis I launch took place at Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with support from University of Central Florida alums, faculty, and students. However, it didn’t go off without a hitch.

The Power of Power Electronics for a Sustainable Future

Power electronics are critical for renewable energy. They require special design and testing to ensure that they will reliably perform their critical duties.

AI Material That Adapts to Its Surroundings

UCLA engineers have designed a new class of material that can learn behaviors over time and develop a “muscle memory” of its own.

An Automatic Drawing Machine for Metamaterials

The drawing machine uses pens with ink containing conductive material or regular mechanical pencils with varying graphite content.

Heat-Proof Carbides May Revolutionize Aerospace Technology

The new materials are hard enough to stir molten steel and can withstand temperatures above 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit — about the same temperatures found just a few hundred miles above the surface of the sun.

Bringing Touch to Virtual Reality

The system aims to add the sense of touch to the metaverse for use in virtual-reality shopping and gaming, and potentially facilitate the work of astronauts and other professions that require the use of thick gloves.

Producing Oil from Duckweed

Scientists say that such oil-rich duckweed could easily be harvested to produce biofuels or other bioproducts.

iCLIP Speeds Up 3D Printing

“This new technology will help to fully realize the potential of 3D printing. It will allow us to print much faster, helping to usher in a new era of digital manufacturing, as well as to enable the fabrication of complex, multi-material objects in a single step.”

Fighting Gravity with the World’s First Propulsion Suit

Using jet fuel as a means to power five gas turbines, the suit can propel pilots about 40 mph for up to eight minutes and can generate more than 1,000 horsepower.

Gallium Nitride Yields More Energy-Efficient Devices

Engineers have created new high-power electronic devices that are more energy efficient than their predecessors.

Designing to Minimize Environmental Impact

According to the NASA Earth Observatory, air temperatures on Earth have been rising since the Industrial Revolution. Here is a suggestion about one way that engineers could help reduce the problems caused by that in their everyday work.

Robots Walk Autonomously Via Microscopic Brains

Engineers have installed tiny electronic “brains” on solar-powered robots so that the machines can walk autonomously, sans external control.