INSIDER

Robotic “Snake” Grips and Picks Up Objects

An invention similar to an elephant’s trunk has potential benefits for many industries where handling delicate objects is essential. UNSW Sydney developed a soft fabric robotic gripper that...

3D Hand Pose Estimation Achieved Using a Wrist-Worn Camera

Researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) working in collaboration with colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of St Andrews and the University of...

Navy Researchers Evaluate Ultraviolet Sources to Combat COVID-19

U.S. Naval Research Laboratory researchers evaluated commercial ultraviolet (UV) sources for viral disinfection to combat COVID-19 on land and at sea and established a...

Turning Streetwear into Solar Concentrators

Researchers at Empa and ETH Zurich succeeded in developing a material that works like a luminescent solar concentrator and can even be applied to textiles. This opens up numerous possibilities for...

Transforming Rover Explores the Toughest Terrain

NASA’s DuAxel, a pair of two-wheeled rovers each called Axel, can split in half with each half connected only by a tether that unspools as the lead axle approaches a hazard.

Soft Robots Deliver Medical Treatments

Researchers created a way to send tiny, soft robots into humans. Doctors would use magnetic fields to steer the soft robot inside the body, bringing medications or treatments to places that need them.

Researchers Have Developed the World’s Smallest Ultrasound Detector

Researchers at Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed the world’s smallest ultrasound detector. Based on miniaturized...

Researchers Devise Efficient, Scalable Process for Fabricating MXene Films That Block Electromagnetic Interference

The proliferation and miniaturization of electronics in devices, wearables, medical implants, and other applications has...

2D Materials for Extra Thin Computer Chips

For a long time, something important has been regularly neglected in electronics. If you want to make electronic components smaller and smaller, you also need the right insulator materials. This is...

Medical Robotic Hand? Rubbery Semiconductor Makes It Possible

Researchers at the University of Houston report that they have designed and produced a smart electronic skin and a medical robotic hand capable of assessing vital diagnostic data...

Controller Helps Robots Avoid Collisions

MIT startup Realtime Robotics invented a solution that gives robots the ability to quickly adjust their path to avoid objects as they move to a target. The Realtime controller can be connected to a...

Precision Landing Without a Pilot

For planned robotic and crewed missions to the Moon and Mars, NASA is developing and testing precise landing and hazard-avoidance technologies. A combination of laser sensors, a camera, a high-speed...

Perovskite and Organic Solar cells Prove Successful in Space

Almost all satellites are powered by solar cells – but solar cells are heavy. While conventional high-performance cells reach up to three watts of electricity per gram,...

Scientists Use Photons as Threads to Weave Novel Forms of Matter

New research from the University of Southampton has discovered a way to bind two negatively charged electron-like particles which could create opportunities to form novel...

Researcher Gets Navy Grant to Develop Flexible, Printed Solar Cells

University of North Texas professor Anupama Kaul straddles the line between electrical engineering and materials science, which puts her in the perfect place to develop new...

Faster, More Efficient Energy Storage From Layered Materials

A team led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) developed a novel, integrated approach to track energy-transporting ions within an ultra-thin...

Improved Battery Life for Wearable Electronic Devices

Researchers at the University of Warwick have found that asymmetric stresses within electrodes used in certain wearable electronic devices provides an important clue as to how to improve...

Scientists Boost Stability and Efficiency of Next-Gen Solar Tech

Researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) have created next-generation solar modules with high efficiency and good stability....

Biomorphic Batteries Could Provide 72 Times More Energy for Robots

Like biological fat reserves store energy in animals, a new rechargeable zinc battery integrates into the structure of a robot to provide much more energy, a team led by the...

“Drive-By Science” Helps Rovers Go Farther, Faster

A NASA team is working on Mars robot autonomy to make future rovers more intelligent, to enhance safety, to improve productivity, and to drive faster and farther. Two novel capabilities...

Army Readies Robots for Underground Tunnels

The Army Research Laboratory released a software suite that simulates conditions of an underground tunnel network. Researchers interested in developing robots for subterranean environments can now...

NASA’s Robot Hotel Gets Its Occupants

A protective storage unit for robotic tools called Robotic Tool Stowage (RiTS) was among the items launched to the International Space Station last December as part of SpaceX’s resupply services...

Researchers Develop Ultra-Sensitive Device for Detecting Magnetic Fields

A team of Brown University physicists has developed a new type of compact, ultra-sensitive magnetometer, 20 times more sensitive than many traditional sensors. The new...

Configurable Circuit Technology Poised to Expand Silicon Photonic Applications

Researchers have developed a new way to build power efficient and programmable integrated switching units on a silicon photonics chip. The new technology is...

New Method Measures Temperature Within 3D Objects

University of Wisconsin–Madison engineers have made it possible to remotely determine the temperature beneath the surface of certain materials using a new technique they call depth...

Researchers Develop 3D Hand-Sensing Wristband

In a potential breakthrough in wearable sensing technology, researchers from Cornell and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, have designed a wrist- mounted device that continuously tracks the...

Human-Like Hands with Flexible, Hybrid Actuators

In industrial settings, robots often are used for tasks that require repetitive grasping and manipulation of objects. A humanoid hand design that is a soft-hard hybrid flexible gripper can...

Self-Latching Piezocomposite Actuator

NASA Langley has developed a self-latching piezocomposite actuator with power-off, set-and-hold capability. If integrated into an aerodynamic control surface or engine inlet, deflections could be made...

Comb on a Chip Could Revolutionize Clocks, Telescopes, Telecommunications

Just as a meter stick with hundreds of tick marks can be used to measure distances with great precision, a device known as a laser frequency comb, with its hundreds...