INSIDER

Reused car batteries rev up electric grid

When aging vehicle batteries lack the juice to power your car anymore, they may still hold energy. Yet it’s tough to find new uses for lithium-ion batteries with different makers, ages, and sizes....

New Compound Withstands Extreme Heat and Electricity for Next-Generation Energy Storage

Flexible polymers made with a new generation of the Nobel-winning “click chemistry” reaction find use in capacitors and other applications.

Soft Robotic Wearable Restores Arm Function for People with ALS

Some 30,000 people in the U.S. are affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, a neurodegenerative condition that damages cells in...

Autonomous Robots to Help Modernize Grape, Wine Industry

This spring, a small army of Cornell University-developed PhytoPatholoBots (PPB) will be deployed to four grape breeding programs across the U.S. on a mission to guide the global...

Custom, 3D-Printed Robotic Hearts

The soft robotic models are patient-specific and could help clinicians zero in on the best implant for an individual.

AI Image Analysis, Li-Fi and Quantum Processor Among 2023 PRISM Awards Winners

Photonics West 2023 featured the 15th annual gathering of the Prism Awards, a ceremony hosted by SPIE that honors and recognizes industrial innovation in...

NASA Targets 2026 for Launch of Israel's First Space Telescope

NASA will launch Israel’s first space telescope mission, the Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite (ULTRASAT). ULTRASAT, an ultraviolet observatory with a large field of...

Ignition Achievement Gives US New Opportunity to Lead World's IFE Research

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)’s historic achievement of fusion ignition Dec. 5 at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) positions the United States...

Tailless Jet Flies Free with Novel Control Technique

While conventional aircraft rely on protruding fins to enable steering, a tailless design makes the body as smooth and sleek as possible, making it safer to fly in dangerous areas where...

Plasma Thrusters Used on Satellites Could be Much More Powerful

It was believed that Hall thrusters, an efficient kind of electric propulsion widely used in orbit, need to be large to produce a lot of thrust. Now, a new study from the...

Microelectronics Give Researchers a Remote Control for Biological Robots

First, they walked. Then, they saw the light. Now, miniature biological robots have gained a new trick: remote control. These hybrid “eBiobots” are the first to...

Growing a 2D Functional Transistor on a Silicon Wafer

True to Moore’s Law, the number of transistors on a microchip has doubled every year since the 1960s. But this trajectory is predicted to soon plateau because silicon — the backbone...

Graphene-Based Electronics

Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have developed a new nanoelectronics platform based on graphene — a single sheet of carbon atoms.

Blocking Electromagnetic Radiation with the Flip of a Switch

Researchers in Drexel University’s College of Engineering have developed a thin film device, fabricated by spray coating, that can block electromagnetic radiation with the flip...

Diamond Transistors

Researchers at Arizona State University and Northrop Grumman are working on a new project to create power transistors from diamond. The results could yield efficiencies that significantly shrink the size of electrical...

Carbon Nanotubes Store Energy

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have created vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes on metal foils that could be a boon for energy storage and the electronics industry.

The Space Solar Power Demonstrator Has Launched

On January 3rd, the Caltech Space Solar Power Project (SSPP) launched into orbit a prototype, dubbed the Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD), which will test several key components of an...

European Defense Fund Project to Produce Strategic Electronics for Next Generation Infrared Sensors

Lynred, a global provider of infrared detectors for the aerospace, defense and commercial markets, recently announced the launch of HEROIC,...

NIF Laser Systems Chief Engineer to Discuss Historic Fusion Ignition Achievement at Photonics West 2023

On Dec. 5, 2022, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) Nuclear Ignition Facility (NIF) made history, demonstrating fusion...

Strengthening Electron-Triggered Light Emission

The way electrons interact with photons of light is a key part of many modern technologies, from lasers to solar panels to LEDs. But the interaction is inherently a weak one because of a major...

A Low-Cost Robot Ready for Any Obstacle

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science and the University of California, Berkeley, have designed a robotic system that enables a low-cost and relatively small legged...

Computational System Streamlines the Design of Fluidic Devices

Combustion engines, propellors, and hydraulic pumps are examples of fluidic devices — instruments that utilize fluids to perform certain functions, such as generating power or...

Hummingbird Flight Could Provide Insights for Biomimicry in Aerial Vehicles

Hummingbirds occupy a unique place in nature: They fly like insects but have the musculoskeletal system of birds. According to Bo Cheng, Associate Professor in...

Graphene Boosts Flexible and Wearable Electronics Boosts

At 200 times stronger than steel, graphene has been hailed as a super material of the future since its discovery in 2004. The ultrathin carbon material is an incredibly strong...

New Material Will Make Locally Flexible Diodes Possible

Diodes allow directed flows of current. Without them, modern electronics would be inconceivable. Until now, they had to be made from two materials with different characteristics. A...

Novel Nanowire Fabrication Technique Paves Way for Next Generation Spintronics

The challenge of fabricating nanowires directly on silicon substrates for the creation of the next generation of electronics has finally been solved by...

High-Power Electrostatic Actuators to Realize Artificial Muscles

Electrostatic actuators are simple and lightweight devices that emulate human muscles. However, their usage has primarily been restricted to moving small devices since they...

NYU Tandon Researchers Explore a More Frictionless Future

Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Elisa Riedo and her team have discovered a fundamental friction law that is leading to a deeper understanding of energy dissipation...

The Skillful Skydiving of Wingless Springtails

Early in the pandemic, Víctor Ortega-Jiménez was exploring creeks near his home and observing springtails. The organisms are the most abundant non-insect hexapods on earth, and...