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Researchers have been unable to build an ideal photonic crystal, or "champion" crystal, impeding the dream of ultrafast optical computers that run on light (photons) instead of electricity (electrons). But now, University of Utah chemists have discovered that photonic crystals with the ideal, diamond-like structure are found in the...

Johns Hopkins University undergraduates have designed and built a device to enable critically ill, intensive care unit patients to leave their beds and walk, while remaining tethered to essential life-support equipment. The invention allows doctors to better understand whether carefully supervised rehabilitation, as opposed to...

The Johnson Space Center offers a Mathcad computer program that largely automates the design and analysis of the restraint layer of an inflatable vessel. Prior to the development of this program, the design task was performed by use of a difficult-to-use spreadsheet program that required manual addition of rows and columns, depending on...

A study predicts that carbon-60 molecules, or buckyballs, are easily absorbed into animal cells, providing a possible explanation for how the molecules could be toxic to humans. Using computer simulations, University of Calgary scientists modeled the interaction between carbon-60 molecules and cell membranes. They found...

A method of promoting healing of injured or diseased neurons from Ames Research Center involves pharmacological activation of the STAT3 alpha protein. Injured or diseased neurons heal incompletely or not at all because they are susceptible to apoptosis (cell death), or because they fail to engage in axogenesis - that is, they fail to...

It is known that prolonged exposure to the sun's harmful UV rays can lead to melanoma, but an unanswered question is why some people are more likely to develop melanoma than others. Researchers from the Translational Genomic Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, Arizona and the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) in...

Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have improved the power output of methanol fuel cells by more than 50 percent, which could broaden fuel cell applications to include portable electronics. The engineers achieved this by developing an alternative to Nafion, the material commonly used as the electrolyte between...

To improve wireless communications for emergency responders, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have confirmed that underground tunnels - generally a difficult setting for radios - can have a frequency "sweet spot" at which signals may travel several times farther than at other...

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has taken delivery of a new IBM supercomputer that will advance research into severe weather and the future of Earth's climate. The supercomputer, known as a Power 575 Hydro-Cluster, will be used by scientists at NCAR and across the country to accelerate research into...

Lasers that emit ultrashort pulses of light can be used for numerous applications including micromachining, microscopy, laser eye surgery, spectroscopy and controlling chemical reactions. However, the quality of the results is limited by distortions caused by lenses and other optical components that are part of...

Satellite imagery obtained from NASA will help archeologist Bill Middleton of the Rochester Institute of Technology peer into the ancient Mexican past. Multi- and hyperspectral data will help build the most accurate and most detailed landscape map of the southern state of Oaxaca, where the Zapotec people...

The Langley Research Center has developed an innovative method for acquiring fluid-level measurements. This method eliminates the need for the fluid-level sensor to have a physical connection to a power source or data acquisition equipment. The complete system consists of a lightweight, thin-film magnetic-field-response fluid-level...

I didn't go to Wakefield, Rhode Island looking for great music. I was there to see the new U.S. headquarters of Dewetron, a leading manufacturer of data acquisition equipment and long-time NASA Tech Briefs advertiser. The last stop on our tour was a closed door, behind which was a small room that Dewetron...

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have created complex molecules containing zinc for use in portable sensors that detect the presence of plastic explosives. Sensors containing the zinc complexes are the first devices that allow the user to identify which type of explosive is present, since each metal complex...

In the effort to produce inexpensive, easily manufactured sources of sustainable, renewable power, solar cells continue to be a major focus - particularly flexible solar cells that can be applied directly to surfaces. Flexible solar cells are nothing new, but the methods by which they are made have progressed significantly in...

Cell-based sensors on a chip, which could speed up and improve the detection of everything from explosive materials to biological pathogens, are closer to reality, thanks to researchers at the University of Maryland's A. James Clark School of Engineering. The researchers - Benjamin Shapiro, Pamela Abshire, and Elisabeth Smela -...

Researchers at Auburn University have designed a rechargeable microscope illumination system that can be used by NASA scientists to observe microscopic life in places where there is no electricity. The patent-pending Ilumna 120, which contains a battery pack, condenser, and bulb with a built-in collimator, attaches to...

According to a study conducted by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), proposals to offset global warming by artificially seeding the stratosphere with sulfate particles could do more harm than good by having a negative impact on Earth's protective ozone layer. Such a plan might not only delay recovery of the ozone...

Robert Fisher and Cal Jordan of the Flash Center are among a team of scientists who will expend 22 million computational hours during the next year on the Blue Gene/P supercomputer at Argonne National Laboratory. The Flash Center will devote its computer allocation to studying Type Ia supernovas, in which temperatures reach billions...

Activation of the brain enzyme CaMKK2 is one step in the appetite stimulation pathway located in the hypothalamus section of the brain. Duke University Medical Center researchers blocked CaMKK2 in mice to tone down appetite, promote weight loss, and manage blood sugar. The researchers blocked the enzyme with a specialized molecule...

The Keyence PX Series rugged photoelectric sensors from Keyence Corp. of America have been selected as NTB's Product of the Month for May. The sensors feature an IP-69K environmental rating for high pressure (1,400 psi) applications at temperatures to 176 degrees F. They feature stainless steel casings, sensor heads backfilled...

A process to transmit medical images via cellular phones, developed by Hebrew University of Jerusalem researcher Prof. Boris Rubinsky, could provide sophisticated radiological diagnoses and treatment to most of the world's population lacking access to such technology. Designed to replace stand-alone medical imaging systems,...

“You can be sure if it’s Westinghouse.” Raise your hand if you recall that signature line from Westinghouse TV commercials, or if you grew up in a household with Westinghouse appliances. A lot of hands, I’m sure. Far fewer if I were to ask how many still used Westinghouse products today. As pieces of...

For years, scientists have known about silver's ability to kill harmful bacteria and, recently, have created consumer products containing silver nanoparticles. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found that silver nanoparticles also may destroy benign bacteria that are used to remove ammonia from wastewater treatment...

A new study using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory indicates that globular clusters might be surprisingly less mature in their development than previously thought. Globular clusters are dense bunches of up to millions of stars that are found in the outskirts of galaxies, including the Milky Way. Understanding the nature of...

University of California at San Diego computer scientists have created a fog and smoke machine for computer graphics that cuts the computational cost of making realistic smoky and foggy 3-D images, such as beams of light from a lighthouse piercing thick fog. By cutting the computing cost for creating highly realistic imagery from...

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have developed techniques to create accurate movies of biological and chemical molecules. Scientists using the high-intensity X-rays at the Advanced Photon Source have measured images that are "blurred" by these motions and have used them to create more...

Dutch researchers at University Medical Center Utrecht and the Hubrecht Institute have succeeded in growing large numbers of stem cells from adult human hearts into new heart muscle cells. The stem cells are derived from material left over from open-heart operations. Until now, it was necessary to use embryonic stem cells to...

North Carolina State University geneticists have shown that environmental factors play a large role in whether certain genes are turned on or off. By studying gene expression of white blood cells in 46 Moroccan Amazighs, including desert nomads, mountain agrarians and coastal urban dwellers, the NC State researchers and...